Optus releases NBN pricing
The nation's number two telco Optus has released its first National Broadband Network pricing plans, with the company offering a range of plans from $39.99 up to $129 and with included data quotas ranging up to a terabyte.
Telstra legislation to wait until 22 Feb
The legislation governing the potential break-up of Telstra's operations and the reform of Australia's telecommunications industry will be debated in the Federal Parliament starting 22 February.
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.
SAP healthy on back of NAB win
The Australian and New Zealand division of German software giant SAP grew its finances strongly over the past year, partially on the back of a major new contract with top-tier bank NAB.
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.
NBN Co to deceive users on FTTN/FTTB speeds
The National Broadband Network Company has issued a product specification document in which it openly considers the possibility of allowing customers on its planned Fibre to the Node or Basement (FTTN/B) infrastructure to order speeds between 50Mbps and 100Mbps which their connections could not actually deliver.
Adecco dumps handsets for softphones with Optus, Cisco
news Human resources group Adecco yesterday revealed it had undertaken a substantial refresh of its internal telephony and Internet platform with the primary assistance...
Foxtel launches special Game of Thrones plan
Foxtel is offering a discounted subscription to its Premium plan for the broadcast of HBO's much anticipated Game of Thrones Season 6, which the company will commence airing on Monday, 25 April.
Financial regulator issues dire cloud warning
One of Australia's main financial regulators has issued a blunt general warning to the entire financial services sector regarding cloud computing services, warning that the "innocuous" nature of such services could mask hidden concerns about offshoring.
NSW kickstarts cloud email, virtual desktop trial
The New South Wales State Government today kicked off two trials of virtual desktop and cloud email services, in a move which could eventually signal a mass migration of some 30,000 government users into the cloud and which represents one of the first concrete steps by the state into the new cloud computing landscape.
iiNet halts trading after Transact report
National broadband provider iiNet has halted trading of its shares on the Australian Stock Exchange today, following a report in the Financial Review newspaper that it was in the final stages of negotiations to acquire Canberra and rural NSW/Victoria-based telco TransACT.
Vodafone kicks off NBN trial
'Better late than never' appears to be Vodafone's catch phrase with respect to the National Broadband Network, with the mobile telco revealing today it had formalised a deal with NBN Co to conduct trials on the company's fledgling fibre network as it is rolled out in the NSW town of Armidale over the next few months.
End of an era: CIO Harte leaves CommBank
The Commonwealth Bank's long-serving and highly decorated chief information officer Michael Harte has announced he will shortly leave the bank to take up a senior role at UK-based Barclays Bank, in a move that signals the end of an era for CommBank's IT operations.
Data#3 claims “best ever” financial result
Diversified IT products and services outfit Data#3 this morning claimed to have experienced its "best ever" financial result over the past year, with both revenues and profits increasing. However the good news hasn't resulted in extra bonuses for its top executive -- although others picked up bonuses.
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 Govt invests in open data, startups, STEM
The Queensland Government made a number of announcements yesterday revealing how the state is investing in a number of areas, including open data, innovative startups and STEM training for teachers.
Internode has wanted Aussie WoW server for years
National broadband player Internode has discussed the need for an Australian World of Warcraft server with iconic game publisher Blizzard "for many years", the company's managing director Simon Hackett said today.
Telstra unveils “double speed” USB modem
Telstra has unveiled a new USB modem that will allow customers to take advantage of the dual-carrier speed upgrade it switched on in its Next G mobile broadband network last month, saying the device would go on sale "later this year".
Finally, Scobleizer comes Down Under
Giant US tech blogger Robert Scoble comes to Australia for the first time.
Domain dumps spreadsheets for Salesforce
Real-estate marketing specialist Domain Group has abandoned spreadsheets and integrated with Salesforce's cloud platform in a bid to improve its customer relationship management process.
Telstra to buy Adam Internet
The nation’s largest telco Telstra has announced plans to firm up its already dominant position in Australia’s broadband market, through the acquisition of South Australian broadband provider Adam Internet.
CSIRO job cuts a ‘body blow to science’, says union
The Community and Public Sector Union has strongly criticised the federal government over the "mass axing" of 350 more scientists at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
Internode simplifies broadband plans
National broadband provider Internode has revamped its monthly plan structure, with the aim of unifying its disparate product offerings under one simplified structure, and giving customers small bonuses in terms of extra quota and bundled services.
iPhone 5 hits Australia next week with 4G
Consumer technology giant Apple has revealed its new iPhone 5 smartphone will launch in Australia next week on Friday September 21, and will support the 1800Mhz 4G networks which Telstra and Optus operate locally. It will also launch through Australia's third major carrier Vodafone, but without 4G speeds.
NBN Co releases three-year rollout plan
The National Broadband Network company today released a detailed plan of the locations and schedule where it plans to deploy fibre and wireless broadband infrastructure over the next three years, noting that the rollout was slated to hit some 3.5 million premises in 1500 communities in every state and territory in Australia.
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".
Telstra wholesale 3G to beat NBN wireless clause?
The maverick owner of national broadband provider Exetel has speculated that Telstra may be planning to provide wholesale access to its flagship Next G mobile network to get around the clause in its contract with NBN Co that will prevent it advertising its mobile broadband services as an alternative to the NBN fibre.
Cisco assists Queensland Uni with digital transformation
Cisco has published a blog post discussing its partnership with the University of Queensland as the two organisations sought to bring digital transformation to the educational institution over the last few years.
“Mostly false”: Politifact disputes Labor’s $5k NBN fibre claim
The Australian version of pioneering US fact-checking website Politifact has given a "mostly false" rating to Labor's claim that the Coalition's National Broadband Network policy will see Australians charged $5,000 for access to fibre broadband infrastructure, in one of the site's first fact-checks on the Australian political arena after its launch this week.
Vodafone dumps Crazy John’s brand
Mobile telco Vodafone has confirmed it will shortly dump the Crazy John's brand from its retail stores and re-brand them under the Vodafone master brand, in a move which will also see the closure of some Crazy John's stores entirely.
Spark Ventures deploys BMC Remedyforce
Digital services firm Spark Ventures has moved to BMC’s cloud-based Remedyforce solution to better manage the back-end infrastructure that supports its consumer and business digital services.
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.
NAB fills CIO role as rejigged exec team stares down 2016 migration target
onths after it kicked off a major reshuffle of its IT executives, the National Australia Bank has finally firmed up the technology management team that will lead the institution through a massive Oracle systems upgrade that’s expected to be completed by 2016.
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.
AXA Group CEO appointed Telstra CFO
Australia’s largest telco Telstra has announced that Andrew Penn would take over the position of Chief Financial Officer and Group Managing Director, Finance, starting March 1st, 2012. This follows a June announcement that Telstra’s long-time CFO John Stanhope would retire at the end of 2011.
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.
Telco reform bill passes Senate
Labor's controversial legislation to break up Telstra and restructure the telecommunications sector was approved in the Senate this afternoon, in a long-awaited move that the Federal Government has been pushing for for more than a year.
Optus’ new Android top dog: Samsung Galaxy S
Optus has taken a stab at Telstra's early dominance in market for high-end Android smartphones, with a one-month exclusive on Samsung's Galaxy S device launched in Sydney today.
Turnbull slams Twitter’s NBN “craziness”
Malcolm Turnbull has accused users of social networking site Twitter of misrepresenting his position on the Coalition's broadband policy during a stoush with a small business operator unable to get broadband in a rural area, with the Communications Minister claiming the episode could be a case study "of the volatile and sometimes distorting character of social media".
Optus launches Motorola Droid/Milestone
On the same day that Vodafone started selling Google's Nexus One, Optus has given its customers yet another high-end Android handset option, quietly adding Motorola's Milestone phone to its handset range.
It’s official: R18+ game legislation passes
After a hard-fought campaign lasting several years, Australia's video game industry and community has achieved a major victory with the passing last night of landmark legislation which will introduce a new R18+ classification for video games in Australia.
Most ISPs will filter Interpol list this year: IIA
The association representing Australia's internet industry today claimed that 80 to 90 percent of Australians would have their internet connections filtered for child pornography this year, following the release of an industry code in July that will focus on a blacklist of sites supplied by international policing agency Interpol.
iSOFT’s Cohen leaves the building
Besieged e-health company iSOFT today announced the final departure of former chief executive Gary Cohen from its ranks, scant weeks after he quietly resigned from the CEO role in late August.
SMS shifts Vietnam staff to third-party
Australian technology services group SMS Management & Technology has shifted the staff in its development facility in Vietnam to a third-party it has signed a comprehensive partnership with, as part of the company's efforts to expand its offshore resources and reducing its fixed costs in the region.
Delimiter files FoI request for PCEHR Review
Technology media outlet Delimiter has filed a Freedom of Information request for a report reviewing the Federal Government's troubled Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records project begun under Labor, due to the fact that new Health Minister Peter Dutton has received but not yet released the sensitive document.
Gartner Symposium 2010: Photos
Gartner is the international behemoth of technology analyst firms -- its every word held as gospel by the global teeming legions of chief information officers and IT managers. And every year Gartner's mecca is its Symposium conference series, which travels the globe accompanied by scores of analysts and research directors. This week the event hit Sydney. How many magic quadrants can you count?
Atos, Datacom and NEC signed up for $3bn WA GovNext plan
Atos, Datacom and NEC have been selected by the WA Government to help it roll out its $3 billion GovNext ICT plan, according to The West Australian.
Microsoft may can giant TechEd in Australia
Software giant Microsoft is considering a radical overhaul to its giant TechEd event in Australia that would essentially spell the end of the iconic conference in its traditional mega-format, with the company instead believed to be considering a series of smaller conferences around Australia in its place.
Apple Australia insists it pays all its taxes
US technology juggernaut Apple has insisted that it pays all of its local taxes, despite the company having filed financial results this week that saw the company pay extra taxes of just $4.5 million last year off an extra $1.8 billion in local revenue.
Mana Bar Melbourne opens 16 July
It's taken quite a bit longer than expected, but trendy video game-focused cocktail bar the Mana Bar today finally confirmed the launch date for its Melbourne facility as 16 July this year.
EMC, Avaya get new Aussie chiefs
Enterprise IT vendors EMC and Avaya have revealed they have new leaders of their Australian divisions, following the promotion and departure of their local incumbent managing directors.
Symantec lets Australian engineers go
Global security giant Symantec this morning confirmed plans to make some of its Sydney-based engineers redundant, with the roles to go offshore.
NAB launches Android contactless payments service
National Australia Bank (NAB) has launched a new payment service that lets customers use their mobile phone to make purchases, without the need to carry a physical card.
Melbourne CBD to get free Wi-Fi
The Victorian Government and the City of Melbourne today announced plans to source a provider from the private sector to provide free Wi-Fi access in the city's central business district, despite the fact that Australia's existing mobile broadband networks are already providing reliable wireless access, and despite the fact that similar projects have failed in other states.
Telstra loses enterprise chief Caesar
Telstra today revealed the head of its Enterprise & Government division, Nerida Caesar, would leave the company, with her role to be temporarily filled by the telco's wholesale chief Paul Geason.
NBN critic and historic Liberal supporter Henry Ergas wins Australia Day honours
One of the most strident critics of Labor's original National Broadband Network policy and open Liberal Party supporter Henry Ergas has received one of the highest honours in this year's Australia Day awards, and will now become an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO).
TPG creates $69.99 ‘Unlimited’ ADSL plan
National broadband provider TPG has launched a new, $69.99 'Unlimited' ADSL2+ plan in response to a Federal Court ruling last week its previous $29.99 'Unlimited' plan was misleading as it didn’t obviously disclose the additional $30 of required line rental costs.
Cisco picks up EnergyAustralia deal
Cisco might have have only launched its Connected Grid range of solutions focused on the electricity sector in May 2010, but the global networking giant has already picked up a large deal locally to supply NSW utility EnergyAustralia.
HTC EVO 3D to hit Telstra in September
Telstra this morning announced that from September it will be entering the multi-dimensional world; offering its first 3D smartphone, the HTC EVO 3D.
Australia’s Internet services slower in 2012 than 2011: Akamai
Australia’s average Internet speeds have decreased by 23% compared with a year ago, according to the latest quarterly figures from global content distribution network (CDN) giant Akamai.
iOS price cuts catch Aussie developers off-guard
Australian developers making applications for Apple’s iOS product range were caught off-guard by the company’s sudden pricing changes, which have seen prices cut for apps under $5 to match American pricing.
CSC completes UXC acquisition
Multinational IT services corporation CSC has completed the acquisition of UXC, Australia’s largest independent and publicly owned IT services company for over $420m.
“Policy vacuum”: iiNet slams politicians’ NBN ‘fail’
Australia's third-largest broadband player iiNet has opened a broadside on the nation's political class over the "policy vacuum" the ISP says exists in telecommunications policy, agreeing with veteran analyst Paul Budde that further discussion is needed around the actual uses of upgraded broadband infrastructure and less discussion of entry level broadband speeds.
Optus reveals HTC Incredible S pricing
The nation's number two telco Optus has announced pricing and availability details for its exclusive arrangement to sell HTC's new Incredible S handset, revealing today it would sell the Android-based handset for zero dollars up-front on a $49 cap plan starting from 1 May -- or online from 6 May.
Tassie education dept upgrades Symantec security
The Tasmanian Department of Education has zeroed in on the latest version of Symantec’s Endpoint Protection systems to secure the 40,000 personal computers and 700 servers being used by the department’s staff, schools, colleges, libraries and online access centres.
Tesla Powerwall helps slash electricity bill for early adopter family
One of the first Australian residents to install the Tesla Powerwall power storage unit has had its power bill slashed by over 10% in its first quarter.
Audit details: WA Health’s decade of IT failure
Western Australia's Auditor-General has delivered a damning report of decade-long efforts by the state's health department to replace its ailing patient administration system, finding allocated funds had not been spent and a replacement was unlikely to be implemented until at least 2014 in the city and 2018 in the bush.
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.
40%: Australian enterprise prefers the iPhone
40 percent of Australian enterprises now see the iPhone as their preferred staff smartphone model, new research has revealed, in a remarkable demonstration of just how dramatically Apple's flagship handset has shaken up the nation's corporate mobile fleets over the past four years.
Conroy reveals mysterious Telstra “subsidies”
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy yesterday reportedly revealed a mysterious set of "subsidies" being provided to Telstra to maintain services to certain broadband customers would be maintained under Labor's National Broadband Network project -- but without disclosing much in the way of details under the scheme.
Australian web hosts wouldn’t host WikiLeaks
It’s been dumped by Amazon and mirrored across the globe as it attempts to spread its whistleblowing message to the masses. But would any web hosting company in Australia consent to play host to Wikileaks? The answer, so far, appears to be “probably not”.
Qld Rail wants traditional IT infrastructure outsourcing
The past year has seen a raft of cloud computing options launched in the Australian technology landscape, with companies as diverse as Telstra, CSC, Optus and Fujitsu focusing on infrastructure as a service offerings. But not everyone's biting -- with one government agency this month going to market for IT infrastructure services which couldn't look more traditional.
Jason Clare says Turnbull ‘lied’ on copper NBN costs
The Opposition has accused Malcolm Turnbull of telling a "lie" with respect to the cost of upgrading Telstra's copper network to support Fibre to the Node technology on the National Broadband Network, at the time when the Prime Minister was the Shadow Communications Minister.
NBN election: Labor polling voters on Coalition’s NBN performance
The Australian Labor Party has started directly calling voters to ask whether the Abbott/Turnbull Government's handling of the National Broadband Network will influence how they vote at the upcoming Federal Election, in a sign Labor sees it as a key election issue.
Bartlett launches Tasmanian digital economy strategy
Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett (pictured above, second from the left) yesterday released a new innovation strategy for the state, including a segment on how the state government can invest to promote Tasmania’s digital economy.
Blizzard unlocks US StarCraft II servers for Australians
Video game giant Blizzard Entertainment has reversed an unpopular decision to block Australians from being able to play its upcoming StarCraft II game on American servers.
Bad Telstra vote could help scuttle the NBN
An independent expert's commissioned by Telstra has found overwhelming benefits to the telco from cooperating with the Government's flagship National Broadband Network plan, but has also highlighted the potential for a shareholder vote against a Telstra deal with NBN Co to help cause the termination of the project.
BigPond price cuts anger Internode, iiNet
National broadband providers Internode and iiNet have cried foul with regards to a massive price cut unveiled yesterday by Telstra's BigPond internet service provider...
Melbourne goes 3D-ish in Google Maps
Google appears to have switched on a feature in its geographical search product Google Maps which generates a partial 3D view of sections of Melbourne's central business district.
Monash web server briefly hacked
Victoria's Monash University has acknowledged that its website was briefly broken into on Saturday and replaced with what appeared to be an Iranian flag encased in a geographical map of the country.
Pirate Party announces election candidates
The Pirate Party has announced its candidates for the 2016 Federal Election, following a pre-selection process.
Dimension Data to fit out flagship Queensland Government skyscraper
Global ICT services provider Dimension Data has won the bid to fit out and support the networking infrastructure for the Queensland Government’s new flagship offices at 1 William Street, Brisbane.
Virgin ups quota on postpaid broadband
Optus subsidiary, Virgin Mobile, has announced it is refreshing its suite of Postpaid Mobile Broadband plans.
Turnbull establishes advisory panel to boost Australian FinTech
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has established an expert advisory group aimed at making Australia the leading FinTech market in the Asia-Pacific region.
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.
Human Services likely to end Lotus history
The newly formed Department of Human Services has revealed it is likely to end the long-running relationship that some of its component agencies have had with IBM's troubled Lotus Notes/Domino suite and standardise on Microsoft's rival Outlook/Exchange platform as part of its long-term integration project.
ACCC sues TPG over $29.99 ‘Unlimited’ plan
The national competition regulator today dragged national broadband provider TPG into the Federal Court, claiming its $29.95 'Unlimited' ADSL2+ plan actually cost a great deal more.
Australian agencies queried Google often in 2009
Google today published statistical information showing it had received 155 requests for information from Australian government agencies in the second half of 2009, and 17 requests to remove information from its various sites -- only half of which it complied with.
Lundy backs Gillard as potential for change opens
Kate Lundy tonight flagged her support for Prime Ministerial challenger Julia Gillard in the Australian Labor Party’s leadership spill tomorrow morning – a vote the Labor Senator believes present “an opportunity for a change” in the Government’s technology policies with an expected Gillard victory.
Xenophon boycotts name details in census protest
Nick Xenophon, Independent Senator for South Australia, has said he will fight for the right to privacy by refusing to provide his name in the 2016 census, despite the risk of prosecution the protest will bring.
Domain, REA opt out of Google push
Google’s Australian division today unveiled a substantive marketing push to attract users to its real estate services integrated with its Google Maps product, but...
Exetel cuts NBN prices, limits quota to 150GB
National broadband provider Exetel has radically slashed the number of National Broadband Network plans it offers customers, as well as cutting prices and limiting the total monthly download quota on any plan to 150GB.
Nintendo may target other mod chip sellers
Nintendo Australia today said it could take similar action against other sellers of devices that allow games to be illegally copied for use on its consoles, after it won a $620,000 victory against one such firm this week.
LG Optimus 2X hits Harvey Norman
LG today revealed its flagship Optimus 2X smartphone would launch in Australia this month – but without a major telco partner to support it, with the Korean electronics giant to initially sell the handset unlocked through retailer Harvey Norman for the up-front cost of $649.
Beattie “ashamed” of Australia’s Internet piracy
Former Queensland Labor Premier Peter Beattie has published a strongly worded article stating that he is "ashamed" of Australia's record on Internet piracy, in the latest sign that the two major sides of politics may be in agreement about the need to tackle the issue through new legislation.
iPad Sydney queue video: First in line
Rahul Koduri is first in line to buy an Apple iPad at Sydney's Apple store. He works in a Telstra shop, studies engineering and develops iPhone and iPad apps.
NBN policy should integrate FTTN, HFC: Budde
Maverick telecommunications analyst Paul Budde has published a blog entry arguing that realising the vision of the National Broadband Network (NBN) initiative will require not just building new FTTH (Fibre to the Home) networks, but also retaining the current HFC (Hybrid Fibre Coaxial) and FTTN (Fibre to the Node) networks currently being used in Australia.
Quickflix movie streaming hits PCs, Macs
DVD rental service Quickflix yesterday announced its new instant movie streaming service had gone live. Most householders in Australia with entry level broadband speeds can now stream unlimited movies from Hollywood’s leading studios at any time, for a monthly fee.
Filter bills on track for Feb/March
The legislation to introduce the Federal Government's controversial internet filtering scheme is on track to land in Parliament as early as late February or...
Virtualised desktops gain Aussie traction
Virtualisation giant VMWare has put together a specialist crack team to tackle the opportunity of converting legacy “fat client” PC desktops in Australian organisations to slimline virtualised environments, as more virtual desktop rollouts continue to emerge around the country.
Digital Transformation Office announces ambitious work program
The Federal Government’s Digital Transformation Office has announced its work program over the initial period of its operation, listing a number of thorny problems that have been plaguing Australians for some time in terms of their interaction with the Federal Government.
HBO to invest $10 million in Quickflix
Leading Australian online movie rental company Quickflix announced yesterday that US television giant Home Box Office (HBO) would invest $10 million for a strategic stake in the company.
Questions raised about Post IT transformation
Australia Post has issued a statement staunchly defending the progress of its IT transformation program, Building Future Ready IT, as questions are being raised about some aspects of the project's ability to meet its goals on time and while avoiding significant risks associated with any such corporate technology renewal effort.
Warner Bros to appeal Mortal Kombat ban
The game publisher behind the highly regarded Mortal Kombat video game series has announced it will appeal a decision by Australia's classification board to ban the game's sale in Australia, rejecting the argument that the title was more extreme than other games already on sale locally.
New Microsoft Surface + Lumia devices to hit Australia before Christmas
Microsoft’s new range of Surface convertible table devices will launch in Australia in mid-November, the global technology giant announced this week, as well as a clutch of new Lumia-branded handsets to keep Windows mobile enthusiasts happy.
Top-shelf FRITZ!Box 7490 hits Australia
Australian distributor PCRange this week revealed it had started distributing a new top-end model in the popular FRITZ!Box range of high-end ADSL routers, with the model supporting the long-awaited 802.11ac standard.
Adobe faces piracy backlash over Australian pricing
Many Adobe customers have taken to the Internet to openly pledge to dump the software vendor's products or pirate them illegally, with thousands more signalling their general displeasure with what many saw as the arrogant refusal of its chief executive Shantanu Narayenlast week to answer the question of how the company can justify charging Australians up to $1,400 more for its software than US residents.
Foxtel wants IPTV locked to Telstra
Cable TV operator Foxtel has asked the nation's competition regulator to let it provide what appears to be a new internet video service through its iQ and iQ2 set-top boxes on the condition that customers have a broadband connection with its part-owner Telstra.
Has Fortescue dumped BlackBerry for Nokia?
Australian iron ore group Fortescue metals has declined to comment on an unverified rumour that the company has recently deployed over 600 new staff smartphones, allegedly swapping out its existing BlackBerry fleet in the latest corporate switch to Microsoft's rival Windows Phone 7 ecosystem.
Lenovo defends Aussie price hikes
PC manufacturer Lenovo has mounted a spirited defence of its Australian pricing, despite launching its flagship new ThinkPad X1 laptop in Sydney for $560 more than the same hardware will cost in the United States.
NT dumps failed Fujitsu/SAP project
The Northern Territory Government has decided to dump its broken Asset Management System (AMS) developed by Fujitsu and based on SAP software, after receiving independent advice that it would cost an additional $120 million and five years to fix.
Pricing stoush: NBN Co Whirlpools its rationale
The National Broadband Network Company has published an extensive statement explaining its pricing rationale on broadband forum Whirlpool in an apparent attempt to comprehensively respond to continued strident criticism from industry luminaries Simon Hackett and Bevan Slattery about its model.
Internode revamps broadband plans
Following BigPond's lead, national broadband provider Internode has trimmed some fat off its ADSL broadband plans, aligning its plans delivered through Optus' network with those delivered through its own.
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.
Optus takes TV Now case to High Court
The nation's second-largest telco Optus today said it would appeal its Federal Court loss over its TV Now cloud-based personal video recording software to the High Court.
Switkowski in 2009: Fibre to make copper “obsolescent”
NBN Co executive chairman Ziggy Switkowski appears to have radically changed his views on the different merits of fibre and copper broadband technologies over the past few years, it has emerged, with a video interview having surfaced over the past few days showing the executive praising Labor's all-fibre NBN strategy and adding that it would make copper infrastructure "obsolescent".
NBN company defends “excellent” FTTN network
The NBN company has rejected claims by Singaporean telco MyRepublic that the fledgling Fibre to the Node component of its network rollout is “shit”, stating instead that the rollout mechanism delivers “excellent” speeds to Australians.
Red Cloud to build $40m next-gen datacentre in Hobart
Red Cloud Ltd, a data centre services provider, has announced it will build a $40-million, resilient, Tier-3 data centre in Hobart using proven state-of-the-art modular technology.
Free Wi-Fi hits more Sydney ferries
The New South Wales Government has extended its provision of free Wi-Fi access on Sydney ferries to cover a total of 13 vessels, in the wake of a trial last year which had seen more than 140,000 people logging on to the network initially set up on the Manly Ferry.
The FTTP dream is over: Coalition victory kills Labor’s NBN
The long-held vision dreamt up by senior Labor politicians Stephen Conroy and Kevin Rudd in 2009 of a universal fibre broadband network covering Australia is officially dead, with a solid election victory set to sweep the Coalition into power and a technically inferior fibre to the node plan into Australia’s streets.
Telstra seeks 120 voluntary redundancies
Telstra is seeking up to 120 volunteers for redundancy from its Networks Delivery operations, according to the Communication Workers Union (CWU).
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.
Turnbull resigns as Communications Minister to challenge Abbott
Malcolm Turnbull has reportedly resigned his post as Communications Minister and from Federal Cabinet to challenge Tony Abbott for the Prime Ministership, in a move that has the potential to result in a dramatic shake-up of the way the National Broadband Network project is run.
HP adopts Microsoft Dynamics for CRM
Multinational IT giant HP has signed a six-year agreement to deploy Microsoft Dynamics for its thousands of employees.
E*Trade flooded with DDoS before Christmas
ANZ Bank's stockbroking service E*Trade was hit by a distributed denial of service attack in the lead-up to the 2011 Christmas season. After initial denials that the site had been attacked, the company sent its customers a letter informing them about the attack yesterday.
BT hikes FTTP on demand prices
UK wholesale telco BT Openreach has substantially increased the prices it is charging customers for extending fibre broadband from local neighbourhood 'nodes' all the way to premises, in a move which calls into question the Coalition Federal Government's plan to use the service in its Coalition Broadband Network plan.
Union talks to Telstra, NBN over 457 visa workers, training issues
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has been in talks with both NBN and Telstra in recent days to discuss a range of issues including concerns over the use of 457 visa workers and funding for a proposed training scheme.
Quigley fronts speaking circuit; Thodey abstains
NBN Company CEO Mike Quigley has already booked himself in to give five speeches to Australia's business community this year, while his opposite at Telstra, David Thodey, appears so far to be abstaining from the conference circuit.
WA appoints first whole of government CIO
Western Australia has appointed its first permanent whole of government chief information officer, with acting CIO Giles Nunis taking on the role on an ongoing basis to help the state cut its costs, develop an overarching IT strategy and build the capacity of WA’s growing ICT sector.
NBN Co halts network construction tender
The company building the National Broadband Network has been forced to halt a tendering process to find construction companies to lay the planned fibre around the nation, after negotiations broke down with 14 suppliers over price.
Google exodus: Lars Rasmussen + Kate Vale gone
Search giant Google appears to have suffered several high-profile local departures, with both its first Australian employee and current local head of YouTube Kate Vale and its engineering chief and Google Maps and Wave co-founder Lars Rasmussen signalling they had left the company.
Budget 2016: StartupAUS says it’s a “disappointment”
StartupAUS, an advocacy group, has cautiously welcomed some announcements made in the Federal Government’s 2016 Budget, but said that overall it was a "disappointment for startups".
First in line for a Telstra iPhone: Photo
According to Telstra, the first person in line for an iPhone 4 in the queue outside its flagship Sydney T-Life store in George St is Sam Dunster. Dunster has apparently been in the Telstra line since 2AM Thursday morning, and is from regional NSW -- Minnamurra (near Kiama).
Tassie Premier considers NBN opt-out model
Tasmanian State Premier David Bartlett has committed to ask the Tasmanian NBN Company whether it would be feasible for Tasmanians to be required to opt-out from having the planned optic fibre cables connected to their premises -- reversing the current policy where they are required to opt-in.
Farce: AG’s Dept deletes FoI PDFs to improve “accessibility”
Representatives of the Federal Attorney-General's Department yesterday claimed the department had removed PDFs previously published on its website as part of its Freedom of Information disclosure log because they did not meet web "accessibility" guidelines and were hurting the website's overall accessibility rating.
Microsoft confirms shrunken TechEd Australia
Microsoft has confirmed it will radically overhaul its giant TechEd conference in Australia in a way that will essentially spell the end of the iconic conference in its traditional mega-format, with the company confirming it will hold smaller TechEd conferences in Sydney and Melbourne in October and additional dates and cities in planning for early 2015.
Atlassian’s SourceTree ditches Mac App Store
Atlassian, the Australian developer of the SourceTree app for Mac have decided to stop submitting SourceTree updates to the Mac App Store after March 1st, the deadline for all submitted applications to run inside a ‘sandbox’.
Qld Auditor continues CITEC, CorpTech assault
Queensland's Auditor-General Glenn Poole has filed another damaging report about the operations of troubled State Government shared services providers CITEC and CorpTech, stating the pair suffer "serious security and change management issues".
Australia gets two Windows Azure datacentres
Microsoft this morning revealed plans to offer its Windows Azure platform as a service from Australian datacentres located in Sydney and Melbourne, in the latest move by a global technology giant to offer cloud computing services from Australian facilities to meet local demand and address concerns around data sovereignty.
Want an iPad? Borrow one from MicroStrategy
Software giants like IBM and Microsoft might shortly find themselves starting to lose staff to their much smaller business intelligence rival MicroStrategy. The reason? The company is swamped with Apple iPads, according to the chief of its Australian division -- and it's lending them to customers for demos.
Telstra churns its financial wheels
Telstra today unveiled a muted set of half-yearly financial results for the six months to December 31,, with revenue and earnings both slightly down,...
End of an era: Greg Farr to leave Defence
The Department of Defence has advertised for a public sector executive to replace its long-serving and highly regarded chief information officer Greg Farr, whose departure will amount to the end of an era for the department.
Seven months later, Turnbull still won’t talk TPG
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who has direct responsibility for setting and administering telecommunications law and regulation in Australia, has again refused to clarify whether national broadband company TPG is breaking the law by deploying its own Fibre to the Basement infrastructure in competition with NBN Co, seven months after the move was first revealed.
Oracle adds Telstra notch to SaaS belt
Oracle today revealed it had rolled out a large software as a service-based customer relationship management implementation for Telstra over the past year, in one of Australia's first major known deployments of the software giant's CRM On Demand platform.
Govt blocks PCEHR review release
The Federal Department of Health has moved to block the public release of a report reviewing the troubled Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records project, stating that there are not sufficient public interest reasons for the report to be released, despite the fact that Health Minister Peter Dutton has stated the document contains “a comprehensive plan for the future of electronic health records in Australia”.
Datacom completes mammoth Health ICT takeover
New Zealand-headquartered IT services group Datacom this week announced it has successfully taken over the ICT infrastructure of the Federal Department of Health, in a long-awaited move which has seen the department remove large tranches of work from the hands of long-term outsourcer IBM.
Optus hints at Android-based tablets
Optus hinted today that it may launch tablet in the Australian market based on Google Android, as the popularity of the mobile operating system continues to take the SingTel subsidiary by storm.
SEEK loses one of the Bassats
Paul Bassat co-founded online employment site SEEK as a self-admitted “cash-strapped startup” back in 1997. Today the executive announced he would resign his post as joint-SEEK CEO at the end of the 2011 financial year, leaving his brother Andrew and fellow multi-millionaire in charge.
Turnbull partners with Pollenizer on data startup plan
An open data initiative named DataStart has been brought about by the collaboration of Malcolm Turnbull's Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet with an established Australian incubator, Pollenizer, to support data-driven innovation in Australia.
“Nonsense”: Turnbull rejects ABC’s FTTN criticism
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has dismissed as “nonsense” claims by contracting companies deploying Labor’s National Broadband Network project that changing the project’s model to a fibre to the node rollout would be “an expensive, time-consuming hindrance”.
Google didn’t quite destroy Aussie Wi-Fi data
Search giant Google this week revealed it has not yet deleted all of the payload data its Streetview cars had collected over the past several years as they brushed past Wi-Fi networks on their journeys around Australia, contrary to a statement in May 2011 that the data had been deleted.
Village Roadshow goes cloud with Interactive, NetApp
Village Roadshow, the Melbourne-based company that has been entertaining Australians since 1954 with theme parks, resorts and attractions, cinemas, music and DVD distribution, has moved its data storage to the cloud. The Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) data centre model for Village Roadshow was built on NetApp hardware and provided by service provider Interactive to manage Village Roadshow’s substantial data growth.
Which Australian mobile retailer has ‘gone Google’?
Google will this week announce that a major Australian mobile phone retail chain has adopted its Google Apps collaboration platform. But with several retailers denying they're the one involved and the search giant refusing to disclose any further details about the identity of the company concerned, mystery surrounds its identity for now.
Australians unsure on Assange Govt support
Most Australians are unsure whether the Federal Government has provided enough support to Australian citizen and Internet activist Julian Assange during his ongoing legal battles in Europe, a new poll has shown, as the Greens continue to call for further assistance for the Wikileaks founder.
Pirate Party appeals data retention censorship
The Pirate Party of Australia today confirmed it would continue fighting to have key documents associated with the Government’s controversial data retention and surveillance package released to the public, flagging plans to appeal a decision by the Federal Attorney-General’s Department to block the release of the documents under Freedom of Information laws.
Turnbull NBN advisor leaves key facts out of MTM defence
An influential advisor to Malcolm Turnbull has published a spirited defence of the Coalition's controversial Multi-Technology Mix approach to the NBN, but without including key facts which show a stark difference between the MTM model and similar policies in comparable countries.
HTC One V launches through Optus
Taiwanese giant HTC has introduced its One V handset in Australia, picking an exclusive partnership with mobile telco Optus to launch the handset, which is the baby in its popular One series already available locally.
NSW Govt trials Gmail, MS cloud email
The New South Wales State Government has revealed that it will trial both Google- and Microsoft-based cloud email platforms, as its interest in the new cloud computing paradigm continues to develop.
Union slams Telstra health records deal
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has criticised the Coalition Government for its decision to put a private company in charge of the management of confidential and highly sensitive health records for thousands of Australians.
BlackBerry PlayBook due 20 June, from $579
Research in Motion's BlackBerry PlayBook tablet will launch through all of Australia's major mobile carriers as well as retailer Harvey Norman in three different models from 20 June, the Canadian company said today, with recommended retail prices starting at $579.
Back to the drawing board: Tasmania re-heats eight-year-old tasCOLT plans
The Tasmanian State Government has dusted off plans up to eight year old to string optical fibre cables over power poles in a bid to speed up the deployment of National Broadband Network infrastructure in the state.
AAPT buys NEC’s Nextep division
It appears as if business and wholesale-focused telco AAPT is expanding its grip on those sectors of the Australian market, after exiting from the consumer side of the industry through the sale of its retail base to iiNet in mid-2010. This morning it announced it would buy NEC Australia's Nextep division.
ASD adds ‘little clouds’ to list of Govt-approved cloud computing platforms
The Australian Signals Directorate appears to have added two smaller providers to its list of approved cloud computing services for use by Federal Government departments and agencies, with small local suppliers Sliced Tech and Vault Systems taking pride of place alongside major multinational vendors.
Wilkie wins poker machine tech restraints
Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie has won a commitment from Prime Minister Julia Gillard that Labor would enforce an overhaul of poker machine technology if Labor takes Government, involving what is called "pre-commitment technology" being applied to the gambling devices.
Dump NBN for underground power, says Langbroek
Leader of the Opposition in Queensland, John-Paul Langbroek, is calling on the Federal Government to re-consider the roll-out of the National Broadband Network and to prioritise underground power instead.
Cohen supported iSOFT buyout, claims investor
One of the key investors in troubled e-health software giant iSOFT has claimed that the company's former executive chairman Gary Cohen was supportive of a buyout of the company by IT services giant CSC, despite the fact that Cohen last week filed legal proceedings in what appeared to be an attempt to block part of the acquisition.
Microsoft beating Google in cloud email race, says Gartner
A study by analyst firm Gartner has found that 8.5% of global public companies use cloud email from Microsoft's Office 365 service, with just 4.7% using Google Apps for Work.
#Vodafix: Vodafone back to kilobyte charging
Vodafone customers concerned by the company’s move decision last month to start charging for mobile data usage on a per megabyte basis can rest easy, with the company announcing it would back down from the decision, in a move it dubbed a “Vodafix”.
NSW Govt may scrap IT shared services units
The New South Wales Government has indicated it may follow in the footsteps of fellow states Queensland and Western Australia and drastically re-work its IT shared services strategy, in the wake of questionable benefits having flowed from the scheme.
NSW Police tackles ballooning data with dropbox
The New South Wales Police Force has revealed plans to deploy a low level document management system somewhat akin to the easy access storage solutions offered by vendors like Dropbox and Box, as its existing systems continually struggle to deal with massively growing data volumes of files being used by its staff.
DFAT lifts lid on huge IT infrastructure upgrade
The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has kicked off a huge outsourcing initiative which is slated to see several hundred million dollars ploughed into a substantial upgrade of the department's far-flung global fundamental IT infrastructure, including both telecommunications and desktop platforms.
Delimiter appeals PCEHR review censorship
Technology media outlet Delimiter has appealed a Federal Department of Healths move to block the public release of a report reviewing the troubled Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records (PCEHR) project, as news emerges that the Federal Government appears to have made a decision on how to proceed with the project.
iiNet blames wholesaler for high estate fibre prices
A spat between fibre-optic wholesaler Opticomm and retail ISPs iiNet and Internode has broken out online after the company was forced to defend claims that the prices it charges for access to its infrastructure in new estates are significantly higher than that ISPs pay for access to fibre under the National Broadband Network.
NSW ‘ChildStory’ IT project drags heels on deployment
The NSW Department of Family & Community Services’ (FACS) ChildStory project has finally reached the deployment phase, despite being announced as far back as September of last year.
Little difference on broadband policies, claims Katter
Federal Independent MP Bob Katter today claimed that there was little difference between the broadband policies of the two major parties at a press conference this afternoon, where he announced his support for the Coalition.
Superloop to boost offerings with BigAir acquisition
Fibre network provider Superloop has announced its intent to acquire BigAir Group, a telco that manages one of the largest metropolitan fixed wireless networks in Australia.
Conroy F-bomb beats policy debate on Google News
Fascinating video above by Jim Stewart from our favourite Aussie search engine optimisation firm StewArtMedia. In the video, Stewart dissects how news aggregator Google News treated reporting of yesterday's speech by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.
Seven to build Vivid Wireless nationally
updated The Seven Network has revealed plans to start building out its Vivid Wireless 4G wireless broadband network in most of Australia’s capital cities,...
Pacific Fibre cancels Tasman/US cable project
A little over two years since it formed with the aim of building fibre-optic submarine cables between Australia, New Zealand and the United States, local telecommunications venture Pacific Fibre has folded, citing an inability to attract sufficient funding for the project.
We’re giving away another Nexus 7
Because it's still the season of giving, and also because it really helped promote our weekly newsletter last time, we've got our hands on another Google Nexus 7 tablet for another reader giveaway, as we did at the end of last year.
Aussie cloud computing market has no ‘leader’: Ovum
Australia's market for cloud computing services so far lacks a “dominant leader”, according to one local analyst – and the title could be anyone's as the market starts to pick up pace.
Android starting to dominate Optus sales
The nation's number two telco Optus yesterday revealed that sales of mobile phones using Google's upstart Android platform were already making up between a quarter and a third of its total handset sales, just two and a half years after the platform launched in Australia.
Yes, Labor still wants to upgrade HFC to FTTP
Labor still has an interest in upgrading the NBN company's HFC cable networks to full Fibre to the Premises technology, Delimiter can confirm, with this issue to be considered as part of the Infrastructure Review outlined as part of Labor's new NBN policy today.
Video: Top Telstra execs work call centre shift
We'd like to offer a round of congratulations to Telstra's senior management team -- including chief executive David Thodey and CFO John Stanhope, who recently took a crash course in Telstra customer service and got their hands dirty in one of the company's call centres for an afternoon. It's very, very few executives that would eat humble pie like this to learn how their business *really* functions, and this sort of effort should be applauded.
This Saturday: PRISM protests spread to Australia
Global protests against the PRISM surveillance program operated by the Unites States' National Security Agency are slated to spread to Australia this Saturday, with a broad coalition of political and digital rights groups banding together to hold actions in major cities around Australia from lunchtime.
Norfolk Group picks Hyper-V over VMware
A major Australian engineering services company has revealed it recently picked Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualisation solution over VMWare's dominant solution as part of a consolidation of its server and datacentre infrastructure.
Telstra nabs startup star for incubator
The nation's largest telco Telstra has poached Pollenizer co-founder Mick Liubinskas to help it get its new startup incubator Muru Digital (muru-d), in a move that marks the end of an era for startup incubator Pollenizer and one of the most famous partnerships in Australia's technology startup ecosystem.
Coalition slams Labor’s “$1bn e-health debacle”
Shadow Health Minister Peter Dutton has taken a pickaxe to the Federal Government's Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) scheme, claiming the costly project was "more about spin than about outcomes for patients".
Fletcher wants Oz to learn from UK broadband policy
In a new blog entry entitled “What can we learn from the UK?”, Liberal MP Paul Fletcher has lambasted the broadband policies of the Gillard Government, unfavourable contrasting them with the approach of the Cameron Government in the UK.
Four years later, Westpac will finally shift core banking to Celeriti
Four years after it first started talking about migrating its core banking platform to Celeriti, the next generation of CSC's Hogan system, and five years after it acquired St George, which already uses Hogan, top-tier bank Westpac has finally confirmed imminent plans to start taking action on the issue.
Internode launches FetchTV for the NBN
Internode customers using fibre connections on National Broadband Network (NBN) and Opticomm-based FTTH (Fibre to the Home) network ports can now benefit from the full subscription TV channel suite offered by FetchTV.
NSW Education appoints new CIO
The NSW Department of Education and Training (DET) this morning confirmed it had appointed Victorian public servant Stephen Loquet as its new chief information officer.
ASIC blocked “numerous” sites over 9 months
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission revealed tonight that it had in fact blocked "numerous" websites over the past nine months which it suspected contained illegal material, as fears about the extent of the agency's covert Internet filtering scheme continue to grow.
Rudd misleads the public on mobile blackspots
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today made what appeared to be an extremely inaccurate statement claiming the Federal Government was taking steps to address mobile blackspots around Australia, when in fact Labor has not taken any steps on the issue in the six years it has been in power.
Govt pays $280k to bring startup accelerator to Australia
The Federal Government has splashed out $280,000 to bring one of the world’s top startup accelerators to Australia in a bid to help local entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
CSIRO starts converting fleet to electric cars
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has announced it is taking steps to reduce its carbon footprint with the rollout of 100% electric cars to its national fleet.
Conroy just like Basil Fawlty, claims Turnbull
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has taken Stephen Conroy to task for what he claimed was a habit by the Labor Minister for censoring the idea of a cost/benefit analysis from anything to do with the National Broadband Network – drawing a comparison with classic Fawlty Towers character Basil Fawlty in the process.
Australia’s first driverless bus takes to the road
Australia’s first "fully driverless" and electric shuttle bus took to the streets of South Perth yesterday for the on-road stage of its ongoing trial, according to the RAC.
Spectrum re-farming in NSW, ACT boosts Vodafone 4G coverage
Vodafone has completed re-farming the low-frequency 850MHz mobile spectrum in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory to bring about stronger 4G coverage and extra capacity.
Optus wants NBN Co management outsourced
The chief executive of Optus has delivered a landmark speech outlining a wide range of controls Australia’s number two telco wants implemented on Labor’s flagship National Broadband Network project, including the complete outsourcing of NBN Co’s management on a recurring basis.
Three years later, Vodafone finally refers journalist spying to police
National mobile operator Vodafone yesterday revealed it would finally refer to law enforcement authorities an incident which it became aware of three years ago where one of its staff members had accessed the call records of a journalist who was dealing with a whistleblower within its operations.
Greens will legislate to dismiss fines and preserve census ‘snapshot’
Following both protests over privacy and the failure of the Census website on 9 August, the Australian Greens have said they plan to introduce legislation aimed to ensure that people "acting to protect their privacy" and unable to complete the census will not be fined.
Samsung Pay hits Australia via AMEX and Citibank
Mobile wallet app Samsung Pay launched yesterday in Australia, with American Express and Citibank as its supporting card issuers.
IT’S MANDATORY: Govt forces open source option
The Federal Government has dramatically changed its position on the use of open source software by departments and agencies in Canberra, publishing a policy today that mandates the consideration of such options in any technology purchase.
NSW Housing loses CIO Leonas
New South Wales Department of Housing this morning confirmed its long-standing chief information officer after Dr Vladas Leonas resigned from his position late August after holding the position for more than four years.
Telstra launches IPv6 to big customers
The nation's largest telco Telstra today took its biggest step so far towards fully adopting version 6 of the Internet Protocol, noting it had started providing its enterprise, government and wholesale customers with IPv6 addresses.
ANZ CIO “not a big fan” of outsourcing
New Australia and New Zealand Banking Group chief information officer Anne Weatherston has poured cold water on those hoping her recent ascendancy to the bank's top technology role will open the door for outsourcing opportunities.
Brisbane Girls Grammar orders Windows 7 & the lot
Brisbane Girls Grammar School (BGGS) was the first private Australian education body to undertake a roll-out of Windows 7, Microsoft Office 2010 and SharePoint across a whole organisation. The IT team recently upgraded 1, 150 desktop PCs, laptops with Windows 7, Microsoft Office 2010 and Microsoft Exchange 2010.
Christian lobby slams “incomprehensible” filter block
The Australian Christian Lobby has slammed as "incomprehensible" a revelation by Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey late yesterday that the Coalition would vote against Labor's controversial mandatory internet filtering project if associated legislation made it into parliament.
Industry group slams mandatory data breach bill
The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) has hit out at the government's mandatory data breach bill, airing concerns over its implementation and saying it will bring an "unreasonable" burden for businesses.
Coalition dumps Lundy’s $42m NICTA boost
The Coalition has revealed an extra $42 million in funding to support peak ICT research group National ICT Australia (NICTA) unveiled several weeks ago by Labor Digital Economy Minister Kate Lundy will be a victim of its election drive to cut costs.
Sony’s Xperia PLAY to hit Australia Q2
Mobile manufacturer Sony Ericsson has confirmed its combination smartphone and video gaming console, the Xperia PLAY, will hit Australia in the second quarter of this year, although pricing and telco partnerships remain under wraps for now.
Nintendo 3DS to hit Australia March 31
Nintendo last night announced that it would start selling its flagship handheld 3DS console in Australia on March 31 for $349.95, bringing 3D viewing technology to the gaming market for the first time.
Fujitsu wins $140m IT services deal with Gold Coast
Global IT services provider Fujitsu has won the contract to manage Gold Coast’s ICT infrastructure and applications services.
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,...
4,800 DistributeIT sites “unrecoverable”
Beleagured domain name seller and web hosting group DistributeIT today informed customers who had sites hosted on a number of its servers that their sites and emails were now considered "unrecoverable", as fallout continued to rain down from a disastrous hack on the company's infrastructure over the past several weeks.
APRA dumps ColdFusion for Sharepoint 2010
One of Australia's chief financial regulators has revealed it is engaged in a substantial migration off Adobe's ColdFusion platform and onto Microsoft's latest SharePoint 2010 offering, in a move that will affect both its external and internal web systems.
Technical “dead-end”: Conroy smashes Turnbull’s NBN policy
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has taken an axe to the national broadband policy outlined by his Coalition counterpart over the past few months, arguing Malcolm Turnbull's vision for Australia's future telecommunications needs would end up with the nation stuck in "a dead end".
Conroy gives Telstra deal June deadline
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy yesterday appeared to put a deadline of the end of June on the Government's negotiations with the telco on the terms under which it would move its customers and/or infrastructure into the Natioal Broadband Network Company.
Virgin yawns at VHA plan changes
Carrier Virgin Mobile today crowed over a series of changes to capped plans made by rival Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA), saying the company was simply copying its existing offering.
Accenture parlays CBA skills into Child Support win
The Federal Department of Human Services today announced a deal with IT services giant Accenture that will see the company help replace the ageing Child Support payments system, using the SAP technology which Accenture developed extensive skills with during the Commonwealth Bank's core banking placement project.
Victoria abandons IT shared services? Core CenITex services to be outsourced
Dramatic internal documents leaked from CenITex this week have revealed that the Victorian State Government plans to turn the IT shared services agency into a 'broker', rather than a provider of services, and that the Government is considering outsourcing massive chunks of CenITex's work.
Boreham to chair Conroy’s convergence review
Former IBM Australia chief Glenn Boreham has landed on his feet after signalling his departure from the top job at Big Blue in January, with the Federal Government this afternoon appointing the executive to lead the planned extensive review of Australia’s communications and media regulatory environment.
Mogeneration gets funding injection
Local smartphone and tablet software development house Mogeneration today revealed it had completed what it described as a first round “multi-million dollar” capital raising, as the company ramps up its plans to conquer the burgeoning digital publishing arena on the Apple iPad and other devices.
Gigabit for 3.5m residents: Los Angeles wants FTTP
The City of Los Angeles has reportedly revealed plans to embark on a massive Fibre to the Premises city-wide deployment of fibre broadband, in a model that may deliver gigabit broadband speeds to the city's 3.5 million residents and all businesses and vault it into the next-generation of technology enablement.
Turnbull’s NBN “hardly on target”, says Labor
The Australian Labor Party has criticised a Government statement saying NBN Co has "exceeded" its targets for the financial year 2016, suggesting that the national broadband network is actually "hardly on target".
Now Telstra threatens to do its own FTTB
The nation's largest telco Telstra has become the latest private sector player to threaten to deploy its own Fibre to the Basement solution in apartment blocks around Australia, in a move designed to both head off rivals and capitalise on delays suffered in Labor's National Broadband Network project.
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.
Labor, Coalition block data retention transparency
Australia’s two major sides of politics have combined to block a Senate order moved by the Greens which would have forced the Attorney-General’s Department to produce key documents it is holding regarding advice it had received pertaining to the controversial data retention and surveillance scheme it is pushing.
Exetel’s John Linton has passed away
John Linton, the maverick chief executive of Internet service provider Exetel, has tragically passed away, according to several public notices published by Exetel staff this morning.
UNSW, GoGet working on self-driving car
Researchers at the University of New South Wales have taken the first step towards creating a self-driving car by fitting sensors and other technology to a vehicle owned by car sharing service GoGet.
Comms Minister skips Internet Australia meeting in home town
Internet Australia, the peak body representing Internet users, has expressed its disappointment that Communications Minister Mitch Fifield "missed an opportunity" to meet with his local digital and ICT community last week.
NEHTA, DoHA deaf to consumers, claim critics
A new e-health lobbying organisation has voiced its frustration at the National e-Health Transition Authority and Department of Health and Ageing for not communicating with consumers well enough.
Coalition’s FTTN NBN to cost $29.4bn
So today is the day we’ve all been waiting for. The day when the Coalition finally releases its rival telecommunications policy to go up against Labor’s flagship National Broadband Network project. Sadly, so far we still don’t have the actual policy documents which detail the Coalition’s plans; they’ll (presumably) be released later today.
IBM faces more strikes at Baulkham Hills
update IBM is facing another round of industrial action at its controversial Baulkham Hills facility in Sydney, with unionised staff at the centre voting...
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.
WA Govt funds Telstra mobile expansion
The nation's largest telco Telstra the Western Australian State Government's Regional Mobile Communication Project (RMCP) contract, a deal which will see Telstra receive $39.2 million from the state government and in return provide a value return of $106 million in the form of direct capital expenditure and access rights to Telstra’s infrastructure.
NBN Co now a wireless telco: Slattery
Labor's deal with the independents to roll out the National Broadband Network to regional areas first means it will now necessarily have to place a big emphasis on the wireless component of the network's construction, according to Pipe Networks managing director and long-time NBN critic Bevan Slattery.
Poor OzLog consultation led to FUD, finds Senate
The Senate's communications committee yesterday took an axe to the proposal by the Attorney-General's Departmentment to force ISPs to retain data about all telephone calls and emails made by Australians, highlighting a lack of consultation with the wider community which had given the so-called 'OzLog' proposal a bad reputation.
IBM’s Stevens fires shot over CSC’s bow
For the past year or so IBM’s been targeting the utilities sector with its ‘Smarter Planet’ initiative, but it looks like Big Blue is finally going to throw money at one of Australia’s biggest sectors — resources.
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.
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.
Exetel reveals 300GB, 100Mbps NBN plan for $70
Second-tier Australian ISP Exetel has launched a 300GB National Broadband Network pricing plan at 100Mbps for just $70 a month just a week after being criticised for having low top-end plans and undercutting rivals such as iiNet and Internode in the process.
Aussie retailers put Vista on sale
Windows 7 has been available for purchase in Australia since October last year. But has Microsoft's previous operating system, Windows Vista, passed away? Not quite.
Fetch TV will easily survive iiNet loss
Fetch TV has revealed it is financially profitable and rapidly expanding its operations and customer numbers, in news that signals it will not be substantially adversely affected by the decision by iiNet’s new owner TPG to terminate its long-standing relationship with the Internet television company.
Tech management bloodbath hits Internode
Citing "very difficult times" in the past 12 months, national broadband provider Internode has conducted an extensive restructure of its leadership team which has seen four of its most senior technical managers leave the company and managing director Simon Hackett appointed as chief technical officer.
VHA reveals: Massive 3G network expansion
Mobile telco VHA has unveiled a giant expansion of its consolidated 3G mobile network, including the construction of a new network using the same 850MHz spectrum that Telstra has made popular with its rival Next G offering.
PushStart gives startups a leg up
A new Australian incubator for startups, PushStart, has formed and is head-hunting for volunteer mentors.
NSW Govt directly regulates taxi mobile apps
The NSW Government has formally embraced and started regulating the taxi smartphone apps which have been taking Sydney and other locations by storm, setting regulations to support the apps against the wishes of incumbent players in the taxi industry and capping surcharges at five per cent to stop overcharging.
Amazon mulls Aussie distribution centre
According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, giant international Internet retailer and cloud computing giant Amazon is considering deploying a distribution centre -- Amazon-speak for giant warehouse filled with goods to ship to customers -- in Australia.
Turnbull factually inaccurate on NBN costs
Malcolm Turnbull has over the past 24 hours appeared to make a number of misleading statements regarding the cost of and financial details involved in constructing the National Broadband Network, in what appeared to be an attempt by the Shadow Communications Minister to demonstrate the Coalition's own rival plan would save tens of billions of dollars.
Delimiter is giving away a new Apple iPad
Our last giveaway, a Kindle Fire, went really well, and quite a few readers told me they would like to see more giveaways, so we've decided to give away another tablet -- and this time it's one of Apple's new iPads!
Govt outlines guidelines for data retention grants
The government has initiated a grants program that will provide up to $128.4 million to assist the telecommunications industry with the upfront costs of meeting their data retention obligations.
Vodafone launches Android clearance sale
Vodafone has launched an online only clearance sale for select smartphones, primarily offering recent generations of Android models in the deals, but also models with different operating systems from the likes of Nokia and Research in Motion.
Elders inks seven-year outsourcing deal with HP
In an announcement yesterday, HP revealed that diversified local company Elders had signed it for a seven-year infrastructure and applications services agreement. Elders is a 172-year-old company incorporating the Elders rural services businesses and the automotive and forestry operations acquired and developed by Futuris Corporation.
A brief word from NBN Co’s staff
A brief word from various staff members of NBN Co about why they like working for the company (I believe this is part of NBN Co's recruitment drive). Not a bad little video -- it makes it clear that NBN Co's team very much believes in what they're doing.
Budget 2014: Game devs ‘bewildered’ by fund cut
Australia's peak game developer's body has issued a statement noting that it is "disappointed and mystified" by the Federal Government's decision to cut $10 million of remaining funding to the Australian Interactive Games Fund, which had been established in 2012 to help game studios get off the ground in Australia.
SA Police deploy Android fingerprint scanners
South Australia's police force has committed to deploying a fleet of fingerprint scanners coupled with Android-based smartphones that will allow officers in the field to conduct identity checks in the field instead of taking suspects back to police stations.
Pro-NBN National Day of Action is tomorrow
Supporters of Labor's all-fibre vision for the National Broadband Network project have organised a national day of action for Tuesday 26 November, which will see thousands of Australians physically present Members of Parliament with copies of a 270,000-strong petition on the issue.
IIA plays down zombie disconnection plan
The Internet Industry Association has played down the idea that a new internet service provider code being developed could see users disconnected from the internet if their computers are part of a zombie botnet.
Telstra, VHA confirm iPhone 4 launch
Mobile telcos Telstra and VHA today confirmed they will launch Apple's new iPhone when the device hits Australia in July, but Optus has not yet flagged its own interest in the device.
IBM works on predictive analytics for Thiess
Technology giant IBM last week revealed it had embarked on a new contract with construction and mining giant Thiess which is seeing Big Blue use so-called 'Big Data' techniques to improve the availability and operational productivity of Thiess' mining equipment, initially focusing on the company's mining haul trucks and excavators.
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.
Optus releases Galaxy Tab 10.1 pricing
National telco Optus has announced the addition of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 to its tablet range, just in time for Christmas. Starting from this week, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be on offer at the Optus online store bundled with a variety of plans for householders and small and medium businesses (SMBs).
Huawei espionage claims “completely absurd”: Downer
Former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has reportedly described claims that Chinese networking vendor Huawei has links to cyber-espionage from its home country as "completely absurd", in the wake of news that the company has been banned from participating in National Broadband Network contracts for such involvement.
Apple announces Australian launch dates for iPhone 7
Apple has announced that its new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be available for preorder on 9 September in Australia, with the phones becoming available for retail sales on 16 September.
Labor targets Turnbull’s NBN record with election mailout
The Opposition has directly targeted the record of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on the National Broadband Network project, in what appears to be the first of a new wave of mailouts to voters designed to influence its electoral results, mimicking its approach during the last Federal Election in mid-2013.
Will Victoria’s Coalition Govt back NBN opt-out?
Victoria's Coalition Government-Elect has given tantalising signs that its support for the National Broadband Network rollout in the state will not be as complete as that of its Labor predecessor.
Telstra’s cloud computing suffers 24 hour outage
Telstra has confirmed that it suffered a major outage in its high-end corporate cloud computing platform last week that left a number of its most high-profile customers without some of their services for a period as long as 24 hours.
Victoria finally kills $180m Ultranet disaster
The Victorian Government has reportedly terminated its disastrous Ultranet schools portal, which ballooned in cost to $180 million over the past seven years but ended up being barely used by the education stakeholders it was supposed to serve.
Nintendo Wii U to hit Australia before Christmas
Japanese video game giant Nintendo has reportedly confirmed plans to launch its next-generation Wii U console in Australia before the end of 2012, listing a local launch in line with simultaneous releases in Japan, the US and Europe.
Albo slams Turnbull FTTP on demand “lottery”
New Communications Minister Anthony Albanese has issued a statement damning the controversial fibre on demand proposal contained in the Coalition's rival National Broadband Network policy, stating that Australians shouldn't have to take part in a financial and technical "lottery" to obtain the same fibre service which they would get for free under Labor.
Telstra “fightback” grows broadband share
Telstra today revealed it was no longer losing consumer fixed broadband customers -- reversing a trend of market share loss that had been stinging the customer over the past few years.
BigPond Movies baked into LG TVs
LG will this year introduce a range of televisions that will come with access to Telstra's BigPond Movies on-demand service, the two companies announced in a statement this morning.
‘Bold & visionary’: UK MP loves Australia’s NBN
One of the UK Government’s up and coming technology-focused politicians, Chi Onwurah, has declared Australia’s National Broadband Network to be bold and visionary following a visit Down Under and asked her own country’s administration why it doesn’t have similar ambitions in its own, much more limited broadband policy.
Victorian school may deploy 3,500 iPads
Independent Melbourne school Haileybury has already rolled out 1,000 iPads to staff members and students throughout its three campuses in the Victorian capital and may roll out several thousand more as it attempts to take advantage of the Apple technology in education.
Five months after deleting it, AGL reinstates CIO role
Utility AGL Energy this week revealed it had hired a new permanent chief information officer, pinching a senior Commonwealth Bank IT executive to fill the role it had deleted from its executive roster only five months ago.
Details: iPhone 4 launch parties around Sydney
On the eve on the Apple iPhone4 launch in Australia, we round up all the events planned for midnight tonight around Sydney by the big three telco providers -- with events ranging from the left field to the glamourous.
15-year-old IT system helped Victoria lose $886m
The Victorian Ombudsman has found that the poor-performing nature of a 15-year-old IT system operated by the State Government has been one of the main contributors to the state losing more than $1.2 billion of revenue from millions of uncollected legal infringement fines. A project to replace the system kicked off in 2007 has not yet delivered on its aims.
IT’S DONE: Telstra inks $11bn NBN deal
As expected, Telstra this morning revealed it had signed what it described as 'Definitive Agreements' with NBN Co and the Federal Government which will make its infrastructure available to the fledgling broadband company and its customers progressively migrated onto the growing NBN fibre network over the next decade, at a cost to NBN Co of $11 billion.
Microsoft to offer Win10 as a service for businesses
Microsoft has announced that it will soon be offering Windows 10 as a service for enterprises through its Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) channel.
Fifield knew about AFP NBN investigation from the start
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield today admitted he was told about the Australian Federal Police investigation launched in December into leaks from the NBN company, in a admission which directly contradicts a statement by the AFP Commissioner yesterday that the Government did not know of the investigation.
Conroy’s NBN stalling may cause Greens pullout
The Greens have reportedly threatened to pull their support for the Federal Government's controversial telecommunications reform legislation due to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy's decision not to yet release the National Broadband Implementation study.
ACCC letting NBN descend into retail “market failure”, says Macquarie
Top-tier business telco Macquarie Telecom has accused the ACCC of having little idea of what is going on in the competitive NBN market, in the wake of comments made by the competition regulator that it was not planning re-examine its controversial decision to set the number of points of interconnect with the NBN at 121.
Guzman y Gomez likes the taste of NetSuite
Fast-growing Mexican restaurant fast food chain Guzman y Gomez revealed this week that it has upgraded its previous MYOB-based accounting system to a comprehensive business platform from software as a service vendor NetSuite, to help support the chain's ongoing expansion plans.
Watch: 1800km of new copper ‘simply part of NBN architecture’, says Turnbull
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has defended the NBN company’s purchase of 1800km of brand new copper from repeated attacks by the Opposition in Question Time, telling the Parliament yesterday that the copper cable was “simply part of the architecture” of the NBN company’s new Multi-Technology Mix approach.
SA Coalition slams shared services “disaster”
South Australia's Shadow Finance Minister Rob Lucas has added to a long-running series of attacks on the Labor State Government's handling of technology initiatives, labelling its implementation of a series of shared services centres as an "unmitigated disaster" that had blown out by $68 million.
Federal Government spends $5bn on ICT annually
Special Minister of State Gary Gray has released a report summarising expenditure by government departments in 2008–09 and 2009–10, which states that the Australian Government is a major consumer and producer of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) products and solutions, with an annual expenditure of $5 billion.
Delimiter files FOI request for ICON sale scoping study
Technology media outlet Delimiter today filed a Freedom of Information request for the 'scoping study' which has been carried out into the potential sale of the Federal Government's Intra Government Communications Network (ICON), a fibre network which connects public service buildings throughout Canberra.
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.
Qld Govt hitting “panic button” ICT policy, says Opposition
The Queensland Opposition has accused the incumbent Bligh Labor State Government of hitting the "panic button" in a belated attempt to enter "catch-up mode" when it comes to technology policy, with a state election looming on the horizon.
Telstra reveals plans for another 200 job cuts
Telstra has announced a plan to cut staffing numbers via voluntary redundancies in its Global Contact Centre (GCC) group.
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.
iiNet launches $109.99 100Mbps terabyte NBN plans
National broadband player iiNet has revamped its National Broadband Network plans to match its newly minted ADSL and VDSL broadband plans, with the headline offering seeing customers offered a terabyte of download quota coupled with 100Mbps speeds and local and national telephone calls included, for $109.99 per month.
FTTN a huge “mistake”, says ex-BT CTO
One of the UK's foremost telecommunications experts, a former chief technology officer of British telco BT, has publicly stated that fibre to the node-style broadband is "one of the biggest mistakes humanity has made", imposing huge bandwidth and unreliability problems on those who implement it, as the Coalition may do in Australia.
NBN Co’s Quigley to retire
The National Broadband Network Company's founding chief executive, Mike Quigley, announced today that he would retire from the company and from corporate life, after four years of tumultuous life setting up NBN Co and initiating the construction of the NBN.
EFA board explodes with internal tensions
Four members of the board of Electronic Frontiers Australia have resigned in protest against what they described in a letter published this morning as "inaccuracies and irregularities" in the governance and financial affairs of the digital rights lobby group.
iiNet changes routing tables for StarCraft II
Two months after the release of the most anticipated real-time strategy game to date, national broadband provider iiNet has amended its network routing path to make the experience of playing StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty better for Australians connecting to regional Battle.net servers in South-East Asia.
$94 billion not the worst Labor NBN case: Turnbull
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has responded to the claim that the Coalition is misrepresenting its own estimates of the cost of Labor's NBN policy, stating that the $94 billion figure being cited is not a 'worst case scenario', with the Coalition estimating that Labor's NBN could actually cost more than $100 billion and take 20 years to deliver.
SMS flags further M&A potential
Australian IT services outfit SMS Management & Technology today said it expected to have a busy year investigating potential acquisitions, with one case currently in due dilligence and active discussions under way.