NBN Co awash with review consultants
The National Broadband Network Company revealed late last week that it would appoint three consulting firms to assist with its Strategic Review process, despite the fact that Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull had stipulated it was his intention that the review be conducted by NBN Co itself.
NBN Co launches social initiative with Men’s Sheds and Keith Schleiger
NBN Co has announced a collaboration with the Australian Men’s Shed Association that is aimed to highlight how access to fast broadband can help men "build supportive friendships and better connect with friends and family".
Xero migrates to Amazon Web Services
New Zealand-based accounting software company Xero has made what it calls the "massive move" to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud platform.
RIM Australia MD quits
The long-time leader of Research in Motion's Australian division has quit her post, leaving the company she has spent a decade at, as it continues to flounder in a market increasingly dominated by competing platforms from Apple and Google.
Govt launches San Fran ‘Landing Pad’ for tech startups
The government has launched a startup 'Landing Pad' at Rocketspace – a technology campus in San Francisco.
Aussie piracy report a “farce”, says Pirate Party
The Australian Pirate Party has attacked a study commissioned by the Australian Content Industry Group (ACIG) and put together by research group Sphere Analysis, calling it “a farce”.
Brandis “alarmed” over Labor’s data retention review
Attorney-General, Senator George Brandis has raised the “alarm” over the Opposition’s decision to undertake a review of its support for the Government’s controversial Data Retention legislation, saying Labor must ‘stick to its word’ and continue to show support for the policy.
Photos: PM Gillard launches Macquarie datacentre
Prime Minister Julia Gillard launched Macquarie Telecom's new Sydney datacentre in Sydney last week. Macquarie is billing the facility, dubbed the 'Intellicentre 2' as Australia's most advanced high-security datacentre. It cost $60 million to build.
StartupAUS welcomes Turnbull’s new innovation ministers
StartupAUS, the technology entrepreneurship advocacy group, has welcomed Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's new innovation ministers, appointed as part of a post-election Cabinet reshuffle.
Geoblocking content must end, demands Choice
Consumer advocacy group Choice has backed recommendations by the Productivity Commission to make copyright more consumer friendly and called for an end to geoblocking of Internet content.
BigPond massively cuts broadband plan costs
Telstra's BigPond internet service provider arm has dramatically cut prices on a range of its broadband plans, including a massive chop on its 200GB Elite plan which will see monthly prices drop from $179.95 to $89.95.
Markups a wider issue for Aussie industry: Adobe
Global software giant Adobe has responded to criticism in Federal Parliament of markups on its products in Australia by stating the issue wasn't one for the technology industry alone -- claiming it was a wider problem affecting other areas such as the automotive sector as well.
ACS releases ICT election “manifesto”
The Australian Computer Society (ACS), an advocacy group for Australia’s ICT professionals, has released what it is calling its "Federal Election Manifesto", setting out five key policy areas it says must be addressed if Australia is to "secure its economic future in the information age".
Crowd-funding legislation reaches parliament
New laws aimed to provide a framework for crowd-sourced equity funding (CSEF) have been introduced into Parliament.
Turnbull secretly “loves” the NBN, claims Internode
National broadband provider Internode this morning claimed Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull secretly "loves the NBN as a concept", despite having been given an order by Opposition Leader to "demolish" the project.
Qld kicks off whole of Govt ICT audit
The new Liberal-National Party State Government in Queensland has announced it will conduct a six month whole of government audit into ICT systems used across the state public sector, in a bid to identify potential savings and efficiencies ahead of projected rationalisation of its ICT assets and processes.
“Internet junkie” Turnbull comes out swinging
Mere hours after he was appointed Shadow Communications Minister, Liberal stalwart Malcolm Turnbull has come out swinging in the portfolio, slamming Labor's National Broadband Network and filter projects and describing himself as "an internet junkie".
Federal Parliament to hold first TPP hearing today
Federal Parliament is to commence its examination of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) at a public hearing on Monday in Canberra.
BoB security is ‘standard practice’, says iiNet
National broadband provider iiNet this week said the default setup of its new BoB Lite ADSL router – which leaves its Wi-Fi functionality open and the device’s administration password publicly available – was “standard practice” used by router manufacturers.
StartupAUS report: Australian big business must collaborate with startup community
StartupAUS, a group that advocates for Australia's startups, has published a report highlighting the importance of the relationship between big business and startups in cultivating a "vibrant and energetic" environment for innovation.
Qantas lounges go exclusively Apple
Tough luck if you're a Windows 7 fan. The nation's largest airline Qantas yesterday announced it would go Apple-only in its frequent flyer lounges around Australia, giving travellers access to "the latest generation Macs" in a national rollout.
Labor ad agency tried to bribe journos to slag Turnbull’s NBN plan
The Sydney Morning Herald reports this morning that Labor ad agency Naked Communications offered exclusive interviews with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, in response for editorial coverage favourable to Labor -- including on the NBN.
New tax incentives bill aimed to promote innovation and risk taking
The Federal Government introduced a new tax bill into Parliament yesterday that is aimed to drive investment, economic growth and job creation by "encouraging innovation, risk taking and an entrepreneurial culture".
Spear-phishers targeted Reserve Bank in 2011
The Reserve Bank of Australia has on several occasions been the target of targeted malicious email traffic that sought to help external attackers breach the organisation's IT security systems, it was revealed this morning, although it is believed the bank was able to fend off the attacks before they got access to any sensitive information.
LG’s new Android mobiles hit Australia
Korean electronics giant LG has launched a new range of Android-based smartphones in Australia, dubbed the Optimus L-Style series.
Rumours place Rowland as Turnbull’s Shadow
Rumours flying around the telecommunications industry have named second-term MP and former corporate lawyer Michelle Rowland as having picked up the role of Shadow Communications Minister in Bill Shorten's new Labor Shadow Cabinet, leaving more high-profile candidates such as Kate Lundy and Ed Husic out of the running.
We’ve upgraded Samsung’s Galaxy S II, claims Telstra
The nation's largest telco Telstra has justified its late launch of Samsung's flagship Galaxy S II handset this month by stating it has made a number of improvements to the device which won't appear when customers buy the high-level handset from other carriers.
ninemsn was compromised, says Websense
Security technology company Websense this week claimed that one of Australia’s most highly trafficked websites, ninemsn, had been compromised by an outside party and...
New chair takes reins as NBN Committee sits this Friday
The Senate Select Committee on the National Broadband Network will hold its first public hearing under the control of its new chair, Senator Jenny McAllister, this Friday morning, with nbn’s recent hiring spree and progress around its deployment of Fibre to the Node technology likely to be on the agenda.
NBN gets a ray of sunshine for its Hassell’s
NBN Co yesterday announced the appointment of former Sun Microsystems Australasia managing director Jim Hassell to its senior executive team.
Qld Opposition calls for IT minister’s head
Queensland's State Opposition has called for the head of the state's IT minister, Robert Schwarten after a string of delayed and problematic government technology projects yesterday became a fiery issue in parliament.
After a decade, Nola gives up DiData reins
After ten years at the top, IT services group Dimension Data today revealed the long-serving chief executive of its Australian division, Steve Nola, would take a step sideways to lead its growing global cloud computing business.
Optus caught up in SingTel restructure
The nation’s number two telco Optus will undergo a substantial restructure which will see its long-time chief executive take up a wider role within its parent SingTel, it was revealed today, as SingTel reorganises its Asia-Pacific operation around a series of core vertical businesses rather than its traditional geographic markets.
NBN support rises to 73 percent of Australians
A new poll has shown that support for Labor's National Broadband Network project has risen over the past few months to a total of 73 percent, adding to a long-term trend of enduring support for the initiative demonstrated over the past several years; with even a majority of Coalition voters supporting the project.
Telstra sets up nebulous software dev unit
The nation’s biggest telco Telstra has set up a new software development business unit, stating that it plans to use the division to take advantage of software-driven business opportunities integrated with its network assets, but without stating precisely what projects the new unit will be working on.
Australia to review digital sections of Copyright Act
The Federal Government has signalled that it will review its copyright laws to ensure that they keep abreast of the changing times, with Attorney-General Nicola Roxon releasing for public comment the draft terms of reference for an inquiry into the operation of copyright exceptions in the digital environment.
Reinecke gives Gershon qualified approval
Ian Reinecke has issued the Federal Government what could best be described as a series of 'B' or 'C' grades in his report card on how well it has implemented the recommendations of British efficiency expert Sir Peter Gershon into its use of technology.
Telstra NBN remediation work on again
The nation's largest telco Telstra has announced that it will restart remediation work on its pits and pipe infrastructure, as controls on asbestos handling have been put in place to deal with the hazardous material. The remediation work is necessary for the National Broadband Network rollout to go ahead, using Telstra's infrastructure.
Tassie leaders both promise ICT minister
Both of Tasmania's major parties today laid out election policies that included the creation of a minister with responsibilities for technology, with the state...
NSW Govt can’t guarantee IT security
NSW's auditor-general Peter Achterstraat today rubbished the State Government's IT security procedures in a new report, saying the state could not guarantee to its residents that it was keeping their information secure and away from prying eyes.
Qantas still finalising Outlook shift
The nation's largest airline Qantas has revealed that it's still in the process of migrating its corporate email platform off IBM's Lotus Notes/Domino platform and onto Microsoft's Outlook/Exchange system, with the rollout now into its fourth year.
HP Touchpad to hit Australia ‘later this year’
Global technology giant HP has given the first indication of timing about when its flagship tablet device would be launched in Australia, revealing in a statement overnight that Australians would be able to buy the device "later this year" after it launched in a range of other countries first.
Hackett buys personal ten-seater plane
Wondering what Simon Hackett would do with the millions of dollars he netted from the sale of his company Internode to iiNet? Wonder no more. The telco executive this week flew to Switzerland to buy a small nine seater plane (ten if you include the pilot) of the type usually used for corporations.
Global Health inks e-health deals with SA, ACT govts
Global Health has inked a deal with SA and ACT governments to roll-out its proprietary electronic medical record (EMR) system across the Adelaide Primary Health Network and in the ACT.
Leidos closes Lockheed merger
US-based multinational defence company Leidos has announced the successful completion of its previously announced merger with Lockheed Martin's Information Systems & Global Solutions (IS&GS) business.
NBN Co will be a retail ISP, warns Coalition
The Opposition yesterday vehemently protested key provisions of legislation associated with the National Broadband Network which it claimed would open the door for NBN Co to become a retail provider of broadband services, going against its 'wholesale-only' mandate.
Video review: the ABC’s iPad app
Australian Apple site MacTalk Australia has posted this video review of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's iPad app.
Hypocrisy: Turnbull approves MTM NBN without cost/benefit analysis
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has ordered the National Broadband Network Company to go ahead with the controversial 'Multi-Technology Mix' option for its broadband rollout, despite the fact that the cost/benefit analysis being conducted into the project will not be completed until the middle of 2014.
IBM takes Australian Open data onto private cloud
IBM announced yesterday that it is developing a global private cloud computing system for the 2012 Australian Open as part of its technology partnership for the international Grand Slam tennis tournament.
BT demonstrates 10Gbps on normal fibre
British telco BT has demonstrated that it is possible to deliver broadband speeds of up to 10Gbps over its normal fibre infrastructure extending to some homes and businesses; the same Fibre to the Home infrastructure which is being deployed in Australia as part of the Federal Government’s National Broadband Network project.
River City Labs to double in size with new Fortitude Valley premises
Not-for-profit co-working space and startup hub River City Labs has announced plans to double in size within the next six months, following a shift to new premises.
Turnbull faces questions on NBN journalist bullying
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has faced a number of questions from the media over the past 24 hours as to whether his actions towards ABC journalist Nick Ross and others has constituted 'bullying' journalists with respect to the contentious National Broadband Network issue in his portfolio.
Western Sydney Uni deploys 5,000 Microsoft Surface tablets
Western Sydney University is to deploy 5,000 Microsoft Surface 3 devices in order to boost flexible learning within its courses.
Aussie Windows counterfeit disks contain malware
Testing conducted by Microsoft Australia has revealed that many counterfeit Windows and Office software disks sold in local markets contain malware, in a revelation which the software giant hopes will stimulate more consumers to buy legit copies of its products.
amaysim buys fellow mobile telco Vaya
Mobile telco amaysim this morning announced it had bought privately owned Vaya for $70 million, in a move that will add some 140,000 subscribers to amaysim's customer database and further consolidate the already tight mobile market.
A handful of complex Australian Oracle rollouts
Over the past month, Oracle has revealed its involvement in a series of new Australian technology rollout projects, with all of the initiatives using multiple pieces of the US software giant's complex software stack and some additionally using some of the hardware products which it has been pushing following its integration of Sun Microsystems.
Gillard repeats: Abbott would ‘rip the NBN fibre up’
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has repeated her claim that a Coalition Government would physically remove the National Broadband Networks' fibre cables out of the ground if it were to take office.
New Coalition NBN policy: Splitting Telstra, using HFC
The Federal Coalition has proposed a new National Broadband Network policy which would see Australia provided with broadband through a combination of developed HFC cable in urban areas, splitting up Telstra into wholesale and retail arms to serve suburban and regional areas, and wireless and satellite solutions to serve the rest of Australia in remote regions.
Lessons for Australia? UK outlaws IT contracts larger than £100m
The UK Government has taken a startling new stance on major IT contracts, outlawing new deals larger than £100 million (AU$190m) and declaring that it's time the country moved past traditional arrangements with "legacy technology giants", in a move which appears to mirror similar State Government initiatives in Australia.
Consumer advocacy group calls for independent assessment of TPP
Consumer advocacy group CHOICE has called for an independent assessment of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement after the full text was released last week – months after the Australian government already agreed to its terms.
Private equity sells up: Mincom bought again
Just over four years ago, one of Australia’s largest home-grown software businesses, a company that had been fuelled by the national resources boom, was bought by US-based private equity fund Francisco Partners. Today the private equity lifecycle has come full circle: Mincom has been sold again.
Auditor General: WA Govt should “prioritise online delivery of services”
Western Australian Auditor General Colin Murphy has released a report saying there are "significant savings and benefits" to moving government services online.
REA Group moves email to Telstra’s cloud
Online real estate giant REA Group has migrated its in-house staff email system to Telstra's T-Suite platform, purchasing 750 Exchange Online accounts in what Telstra said was its biggest T-Suite cloud computing deal so far.
Vocus to buy Nextgen Networks for $861m
Vocus Communications has announced the acquisition of Nextgen Networks, along with two undersea cable projects, the North West Cable System and Australia Singapore Cable.
Budget 2016: Major Child Care, Veterans’ IT reform projects approved
The Federal Government has approved several hundred million dollars' worth of funding to reform key IT platforms in the Department of Human Services and Veterans' Affairs, in moves that will unlock substantial IT transformation packages of work.
Interpol filter: Does it breach user agreements?
Does the mandatory implementation of a limited Internet filtering scheme by Telstra and Optus constitute a breach of the ISPs' existing agreements with their users? So far the situation is unclear, according to Australia's Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.
“Red tape”: Industry group slams Victoria’s opt-in NBN
Australia's peak technology industry representative group has sharply criticised Victoria's new Coalition Government for its apparent decision to reject an 'opt-out' approach to rolling out the National Broadband Network in the state in favour of requiring residents and businesses to 'opt-in'.
TPG wins deal with I-MED for national network
TPG Telecom has inked a "multimillion dollar" deal with medical imaging company I-MED Network that will see the telco deliver a dedicated high-speed network connecting all I-MED locations across Australia.
Vodafone, 3 Mobile, Telstra, Optus to offer iPad plans
Mobile carrier VHA today revealed it would offer dedicated iPad pricing plans for all of the models of Apple's new tablet from the end of May in Australia on both its 3 and Vodafone brands.
Tassie education dept wants Mac, Linux anti-virus
Tasmania's Department of Education has gone to market for anti-virus software for its 40,000 desktop PCs and 1,000 servers, specifying solutions must be able to secure not only Microsoft Windows, but also Mac OS X and Linux, in a move that once again raises the question of whether the alternative platforms require dedicated security software.
YOU’RE WRONG AGAIN, Hackett tells Conroy
Simon Hackett has accused Communications Minister Stephen Conroy of again making factually incorrect statements about Internode's approach to the National Broadband Network, claiming Conroy hadn't even read some of Hackett's recent statements on the matter.
ATO re-negotiates Accenture engagement
The Australian Taxation Office appears to have re-negotiated its arrangement with Accenture to carry out work on its troubled Change Program, ending its current contract with the IT services giant and beginning a new one.
Vodafone hints at Aussie Nexus One launch
Vodafone Australia's official Twitter account has promised customers more information on an Australian launch of the Nexus One by the end of the week, adding fuel to the fire of speculation that the mobile telco will launch Google's Android-based smartphone in Australia.
Eftel buys Engin from Seven
Diversified media group Seven has offloaded its ill-fated Internet telephony business Engin for just $9.1 million, in the second move by Seven this year to shift its emphasis away from failed investments in Australia’s telecommunications sector.
Not just metadata: ASIC wants content retained
Australia’s financial regulator has called for the content of online communications – not just the metadata associated with the communications – to be retained as part of the Federal Government’s data retention and Internet surveillance package being pushed by the Attorney-General’s Department, in a move which was immediately damned by critics of the proposed scheme.
Most remaining Dick Smith stores to close
With the exception of airport locations, all remaining Dick Smith and Move stores across Australia and New Zealand are to close, according to the receiving company Ferrier Hodgson.
Software Qld tears State Govt a new one
The chairman of Software Queensland has ripped into the State Government in a fiery speech, telling the state's IT Minister to stop attending meetings of a joint working group and lambasting Queensland's public sector project management, while highlighting the efforts of industry figures such as PIPE Networks founder Bevan Slattery, a "money making machine".
NBN Co seeks IT ops manager
The state-owned company behind the National Broadband Network has advertised for a top-level manager to lead its newly created IT operations team.
Google Wi-Fi breach ‘inadvertent’, say police
The Australian Federal Police has dropped any case against Google over its high-profile blunder in collecting Wi-Fi data with its Street View cars, noting the data collection may have been "inadvertent" rather than a deliberate privacy breach.
Coalition rejected: 78% support Labor’s NBN
An informal online poll taken by the ABC appears to have shown that voters have already rejected the Coalition's rival National Broadband Network policy, with 78 percent of some 5,700 readers noting that they didn't support the policy revealed last week.
Telstra ploughs $50m into fixing network outages
The nation's biggest telco Telstra today revealed it would plough a combined $50 million of funding into initiatives designed to stop it from suffering future major mobile network outages of the type that it has suffered over the past several months.
NBN Co gets permanent North Sydney digs
NBN Co has taken out an eight-year lease on three levels (10,11 and 12) in the Innovation Place building on 100 Arthur St in North Sydney as its permanent Sydney office.
NBN gridlock resolved: FTTN congestion fixed for some
Some of the early adopters of the Government's preferred Fibre to the Node NBN rollout model have now resolved their problems and are achieving the speeds they were promised on the service, following pressure on the issue from Delimiter and the Opposition.
Dead and buried: Tasmania’s NBN joint venture
Some 18 months after it was first proposed and after a year of uncertainty about its legal structure, the various parties involved in the stillborn Tasmanian National Broadband Network joint venture with Aurora Energy have walked away from the idea.
Telstra’s cloud is growing – but not with Gmail
Telstra chief information officer John McInerney today said the telco was making increasing use of cloud computing technologies to support the work of its internal staff.
vividwireless revamps broadband plans
Wireless telco vividwireless has unveiled minor changes to its broadband plan range, boosting download quotas across the board and bundling voice services into its offering.
Turnbull ‘has no clue what he is doing’, says Paul Budde
Veteran telecommunications analyst Paul Budde has accused Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull of having “no clue what he was doing” with the National Broadband Network project, in the wake of news that the Coalition’s Multi-Technology Mix approach to the NBN has blown out in cost by up to $15 billion.
Tassie Govt issues $17m PC tender
The Tasmanian Treasury, on behalf of the Tasmanian Government, has issued a request for tenders for a $17 million information, communication and technology hardware contract which will provide new end user equipment to government offices across the state.
Abbott confirms Coalition FTTN policy; Hints Turnbull will be Comms Minister
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott this afternoon confirmed the Coalition would take Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull's fibre to the node-based broadband plan to the Federal Election as its broadband policy and appeared to hint that Turnbull would become Communications Minister in an Abbott administration.
ACCC raises competition concerns over NBN’s Telstra HFC deal
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has expressed concerns around Telstra’s involvement in the rollout of the NBN network, saying it poses a threat to competition.
NTT swoops on Frontline
NTT today revealed it would purchase 70 percent of Australian technology services firm Frontline Systems, in the Japanese technology consortium’s second major step into the Australian market, following the acquisition of tier two IT services player Dimension Data in mid-2010.
NBN Co seeks passive network suppliers
The National Broadband Network Company has commenced a request for proposals process through which it will seek suppliers of passive network equipment -- or in other words, the optical fibre and terminal connecting devices which will constitute its planned network around the nation.
Telstra to stream ABC, SBS to Next G mobiles
Telstra today made the ABC1 and SBS ONE TV channels available for viewing by mobile customers who have signed up for its Mobile Foxtel packs -- which start from $12 per month or $4 per day on its Next G mobile phone network.
One year later: TASSIE SCHOOLS NOT ON THE NBN
Almost a year after the National Broadband Network was officially switched on in Tasmania, the State Government has been forced to concede that no school in the early stage release towns of Scottsdale, Midway Point and Smithton have actually been connected to the next-generation fibre Internet the project will provide.
Delicious buys Aussie startup Trunk.ly
Global social bookmarking company Delicious has bought Australian startup Trunk.ly, less than a year after the site launched in the wake of Delicious' own temporary sunset at the hands of former owner Yahoo.
Quickflix sacks one third of workforce
Ailing IPTV and online DVD rental business Quickflix has revealed plans to sack one third of its workforce and initiate a plethora of other restructuring moves as it struggles to keep its trouble-plagued business afloat.
iiBorg assimilates Adam Internet
Highly acquisitive Internet service provider iiNet has revealed plans to buy Adelaide-based ISP Adam Internet, swooping in quickly on the company following the collapse of a controversial deal that would have seen it bought by Australia's incumbent telco Telstra.
Pirate Party calls for resignation of ABS chief over Census debacle
The Pirate Party has hit out at the Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) handling of the Census, saying it "incompetently" allowed the online data collection to "fail" and that the bureau's head, David Kalisch, should resign as a result.
iPhone 4 to hit Australia in July
The next version of the iPhone will hit Australia in July as part of the second wave of countries to receive the handset, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs revealed this morning after demonstrating the new device.
“Diabolical mess”, “Scandal of epic proportions”: NT ICT Minister damns Fujitsu to hell in...
Those of you who’ve been with us for a while will recall that the Northern Territory Government is more than a little annoyed at technology giant Fujitsu for what it sees as the company’s botched implementation of a new asset management system using software from German giant SAP. But what you may not have realised is just how annoyed the Territorians are. Well, to get the full feeling, you need to read this extraordinary statement made by NT Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Corporate and Information Services David Tollner in Parliament last week.
Evernote buys Aussie startup Skitch
Information collation service Evernote has acquired Australian startup Skitch, which publishes a popular Mac OS X image editing application and associated web service, for an amount which has not been disclosed.
Australia not on Internet piracy watchlist, says Internet Australia
Advocacy group Internet Australia has said that despite the "huffing and puffing" from Australia-based representatives of overseas content rights holders, Australia is not on the US Government’s official content piracy watchlist.
Qld hires E&Y to evaluate CITEC sale
The Queensland Government has engaged consulting firm EY (formerly Ernst & Young) to conduct a strategic review of its CITEC IT shared services business, in a sign that it is considering following the recommendations of the Costello Commission of Audit report and selling the business to the private sector.
Systems for People done, Correll retires
Long-time Department of Immigration and Citizenship chief information officer Bob Correll has retired from his role, following the completion of most of the work under the department's mammoth Systems for People internal technology revamp.
Aurecon appoints new tech chief
International engineering and advisory company Aurecon has appointed ex-Toll Group tech specialist Carl Duckinson as its new Chief Information Officer.
NT Govt commits $186m to e-health record system
The Northern Territory has announced plans to spend $186 million on a jurisdiction-wide, integrated electronic health record system.
Cisco unveils DOCSIS design for massive HFC upload speeds
Cisco has unveiled a royalty-free design for a Full Duplex DOCSIS specification that it claims will produce upload speeds of up to 10 Gbps.
Quigley’s right: Morrow says $15bn NBN blowout “mostly” relates to MTM
NBN chief executive Bill Morrow this morning broadly confirmed analysis by his predecessor Mike Quigley showing that the up to $15 billion blowout in the NBN company's costs was due to the Multi-Technology Mix imposed by Malcolm Turnbull, in a move that appears set to increase the pressure on the Government over the issue.
Qld launches whole of government IaaS panel
The Queensland State Government has gone to market to set up a whole of government cloud computing panel which would allow its many departments and agencies to purchase IT infrastructure services in this category from a set list of suppliers.
NBN imports Canadian HFC cable expert as CTO
The National Broadband Network Company has appointed a new chief technology and security officer who has extensive experience running a HFC cable network but little with other forms of network deployment, in a move which mirrors the Coalition's changed focus for the company's network rollout.
Optus adds unlimited iPad plan
In what appears to be a direct counter to Vodafone's launch on Wednesday of an Apple iPad plan featuring an unlimited download allowance, Optus has quietly launched its own unlimited iPad plan.
Did the US State Dept merely query filter policy?
The office of Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has issued a statement which appears to imply the US State Department had merely asked the Federal Government for background information on its controversial internet filtering project.
Google Fiber will go to 10Gbps
Search giant Google has revealed it is planning to upgrade its residential-grade Google Fiber broadband network in the United States to 10Gbps; news that comes as Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has stated that it is "difficult, if not impossible" to find uses for a broadband service with speeds up to 1Gbps -- ten times less.
Turnbull won’t disclose rival NBN policy details
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has repeatedly declined to be nailed down on the specific details of how much the Coalition’s rival National Broadband Network policy will cost taxpayers, what speeds it will provide or how many Australians its infrastructure will reach, in a wide-ranging television interview this week.
Qld Govt Depts have no disaster recovery plan
Two sizable Queensland Government departments have no central disaster recovery plan, the state’s Auditor-General has found, despite the region’s ongoing struggles with extreme weather conditions that have previously knocked out telecommunications and data centre infrastructure.
Greens’ Ludlam loses WA Senate seat
Technology-focused Greens politician Scott Ludlam has formally lost his Senate seat in Western Australia, the Australian Electoral Commission confirmed today, in a move which will be interpreted as a substantial blow to the digital rights movement in Australia.
‘Cooked books’, ‘funny money’, ‘trickery’: Coalition on NBN budgeting
Leading Opposition figures have slammed the Government's handling of funding for the National Broadband Network in this week's Federal Budget, alleging that the project's finances are being misallocated to cover up holes that would have sabotaged the policy aim of delivering a budget surplus.
Who are Australia’s richest technologists?
We've always loved the annual rich list published by Fairfax magaxine Business Review Weekly. It's like gossip for the absolute top end of town. Each year you get to gloat as you see how family millionaires' fortunes fell a little this year on the rankings, and enjoy the success of young guns rising to the top on the back of their own effort.
Ovum nicks Intermedium’s consulting chief
Analyst firm Ovum has nicked government technology advisory firm Intermedium's head of consulting, Kevin Noonan, to lead its Canberra-based public sector practice.
Optus demos Nokia Siemens Networks LTE
Optus and Nokia Siemens Networks successfully demonstrated Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile technology at a Thai restaurant in Gordon today, but did not make clear exactly when the upgrade to its 3G network would take place.
AT&T expands gigabit business fibre at cities across US
AT&T is giving a speed boost to its Business Fiber internet services in a long list of US markets, including San Francisco, Miami and Dallas.
Google staff to get free Nexus S handsets
There have always been perks to working for much-hyped global technology giant Google. Great food, 20 percent time to work on your own projects and an incredibly relaxed but innovative and work environment.
Screw you, Australia: We’ll get new Google gear late and pay more
US-headquartered technology giant Google has completely left Australia off the list of countries that will receive its new smartphones, tablet and other devices announced in the United States overnight, with countries like the UK, Korea, Japan and even Ireland getting the nod over the lucky country for access to the new kit and Australians to pay more when the devices do eventually launch
Audit finds “weaknesses” in Turnbull’s Mobile Blackspot Programme
The Australian National Audit Office has released a report criticising aspects of the Federal Government’s handling of the Mobile Black Spot Programme.
Mass piracy lawsuits are back in Australia: Law firm targets end users’ details
A Sydney-based law firm has issued a series of letters to major Australian ISPs requesting they hand over the details of users who have allegedly used peer to peer Internet file sharing platforms to pirate content owned by the firm's clients, in a move which appears set to reopen the debate about how such cases should be handled in Australia.
“Below target”: Andrew Bolt slams NBN progress
Conservative commentator Andrew Bolt has continued his ongoing series of attacks on Labor's flagship National Broadband Network project, claiming that the project is behind target and describing the way it accounts for having finished network construction in a given area as being "rubbery".
PushStart gives startups a leg up
A new Australian incubator for startups, PushStart, has formed and is head-hunting for volunteer mentors.
Profiteers snap up Boston Marathon, Waco domain names
Australia’s tight domain name policies may have prevented opportunistic cybersquatters from cashing in on local disasters, but this week’s Boston Marathon bombing and Waco fertiliser explosion have had less luck avoiding cybesquatters, analysis by a local domain-name specialist has revealed.
Exetel releases $55 ‘Fair Use’ unlimited ADSL plan
National broadband provider Exetel has once again dipped its toe into the 'Unlimited' broadband plan market, launching a new offering at $55 and $65 monthly price points (including telephone line rental) that will see customers who exceed average usage patterns requested to reduce their downloading habits.
Curtin Uni, ANZ Bank to deploy Microsoft Surface
Western Australia's Curtin University of Technology and ANZ Bank have both flagged plans to deploy Microsoft's Surface multi-touch tabletop system, which went on sale in Australia today.
Turnbull launches national broadband survey
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has launched a new national broadband survey which the Liberal MP said would allow Australians to determine the speed of their existing broadband services and which would provide data to help make better broadband available to “those who need upgrades” the most.
Say hello to the Telstra ‘Netboys’
Oh dear ... how did this get through the marketing budget approval process?
Australian Govt pledges action on Google tax avoidance
The Australian Government has outlined a series of new legislative initiatives with which it will attempt to protect its corporate tax base and rein in the tax minimisation strategies of corporations such as search giant Google, which expects to pay just $74,000 in corporate income tax for the 2011 calendar year in Australia, despite making an estimated $1 billion in local revenue.
Data#3 flags job cuts: Read the internal email
There was one little fact which Data#3 didn't disclose to investors during its financial results briefing session this week: Job cuts
Tasmania flags telco contract overhaul
The Tasmanian State Government has lifted the lid on a major overhaul of the way it buys voice and mobile telecommunications services, in an initiative which could see other providers take more of the telco spending pie it currently mainly allocates to Telstra.
Photos: Conroy enjoying himself at NBN launch
Last week, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy attended an event held by Nextgen Networks in Mulgrave, Victoria, to mark the halfway point in the completion of the National Broadband Network Regional Backbone Blackspots Program, which is seeing fibre rolled out in remote locations around Australia.
Australia gets quite the raw deal in expensive Apple iPhone, TV, iPad launch
Australians have been left with something of a raw deal from Apple’s launch this morning of new models in its new iPhone, TV and iPad lines, with the giant vendor revealing locals will pay more for the product lines than they previously did and receive some products later.
ACCC sues firm for alleged fake iPad sales to Aboriginal communities
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has started Federal Court proceedings against a company alleged to have sold counterfeit iPads to Aboriginal communities.
Optus dumps off-peak quota, raises prices
news The nation's number two telco Optus has revamped its broadband plan structure in a move which will see it follow rival iiNet and dump the practice of separating quota into on- and off-peak chunks, but it has also simultaneously raised prices on most broadband plans, in a move that has already angered some customers.
Photos: Rain floods NBN nodes in Bowral
Heavy rain appears to have flooded Fibre to the Node infrastructure in the rural New South Wales town of Bowral, potentially causing a dangerous situation for local residents and causing outages with the local National Broadband Network.
Cash Converters joins BMC’s cloud
BMC Software’s software as a service offering Remedy on Demand has won the trust of multinational second-hand goods trader Cash Converters, which today revealed it will use the platform to manage business service incidents across its 310 outlets in both Australia and the UK.
Qld dumps cabinet ministers’ bags for iPads
The Queensland Government has revealed plans to become the first government in Australia to dump the traditional cabinet briefing bags full of paper documents and issue all of its ministers with iPads instead, for electronic access to the same information.
Support Wikipedia blackout, Greens tell Labor
The Australian Greens Party has demanded that Australia's Labor Federal Government support efforts such as Wikipedia's site blackout initiative to protest the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and associated legislation currently being considered by the US Government.
Telstra signs up first Next G wholesaler
The nation's largest telco Telstra today revealed it had signed up the first telco customer to resell its flagship Next G network, with the company being itself a wholesaler of telecommunications services named iTelecom Wholesale.
Spence to leave Unwired
Long-time Unwired chief executive David Spence (pictured) will hand over responsibility for the Unwired business to the chief executive of Seven telecommunications stablemate vividwireless,...
Data retention confusion could send “many” small ISPs broke, says Internet Australia
Australia’s peak body representing Internet users has warned that “some, perhaps many” of Australia’s smaller Internet service providers could be forced out of business in the near term as a result of the lack of clarity over the Federal Government’s plans to reimburse ISPs for part of the cost of implementing its controversial data retention policy.
Budget 2010: E-Health gets $466.7 million
The Federal Government has allocated a huge chunk of change in this year's Budget towards the creation of long-awaited electronic health records for Australians -- $466.7 million over two years to support the initiative.
Planned NBN cyber security centre will bring new jobs to Melbourne
The Victorian Government has announced that a new cyber security centre to be built as part of the National Broadband Network (NBN) infrastructure will help create 700 new high-skilled jobs in Melbourne over the next four years.
“Extraordinary”: Telcos slam Turnbull’s Dept for backing Telstra over consumers
A group of major Australian telcos have issued a fiery statement damning Malcolm Turnbull’s Department of Communications for its “extraordinary” attempt to support Telstra’s profitability and keep telecommunications prices from dropping.
Microsoft breaks Telstra Office 365 monopoly
Technology giant Microsoft has revealed plans to break the monopoly which its partner Telstra has on selling its Office 365 software as a service productivity suite in Australia, in a move which will widen the software's ecosystem substantially.
IPA damns “extraordinary” data retention policy
One of Australia's most prominent conservative and free market-focused think tanks has published a strongly worded critique damning the Federal Government’s planned telecommunications surveillance and data retention reform package as "excessive" and "systematically" breaching Australians' right to privacy.
Attorney-General briefed on PRISM months before Snowden leaks
Documents obtained by the ABC under Freedom of Information laws have shown that then-Labor Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus received a secret briefing on the US National Security Agency's controversial PRISM surveillance program several months before the program was outed by whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Origin searches for Head of Cloud Services
Australian energy provider Origin is on the hunt for an experienced executive to take on the role of Head of Cloud Services as the firm moves towards a "cloud first" strategy.
Ludlam raises OzLog issue in Senate
Greens Communications Spokesperson Scott Ludlam has questioned the Federal Government in the Senate over a controversial new proposal that could see Australians’ web browsing, email and telephone records tracked by internet services providers.
Canon acquires Converga from New Zealand Post
Canon Australia announced Monday it has fully acquired New Zealand Post Group subsidiary Converga for an undisclosed sum.
AT&T continues 1Gbps FTTP rollout across US
AT&T has announced the expansion of its ultra-fast all-fibre broadband service into more parts of the USA, with the aim of vastly expanding availability by the end of 2016.
Turnbull “copper” NBN plan “bizarre”, says Albo
Communications Minister and Deputy PM Anthony Albanese has taken a pick axe to the Coalition's rival NBN policy, describing its reuse of portions of Telstra's copper network as "bizarre" and "neanderthal", despite the fact that its so-called 'fibre to the node' rollout scheme has been used successfully by British telco BT and other telcos across Europe and the US to upgrade broadband speeds to millions of premises.
Telstra to launch first 4G Windows phone
Telstra will shortly launch its first smartphone based on Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating system that will support 4G mobile speeds, according to a product catalogue seen by local Windows Phone enthusiast site WPDownUnder, with the model to be a HTC Titan II 4G.
It’s Toshiba’s turn for an Android tablet
Toshiba has joined the long queue of international manufacturers launching an Android tablet in Australia, revealing late yesterday that its AT100 tablet would reach Australian shores at the end of this month.
Optus lacks vision and strategy, says Budde
Telecommunications analyst Paul Budde has published an entry in his blog thanking Optus, Australia’s second largest telco, on its 20th birthday for its contribution to telecommunications in the country over the last two decades, but also cautioning it on its lack of a vision for the future.
Photos: NBN Co leaves FTTN ‘micronode’ completely open to public access
The rollout of the Coalition's preferred Fibre to the Node technology has suffered another setback, with the revelation that the NBN company is leaving 'micronode' infrastructure completely open to public access, in a substantial security breach.
Labor, Coalition vote against strong encryption in Senate
Both of Australia's major political parties have explicitly rejected a Senate motion calling on the Government to support public use of strong encryption technologies, in a move that comes in the wake of the US Government's demand that Apple provide it with a backdoor for open access to its iPhone handset.
CommBank reveals Harte’s replacement
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has promoted an internal executive who joined the bank in September after a lengthy career at petroleum giant VP and IT services group Accenture to replace its outgoing chief information officer Michael Harte, who announced in early May that he would leave the bank.
Accenture to develop Ipswich smart city strategy
The Ipswitch City Council has selected IT integrator and consultancy Accenture to progress what it has dubbed its 'Smart City' Transformation Strategy and Implementation Plan, as the Queensland City seeks to take the next step in its own development.
NEC Australia suffering “profitability challenges”
The new managing director of diversified technology solutions group NEC has warned its Australian employees the group is facing "immediate profitability challenges" despite having a "very healthy" pipeline of contracts.
Internode manager proposes in video game session
An online game of Team Fortress 2 in late February became the unusual setting for Internode web site manager Taryn Hicks to propose to her long-time boyfriend Derek Adams.
Tag cloud developer cries Conroy foul
A software developer who claims to have written the code behind the controversial tag cloud widget on the website of Communications Minister Stephen Conroy’s web site has cried foul over what he sees as misuse of his tool.
Contactless payment hits Woolworths
National retailer Woolworths this afternoon revealed plans to roll out the incoming generation of contactless payment facilities across all of its brands, providing yet another validation of the technology which has already been adopted by several major banks.
Secret anti-piracy talks pointless, says iiNet
National broadband provider iiNet has fired a full barrage of vitriol at the content industry on the morning on which closed door talks held by the Government on the issue are due to re-commence, arguing in a highly public blog post that discussing a path forward with content industry groups was like "talking to a brick wall".
Australia Post sues digital rival over name similarity
Australia Post has instituted legal proceedings against fledgling e-post joint venture Digital Post Australia with reference to the similarity in the name of the company with its own well-established brand. It has sought an injunction in the Federal Court to stop Digital Post Australia from using the name ‘Digital Post Australia’ for its digital mailbox service.
Traffic spat disturbs group buying market
A war of words has erupted in Australia's fast-growing group buying market, after new entrant Groupon claimed it had already secured the lion's share of local web traffic in the category, despite having only launched in mid-February this year.
Apple, Google the new threat, warns Optus
Optus chief executive Paul O’Sullivan has warned of new “dangerous” players in the telecommunications market that could create new monopolies in the field of content and applications, flagging iconic US technology giants Google and Apple specifically as being worthy of attention.
Coalition implodes in Internet filter fail
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been forced to issue an embarassing retraction regarding the publication of a new online child safety policy late yesterday afternoon, which had initially stated that the Coalition was planning to resurrect Labor's failed mandatory Internet filtering scheme.
Telstra invests in NGINX web server project
Telstra Ventures – the venture capital arm of the major telecommunications firm – has announced a strategic investment in NGINX, a San Francisco-based company providing open-source web server software that supports many of the world’s busiest websites.
Megaport wins access to TPG’s datacentres
Independent telco interconnection company Megaport appears to have emerged as the victor in a landmark legal decision about whether telcos such as TPG are compelled to allow independent operators to connect infrastructure to serve customers located in their datacentres.
Is IBM’s Flight Deck union debacle over?
IBM today said it had concluded long-running talks with the Australian Services Union that saw the pair front up earlier this year before workplace...
Wrong: NBN Co rejects News Ltd wireless science
NBN Co's chief technology officer has published an article strongly rejecting a claim by News Ltd publications last week that recent scientific breakthroughs in the area of wireless science could make the predominantly fibre-based National Broadband Project irrelevant.
Immigration dumps Lotus in Microsoft focus
The Federal Department of Immigration and Citizenship has revealed as part of documents associated with a major IT outsourcing initiative that it is midway through the process of migrating off its Lotus Notes/Domino email platform and onto Microsoft's rival Outlook/Exchange system, as well as a number of other modernisation initiatives.
Gillard promises independents Quigley briefing
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has invited the group of three returning independent MPs to meet directly with NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley, as the trio continue to push for more information about Labor's National Broadband Network policy.
Caliburn rubber-stamps NBN business case
Corporate advisory firm Greenhill Caliburn has delivered a positive appraisal of NBN Co’s business case in a report published this morning by the Federal Government, with the firm labelling the broadband company’s assumptions of its future operations as “reasonable”.
NEHTA releases health identifier plan
The nation's peak e-health group has released a comprehensive set of documents that outline how the Federal Government's $466.7 million electronic health record/health identifier project will be implemented over the coming years, and how it will work in practice.
Luna Park madness: Visual Studio 2010 launch
Earlier this week Microsoft took over Sydney's Luna Park to launch its Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 platforms. The result looked like a whole lot of fun!
Internode launches NBN wireless, reveals pricing
National broadband provider Internode today started selling fixed wireless services over the National Broadband Network's fledgling wireless broadband footprint, with the ISP's pricing in the area to be the same as its pricing on the lowest speed tier (12Mbps) of its NBN fibre plans.
Senate backs Greens motion for ‘refocus’ on electric cars in SA
The Senate has backed a motion from the Australian Greens calling on the government to "refocus" South Australia's car manufacturing industry on electric vehicles.
Telstra launches 4G Wi-Fi hotspot
The nation's largest telco Telstra has launched 4G LTE Mobile Wi-Fi device, allowing Australians in 4G coverage areas to enjoy high-speed mobile Internet on their Wi-Fi-enabled laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Pirate Party slams Lundy’s ‘censorship lite’
The fledgling Pirate Party has attacked the opt-out amendment being proposed by Labor Senator Kate Lundy (pictured) to the Government's mandatory ISP filtering legislation as "censorship lite", saying it was a "hollow response" to the community's concerns about the project.
Qantas deploys 2,200 iPads to pilots
Pilots on the nation’s biggest airline Qantas will shortly starting using iPads to access the wide range of operational information they need to do their job instead of printed paper, under a partnership announced today between the airline and telco partner Telstra.
E-Health records become a reality for three sites
The Federal Government's $466.7 million e-health records scheme will shortly start to surface in patients lives in the real world, with Health Minister Nicola Roxon this morning announcing three trial general practitioner networks that will start to implement the technology.
Defence to splurge $500m on cyber-wargames centre
The Federal Government has approved a new joint electronic warfare project worth $500 million aimed to better prepare the Australian armed forces for operations in "complex threat environments".
Internode snips broadband plan range
National broadband provider Internode today announced it would massively simplify its broadband plans on offer, cutting out 60 of its 78 plans.
Apple of the isle: The NBN expands in Tasmania
The National Broadband Network Company this morning released maps and timing details for the next stage of its fibre rollout in Tasmania, with the network construction to affect some 11,150 homes and business across the state over the next year.
Barry O’Farrell likes … Windows Phone 7?
Just when you thought New South Wales politics couldn't get any stranger, along comes this Seven News report of Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell visiting Microsoft HQ in what looks to be North Ryde to talk about ... we're not quite sure -- some sort of $40 million website facelift involving automatic pothole detection and Windows Phone 7?
Fujitsu + Oakton push as cloud momentum grows
The Australian market for cloud computing services intensified further this week, with several major IT services firms releasing details of their push to win business from large organisations increasingly demonstrating an appetite for the next generation platform.
Vodafone to cut up to 500 jobs
Troubled mobile telco Vodafone has flagged its second staff restructure in less than a year, in a move that has seen a number of senior executives appointed and internal investment priorities changes, and which could see up to 500 staff lose their roles in the near future, representing about 10 percent of the company’s Australian workforce.
‘Too busy’: Attorney-General refuses election interview on online rights issues
Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has flatly refused to take part in a live election interview on key technology issues in his portfolio, such as copyright reform, data retention, telecommunications surveillance and Internet piracy, stipulating instead that all questions on the issues must be submitted in writing.
ThinkPad Carbon tax only 22%, says Lenovo
Chinese PC manufacturer Lenovo has sought to clarify the Australian pricing on the new 'Carbon' version of its popular ThinkPad X1 laptop, issuing a statement noting that Australian customers would only pay 22 percent more for the model instead of 60 percent as previously believed.
Treasury flags VoIP upgrade
The Federal Department of the Treasury has gone to market for a supplier to replace its existing PABX with a Voice over Internet telephony (VOIP) system.
IT price comparisons not useful, says AIIA
The IT industry's peak lobby group today said it was "not useful" to directly compare prices on technology goods and services between Australia and other countries and that increased Australian prices on such goods reflected different conditions and protections locally compared with other countries.
We predicted NBN construction blow-outs: Turnbull
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull late last week claimed the Opposition and sections of the telecommunications industry had predicted the NBN construction costs would blow out beyond the Government's estimates, in the wake of news that NBN Co had been forced to halt its tendering process in the area, after negotiations with suppliers broke down over price.
Piracy: iiNet refutes content industry “doom and gloom”
National broadband provider iiNet has renewed its public attack on the content industry, using a high-profile report published in February to push the argument that the overall global content ecosystem is booming and that content providers should stop trying to stop Internet piracy and instead focus on new business models.
Telstra tests high-speed encryption on its carrier network
Telstra has trialled high-speed optical encryption in its production network between Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney claiming it as a "world first" in data safety.
Conroy retains broadband portfolio, Wong takes finance
Senator Stephen Conroy has retained the portfolio of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy in the new Gillard Labor Government and been slightly promoted, while former Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has taken Lindsay Tanner's role in Finance and Deregulation.
Reader giveaway: A new Nexus 7!
Today we're kicking off a new competition to give away one of Google's new Nexus 7 tablets: Just sign up for our weekly "Best of the Week" email newsletter before November 15 to enter.
Conroy: NBN RFP was worth doing
Communciations Minister Stephen Conroy has responded to the release of a somewhat critical audit report into the first, terminated National Broadband Network request for proposals process, saying the process was valuable.
Tassie NBN JV: Conroy to meet with Bartlett
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy tonight said he would be meeting with Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett very shortly to discuss the commercial structure of the NBN in the state, amid criticism from the Opposition about the fact that a planned joint venture with State Government-owned utility Aurora Energy has not eventuated.
Android tablets: Weaker sales than expected
Apple will take an even stronger slice of Australia's fast-growing tablet market than previously expected, one of the nation's major technology analyst firms said today, with Android vendors slow to bring their devices to market and not having different enough features to take much away from the iPad 2.
Brumby, Downer, to guide Huawei
Chinese technology manufacturer Huawei has appointed two former heavy-hitting politicians to its Australian board of directors as it continues its drive to demonstrate the independence of its Australian operation.
Turnbull’s MTM NBN plan “in crisis” says Jason Clare
The Opposition today said the Multi-Technology Mix plan which Malcolm Turnbull imposed on the National Broadband Network project was "in crisis", following revelations published over the weekend that its Fibre to the Node centrepiece was substantially behind projections and suffering a litany of issues.
Internode sale shows NBN killing competition: Turnbull
news iiNet's buyout of fellow ISP Internode demonstrated the dramatic reduction in competition Labor's flagship National Broadband Network policy was wreaking on Australia's telecommunications...
Atlassian sends graduates to beach house
Atlassian has stationed 10 of its finest software graduates at the ‘Hack House’, a beach house in Narrabeen up the coat from the company’s Sydney headquarters. The ‘Gradlassians’, as they’ve been nicknamed, will spend a week combining surfing fun and hard work, developing a new product innovation ready for shipment by the end of the week.
NSW Police trialling body cameras to record everything
US-based body camera vendor Reveal Media has announced that the New South Wales police force is trialling use of its body cameras, in a move that will likely have transparency and accountability benefits for both ordinary Australians and officers.
Greens claim NSW LMBR project turning into a disaster
The NSW Greens late last week claimed to have obtained documents showing that the NSW Department of Education and Communities' wide-ranging Learning Management and Business Reform program, which involves a number of rolling upgrades of business administration software, was deployed before it was ready, with "appalling consequences for administrative staff, principals, teachers and students".
Groupon buys low-profile Melbourne site
Giant US group buying company Groupon has made what appears to be its first acquisition in Australia, picking up a Melbourne-based deals site named Crowdmass, which was founded just 12 months ago.
EFA has mixed feelings on anti-piracy scheme
Digital rights group Electronic Frontiers Australia has indicated there are both positive and negative aspects to a plan unveiled last week by the ISP industry to deal with Internet piracy.
NBN: How core is self-interest to the debate?
One of the signatories to a national broadband proposal unveiled at the eleventh hour to rival Labor’s own long-running NBN project has accused vendors and telcos of stirring up hype for a fibre-optic cable future in line with a view to serving their own interests in generating massive contracts and gaining operating certainty.
BSAA, Microsoft want Aussie software piracy cops
The Business Software Alliance Australia -- a group which represents software companies on intellectual property issues -- has called for Australian governments to create specialised cyber cops who would track down software pirates and bring them to justice.
Delimiter to appeal Turnbull Blue Book censorship
Technology media outlet Delimiter today confirmed it would appeal a move by the Department of Communications to block the release of new Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull's 'Blue Book' incoming ministerial briefing under Freedom of Information laws.
Australian tech startup BigCommerce closes US$30m funding round
Australian e-commerce platform BigCommerce has announced the closure of a US$30 million (A$41 million) funding round.
Telstra delays NBN vote
The nation’s largest telco Telstra this morning revealed it had been forced to delay a vote to be put to shareholders regarding whether it should go ahead with its $11 billion deal to transfer customers onto the National Broadband Network as the new fibre monopoly rolls out its infrastructure around the nation.
Telstra to make 480 positions redundant
On October 27th, Telstra informed the Communication Workers Union (CWU) about its proposed operational changes that will result in making 480 positions redundant. The majority of the affected positions are held by Telstra employees, while the rest include agency staff.
Budget 2016: The Govt is kind of obsessed with FinTech
The Government has continued its ongoing focus on boosting Australia's growing financial technology (FinTech) sector in this year's Federal Budget, announcing a range of initiatives to bolster the area.
Your cloud data was never secure, says Microsoft
Microsoft has attempted to dampen concerns about US Government access to Australian information hosted in American cloud computing facilities by claiming cooperation between governments would likely mean either country's law enforcement branches could get access data they wanted anyway -- regardless of where it was hosted.
IT sector? Australia doesn’t need it,claims Reserve Bank
Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens has waded into the debate about whether Australia needs a strong home-grown IT sector, claiming the nation hasn't been disadvantaged by failing to grow one since the dot com bubble burst a decade ago.
Sony Vaio line exits Australia, local jobs cut
After a decade and a half of only modest success with its VAIO PC and laptop line-up, technology giant Sony has finally confirmed the plans to remove the brand from the Australian market congruent with its sale to a Japanese investment giant, in a move that comes along with local job losses.
Optus launches 4G in Newcastle
National broadband provider Optus has upgraded its mobile network in the Newcastle and surrounding region to support fourth-generation (4G) mobile broadband speeds, in a test deployment ahead of a wider national rollout planned for later this year.
Free Microsoft massages for International Women’s Day
Microsoft yesterday provided women with the chance to "kick back and be pampered" at an International Women's Day event in Sydney's Wynyard park. One busy executive to enjoy the stress relief was Microsoft Australia managing director Tracey Fellows!
Return of the King: Kevin Rudd re-joins the NBN campaign
Kevin Rudd has given several major speeches and press conferences pushing the case for the National Broadband Project he launched as Prime Minister in April 2009 to cause a "revolution" in sectors from education to healthcare and tourism; adding the Coalition's alternative would leave Australia an "economic backwater".
Melbourne IT weakened by strong dollar
The Australian dollar's strong performance against the greenback has not helped local hosting giant Melbourne IT, which yesterday revealed a drop of five per cent in revenue over the past six months.
ACCC sues Apple over “misleading” 4G iPad claim
Australia's competition regulator will tomorrow (Wednesday) take iconic technology giant Apple to court for advertising its new iPad tablet as featuring "4G" speeds -- which are not supported on Australian telecommunications networks.
“Breathtaking arrogance”: Labor slams Turnbull’s support for Ziggy breach
The Opposition has described Malcolm Turnbull's support for the decision by NBN chair Ziggy Switkowski to ignore the Caretaker Conventions as displaying "breathtaking arrogance", and having opened the door for public officials to display politically partisan behaviour during elections in future.
Queensland policeman charged over unauthorised database access
A police constable from Queensland has been removed from official duty and charged with misconduct over unauthorised access of a police database, after an investigation by the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC).
New Qld shadow attacks OneSchool ‘delay’
Queensland's new Shadow ICT Minister Scott Emerson has slammed the state's Labor government this week for what he claimed were delays in Education Queensland's ongoing OneSchool project.
Campari replacing HP tablets with Microsoft Surface Pros
Specialist beverage company Campari has replaced HP tablets with Microsoft Surface Pros within its sales team, and is now rolling out the devices across the remainder of the business.
Over 300,000 Australian households access IPTV
Telsyte, the Australian independent technology analyst firm, has released a study showing an increase in the use of subscription TV over broadband, with more than 300,000 Australian households currently accessing an IPTV service. This is equivalent to about one in ten subscription TV services presently provided.
Optus targets renters with 50GB 4G wireless broadband plan
Australia’s second-largest telecommunications company, Optus, has announced a new 50GB 4G wireless broadband plan it says is perfect for renters or students who need to quickly set up a reliable Internet connection or those living in areas with no access to cable broadband.
NSC is gold for ShoreTel
ShoreTel yesterday revealed it had signed a strategic agreement with converged communications integrator NSC Group, which is also a key partner of rival IP telephony provider Avaya.
Litany of problems: Internal NBN doc warns of FTTN failures
The NBN company is reportedly suffering a litany of issues with respect to Malcolm Turnbull's preferred Fibre to the Node technology, with an internal document warning the company's management that its FTTN rollout has gone badly off track due to a "plethora of faults".
Video: Simon Hackett’s Tesla Roadster
Internet founder Simon Hackett yesterday posted this video of his record-breaking drive from Darwin to Adelaide as part of the Global Green Challenge in his hot red Tesla Roadster -- an all-electric vehicle. Hackett is believed to own the only Roadster in Australia.
AFP’s Avaya loyalty is up for grabs
Four years ago, as the IP telephony revolution hit full steam in Australia's organisations and the battle between giants like Cisco, Avaya and Nortel gathered pace, the Australian Federal Police was one of the strongest champions for the Avaya cause.
New policy: Labor would dump FTTN for FTTP, keep HFC
The Opposition today released a new National Broadband Network policy for the Federal Election, with Labor committing to dumping the Coalition's Fibre to the Node plans and supporting Fibre to the Premises instead, but keeping the other HFC cable, satellite and wireless aspects of the current plan.
APRA warning shows cloud maturity: Salesforce.com
A long-time proponent of cloud computing has hailed a warning by the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority about the technology as evidence of its maturity and growing adoption — rather than as a potential problem for the nation’s financial sector.
City of Melbourne out to mark new CIO
The City of Melbourne (CoM) has advertised on employment website Seek.com.au for a chief information officer position with a 3 year contract at $216,300 annual package.
Groupon finally enters Australia
Stardeals.com.au -- a new coupon website -- landed in Australia on Valentine's Day yesterday.
$380m baby: Tax’s desktop deal revealed
The Australian Taxation Office has revealed that its five-year desktop services contract with defence giant and IT contractor Lockheed Martin has a total pricetag of $380 million -- a number 25 percent higher than it had initially estimated.
iTNews report “entirely untrue”, says NBN Co
The National Broadband Network Company has labelled claims by iTNews yesterday that it was deliberately manipulating its rollout figures in order to put a more positive light on them as "entirely untrue", and argued that the publication's claims are "not supported by the facts".
Vodafone “pleased” with network fix progress
Mobile telco VHA this morning said it was pleased with the progress it had made in resolving customer complaints about its Vodafone brand, in reaction to the publication of a 30 page report by critic website Vodafail.com overnight, which details a raft of customer complaints about the telco.
Pirate Party comes fourth in Griffith
The Australian division of digital rights group the Pirate Party has taken fourth place in the Griffith by-election held in Brisbane over the weekend, in a result that placed the party ahead of other minor parties such as the Katter Australian Party and Family First.
AFP roadshow garnered #NatSecInquiry support
The Australian Federal Police has acknowledged that it sent one of its most senior officers to visit other law enforcement jurisdictions around Australia and encourage them to make submissions supporting the controversial data retention and surveillance proposal currently being discussed in Federal Parliament.
Coalition promises $120m IT schools fund
The Coalition has pledged to allocate $120 million towards a fund that would allocate grants to technology for schools around Australia, replacing Labor's computer for schools project.
BT announces huge FTTP rollout to 2 million premises
BT today announced an investment in the UK's broadband infrastructure that will see a major rollout of fibre to the premises (FTTP) alongside other initiatives the firm said will help the country remain "the leading digital nation in the G20".
Catch of the Day wins Packer, Seek backing
A group of high-profile investors including James Packer and the co-founder of Seek have ploughed millions in investment capital into controversial Melbourne-based online retailer CatchOfTheDay -- which is also behind the Scoopon group buying site.
Office format war: AGIMO faces horde of critics
The Federal Government's peak IT strategy group has been forced to defend its decision to standardise the public sector on a Microsoft-focused office document standard, as online commentators used the weekend to slam the group for what they saw as a lack of vision regarding rival open standards.
Telstra creates 3G Wi-Fi hotspot … in a thong
Yes, you read the headline right. In what appears to be yet another stroke of marketing genius, Telstra has paid some larrikin (or is it one of its own employees?) to cut a square shape in a common thong, and insert a 3G modem to create a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot.
NBN chief architect Tony Cross to quit on eve of election
The NBN's Chief Architect, Tony Cross, has said he will resign his post just a day before the 2016 Federal Election.
ninemsn searches for CTO idol
ninemsn -- the online joint venture with media and entertainment group PBL Media and Microsoft partnership -- has advertised for a chief technology officer position on specialist emerging technology and media recruitment firm MitchelLake’s website.
“Heroic”: Turnbull savages ACCC Optus sign-off
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has made a lengthy parliamentary speech damning the ACCC's decision to sign off on Optus' $800 million deal with the National Broadband Network Company, describing the regulator's assumptions when approving the arrangement as "heroic".
Telstra ups customer service offerings
Telstra today delivered a handful of fixes and updates to its BigPond broadband services to include faster shaped speeds, transferrable email addresses, free customer service calls and up to 15 free mailboxes.
Groupon rails against Aussie ‘domain squatters’
US coupon giant Groupon has intensified its lawsuit and war of words against local rival Scoopon, publicly accusing the smaller site of “domain squatting” its Australian domain name and stealing its trademark.
SA Housing Trust dumping mainframe, possibly for cloud ERP
The South Australian Housing Trust has revealed plans to undertake a project to replace its mainframe-based business systems, with one option being considered being to shift onto a modern cloud computing platform for the provision of its services.
Fuji Xerox buys Upstream Print Solutions
Japanese printing giant Fuji Xerox has bought out Australian managed printing services company Upstream Print Solutions for an undisclosed sum.
Kogan fined $32k for dodgy Father’s Day ads
Online retailer Kogan.com has been fined for "false or misleading" claims in its Father's Day advertisements last August.
Adelaide Uni joins virtual desktop throng
The University of Adelaide this morning revealed it had joined the throng of Australian tertiary institutions making applications and platforms available to their students through desktop virtualisation, in a wide-ranging project which will see some 20,000 licences of Citrix's XenDesktop platform.
Coalition IT policy: Quite similar to Labor’s
The Coalition has released a wide-ranging policy on how it would develop Australia's digital economy and government use of IT, in a move which broadly appears to place it on an even footing with the current Labor Federal Government and commit it to many of the same existing initiatives.
Turnbull’s NBN answers “make sense”, says Budde
Veteran telecommunications analyst Paul Budde has praised the Coalition for publishing an extensive 'frequently asked questions’ regarding its rival National Broadband Network policy unveiled last month, noting that the additional explanations of the policy "make sense" and that the Coalition is "moving forward" on the issue.
Uni of New England opens Lync to 23,000
Microsoft has revealed that Armidale's University of New England has licensed its Lync unified communications platform for the use of 23,000 students and staff, in a deployment which appears to set a new record for the use of the technology in Australian educational institutions and which opens UNE's remote learning doors further.
Westpac delays core IT overhaul
Big four bank Westpac this afternoon confirmed a report by the Financial Review that it had postponed migrating to CSC’s Hogan core banking platform, citing the need to focus on other projects first as the reason for the delay.
Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog targets Ultranet schools IT project
Victoria's Department of Education and Training’s $180 million Ultranet IT project is to be the focus of public hearings held by the state's anti-corruption commission next year.
Greens announce policy to boost electric car uptake
The Australian Greens have launched a plan to encourage the rollout of electric vehicles and move away from "old dirty power sources".
Greens slam “offensive” secret piracy meetings
Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam has attacked the Federal Government, which his party is in broad partnership with to form Government, for holding what he said were "offensive" secret meetings with the content and ISP industries on the issue of illicit Internet file-sharing.
TransGrid reveals mass Win8 tablet rollout
NSW electrity grid operator TransGrid has revealed plans to deploy a sizable fleet of Windows 8-based tablets across its operations, as part of a wider comprehensive revamp of its desktop PC infrastructure that will also see the organisation migrate the majority of its desktops to virtualised instances through thin client technology.
Facebook reminds Australia: Moderate your Pages
Facebook appears to have directly contacted Australian administrators of Facebook Pages to remind them of tools available to moderate objectionable content within their sub-sections...
Perth app developer wins $1.1m capital
Perth-based smartphone app developer Filter Squad this week announced it had taken a new $1.1 million funding round led by fellow Perth firm Yuuwa Capital, as the startup continues to leverage its popular Discovr iOS app into commercial success.
NBN FTTN kills off ADSL for metro customer, to be replaced with satellite
The NBN company has confirmed plans to terminate the ADSL connection of a customer living in metropolitan Adelaide and replace it with a high-latency satellite connection, due to the installation of Fibre to the Node services to neighbours in the same street.
“On time and on budget”: NSW claims early victory in cloud ERP rollout
The NSW State Government has claimed initial success in its high-profile deployment of a cloud-based ERP consolidation project at the NSW agency of Trade and Investment, claiming that so far the project has been delivered "on time and on budget", but with a large chunk of the work still to go.
This is what a crate of Galaxy Nexus phones looks like
Vodafone has just published a photo gallery of a crate of Galaxy Nexus handsets arriving in its warehouse. That's a lot of sweet Android goodness!
Victorian Govt still disappointed in NBN
The Coalition-led Victorian State Government has again sharply criticised the Labor Federal Government's National Broadband Network project for not adequately meeting the needs of residents of the state.
Nintendo wins DS modchip lawsuit
On the heels of its $1.5 million victory against a Queenslander for uploading a copy of New Super Mario Bros to the internet, Nintendo...
Union protests against Tassie losing 56 IT jobs
The Community and Public Sector Union has gone on the attack over a proposal to shift the roles of some 56 Tasmanian IT workers employed by the Department of Human Services onto the mainland, presenting Employment Minister and Tasmanian Senator Eric Abetz with a 1,000-strong petition against the move.
Hackett exits iiNet’s Top Geek poll; appointed judge
Internode managing director Simon Hackett has made a graceful exit from a competition being held by rival broadband provider iiNet to find Australia's 'Top Geek', accepting an invitation to help judge the winner instead of potentially taking out the top prize himself.
Apple claims second position in Aussie PC market
For the first time, Apple has overtaken Acer and Dell this quarter in PC unit shipments in the Australia and New Zealand market to claim second position behind HP. This could be the effect of its retail store expansion and the launch of the Macbook Air Sandy Bridge refresh model.
Spirit Telecom continues fibre rollout at up to 400Mbps
Fibre-optic broadband provider Spirit Telecom has released a shareholder update to the market, stating that it continues to expand its superfast broadband service to new buildings and that it is considering making acquisitions that would "complement" the firm's direction.
Telecom NZ to review buggy XT network
Telecom New Zealand chief executive Paul Reynolds has announced an independent review of the telco's troubled XT 3G mobile network after several major outages.
Telstra parts ways with Sensis CEO
Telstra yesterday announced that long-time Sensis CEO Bruce Akhurst would leave the company in May after 15 years in service.
Conroy defends iiNet NBN prices
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has stepped in to bat for iiNet, in the wake of claims by the Coalition yesterday that National Broadband Network pricing released yesterday by the ISP was too expensive and demonstrated that Labor's NBN project wouldn't bring Australians cheaper broadband.
Telstra to sell Android-based Desire in April
Telstra this morning revealed it would in April start selling its first smartphone based on Google's Android platform, with an exclusive three-month deal to...
Network, service upgrades kicking in, says Vodafone
Mobile carrier Vodafone yesterday gave an update yesterday on the upgrade of its mobile network and customer service initiatives, claiming that the achievement of key milestone targets was enabling an enhanced customer experience.
“Welcome to the 1940s”: Labor lampoons NBN Co for deploying new copper
The Australian Labor Party has lampooned the NBN company for its willingness to deploy brand new copper cables in some areas to ensure the Government’s Fibre to the Node model will succeed, welcoming the company back to the “1940’s”, when copper cables were regarded as state of the art technology.
4.6 million jobs “at risk” without future-ready workforce
According to StartupAUS, an advocacy group for startups, up to 4.6 million Australian jobs may be at risk within a decade if Australia fails to create a future-ready workforce.
Full Stephen Conroy Q+A video
This afternoon at an event in Sydney to launch a new Macquarie Telecom call centre, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy took questions from the press on the timing of the internet filter legislation, Brisbane's proposal to run broadband through sewers, and whether he or Kim Carr is Australia's Minister for Information Technology.
The Australian government must take cyber security more seriously
Most of us can relate to the government’s plan to build 12 new submarines for A$50 billion, at least in principle. But you might be alarmed to hear the government is investing only a fraction of that amount on protecting us from cyberattacks.
Govt may force data breach disclosure
In a move which has been debated and rumoured within the IT security industry for years, the Federal Government this week confirmed it would seek public opinion on whether it should force organisations to disclose when their databases containing personal information had been broken into by hackers – or even inadvertently.
EFA wants public input in NBN review
Australia's premiere digital rights lobbying group Electronic Frontiers Australia has called for the Government to allow public input into the upcoming strategic review of the future of the National Broadband Network, as pressure intensifies upon Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull to support the previous Labor administration's all-fibre NBN policy.
Vodafone urges voters to appeal for more mobile black spot funding
In a new campaign, Vodafone is calling on voters in regional seats to use social media to raise the "urgent need" for more funding for mobile black spots with their federal representatives and candidates ahead of the coming 2 July election.
“It’s not censorship”: IIA defends Interpol blacklist
Australia's peak internet industry body today sought to distance its fledgling child pornography filtering scheme from the Federal Government's mandatory filtering policy, stating its own more limited approach was more akin to ISPs cooperating with law enforcement authorities and would not constitute a form of censorship.
Quickflix signs streaming deal with HBO
Leading Australian online movie rental and streaming company Quickflix has announced a content licensing agreement with top US television company, Home Box Office, Inc (HBO). However, new shows won't hit Quickflix's archive until 12 to 18 months after they first show in the US.
Qld Police trial Segways for crime-fighting
The Queensland Police Service yesterday revealed that it would kick off what it said was the first Australian trial of the Segway personal transportation vehicle in pedestrian areas, to test their suitability for police operations.
Budget 2011: Govt discloses NBN equity payments
The Federal Government has used tonight’s annual budget to provide further detail about how it will inject equity funding into its flagship National Broadband Network project, to meet its capital requirements over the next decade as it rolls out infrastructure around the nation.
Fujitsu, Service Stream to build NBN in new estates
The National Broadband Network Company this morning confirmed it had appointed Japanese technology giant Fujitsu to roll out the portion of its nation-wide fibre network in new development estates, in a deal initially worth $100 million over its first year.
Conroy to release NBN Co plan Monday
The office of Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has confirmed plans to release the National Broadband Network Company's long-awaited business plan for public viewing from Monday.
Internode reveals Tasmanian NBN plans
Available for order today, Internode announced today 15 Fibre to the the Home (FTTH) plans for the National Broadband Network (NBN) Stage 1 pilot program in Tasmania, with installations expected to be started from early July.