Market better to deliver broadband, says Abbott
Tony Abbott this week said the private sector could deliver broadband cheaper and more swiftly than the Government's National Broadband Network project, in comments which Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said illustrated a growing divide between the Opposition Leader and Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
NBN Co appoints John McInerney as CIO
The National Broadband Network Company has appointed former Telstra and HP executive John McInterney to be its new chief information officer starting on 3 December this year, following the departure of inaugural-NBN Co CIO Claire Rawlins in August.
Optus 4G hits Brisbane, Gold Coast
The nation’s number two telco Optus announced this morning that it had switched on its first 4G sites in the Brisbane central business district and Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast, adding to its existing coverage zones in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Newcastle.
Nobody has connected to NBN at 100Mbps, claims Christopher Pyne
Federal Shadow Education Minister Christopher Pyne has inaccurately claimed on national radio that the National Broadband Network has not connected any customers at speeds of 100Mbps, despite the fact that in fact, 44 percent of NBN customers connected so far to the project's fibre infrastructure have taken up such speeds.
“Obstruction, avoidance and evasion”: IT giants stonewall price inquiry
Members of Parliament from both major sides of politics have very publicly blasted global technology giants such as Apple, Adobe and Microsoft and even representative group the Australian Information Industry Association, for what they described as “deep reluctance and resistance” to give evidence before a parliamentary committee investigating local IT price hikes.
Conroy threatens naughty NSW with NBN powers
Federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and the National Broadband Network Company have threatened to use Federal telecommunications powers to force the Coalition New South Wales State Government to provide access to electricity infrastructure NBN Co needs to roll out its fibre infrastructure in the state.
“Wi-Fi breakthrough” undercuts NBN: Andrew Bolt
Controversial conservative commentator Andrew Bolt has published a blog post arguing that a new development in wireless technology revealed this month could leave the Federal Government’s flagship National Broadband Network project looking like “the biggest white elephant in our history”.
Nexus 7 draw: Join our weekly newsletter
We've decided to create a new "Best of the Week" email newsletter which will go out once weekly on Fridays.
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.
NBN future “clearly wireless”, claims Alan Jones
Radio shockjock Alan Jones made a statement riddled with factual errors about the Federal Government’s National Broadband Network project on his radio program this morning, describing it as a “white elephant” and a “disaster” and inaccurately claiming that the future of telecommunications is “clearly wireless”, rather than the mainly fibre model the NBN is mainly using.
Nokia Lumia rollout for Sara Lee
Finnish smartphone seller Nokia today added another name to the growing public list of large Australian organisations which have decided to deploy its Windows Phone-based Lumia line as their corporate smartphone, picking the series ahead of competing options from Apple and Android.
Tiger Airways joins growing list of spamming corporations
Tiger Airways is likely to face further damage to its reputation, after joining a growing list of big corporations being fined for breaching the Spam Act.
Hockey repeats inaccurate NBN claim
Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey has continued to publicly repeat a factually inaccurate statement regarding the accounting treatment of the National Broadband Network funding as a capital investment, maintaining that the funding should be treated as an expense, despite direct evidence to the contrary, including the acknowledgement of fellow Liberal MP Malcolm Turnbull.
Telstra’s Adam buy will boost competition, say Hackett & Malone
Telstra’s controversial move to acquire South Australian ISP Adam Internet would actually increase competition in the state, iiNet chief executive Michael Malone and Internode founder Simon Hackett said yesterday, despite concerns from Adam Internet customers about the deal.
CenITex report: CEO’s email to the troops
Delimiter is reliably informed that CenITex chief executive Michael Vanderheide sent the following email to the IT shared services agency's staff this week, following the publication of a damning report by the Victorian Ombudsman into procurement practices and the engagement of contractors at CenITex.
“Nepotism”: Audit blasts CenITex culture
Victoria’s Ombudsman today published a damning report into procurement practices and the engagement of contractors at the state’s IT shared services agency CenITex, finding examples of “nepotism and favouritism” in the company, as well as more serious improper conduct and poor procedures for handling CenITex’s large contractor workforce.
ICAC finds Sydney University IT manager corrupt
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has found that University of Sydney information technology (IT) manager Atilla "Todd" Demiralay engaged in corrupt conduct by using Succuro Recruitment, a business that employed his wife and later operated through a company in which he and his wife had a financial interest, to recruit contractors and staff for the university, without disclosing his financial interest in the business.
New Apple iPads support 4G in Australia
Iconic technology giant Apple has confirmed that its new iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad tablets announced overnight will support the 4G mobile networks of Telstra and Optus when they launch in Australia, although the versions supporting mobile broadband will launch several weeks later than the Wi-Fi versions.
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.
IBM’s NASH deal gets terminated
The National E-Health Transition Authority this afternoon confirmed it had “terminated” a $23.6 million contract with IBM to build a key component of the Federal Government’s Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record project, just 18 months after the contract was initially inked.
Funeral services group deploys Salesforce.com
US technology giant Salesforce.com has revealed that Australian funeral services provider InvoCare – which encompasses the Simplicity, White Lady and Guardian Funerals brands – has deployed its Sales Cloud customer relationship management software as a service application, in a deployment touching 130 branches across Australia.
Now Hockey contradicts Turnbull on NBN costs
Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey has joined Opposition Leader Tony Abbott in contradicting comments made by Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull on the budget accounting for Labor’s National Broadband Network project, describing the NBN’s off-budget treatment as “accounting tricks”, despite the accounting model having been independently verified.
Parliament’s IT systems a complete shambles
The department which runs Australia's Federal Parliament has published a damning report acknowledging it has widespread problems with IT service delivery and infrastructure, stemming from the fact that it has "no parliament-wide IT strategic plan" and no mechanism for making strategic IT decisions, despite a decade of reports warning of the situation.
Penny Arcade Expo hits Melbourne for two years
The organisers of the popular Penny Arcade Expo ('PAX') event have announced that the popular show will be held in Melbourne in July 2013 and 2014, in an event which will mark the first international version of the expo founded by the creators of the video gaming comic.
Abbott contradicts Turnbull on NBN costs
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott today said a Coalition Government would "pause" the Federal Government's NBN, claiming such a move could save money in the Federal Budget, in comments which appear to place the Liberal leader at odds with the view of his Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull on the issue.
Taxi 2.0 service Uber hits Sydney
US-based personal transport startup Uber has started testing its service in Sydney, encouraging Sydneysiders to download its mobile application and start requesting rides instead of using existing taxi services.
“Green splotches”: Turnbull mocks NBN rollout speed
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has issued a statement poking fun at what he sees as the slow rollout speeds of Labor’s flagship National Broadband Network project, joking that the Government was more active in publishing future rollout maps for the network than actually rolling out the network itself.
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.
BoQ deploys Salesforce.com CRM
Bank of Queensland today revealed that it is deploying a new software as a service-based customer relationship management system which would deliver it a dramatically simplified and flexible platform for dealing with customer accounts, with the technology reported to be supplied by US-headquartered vendor Salesforce.com
IBM says it “successfully delivered” Qld Health payroll
Global technology giant IBM has written to the new LNP Queensland Government claiming it “successfully delivered” against milestones agreed with the previous Labor administration with respect to the disastrous payroll systems overhaul at Queensland Health, which has already cost the state $417 million and will need another $837 million to fix over the next five years.
Huge 100Mbps demand: 44% of NBN users take top speed
44 percent of NBN customers signed up so far have opted for the company’s fasted 100Mbps speed tier, the National Broadband Network Company revealed this week, as evidence continues to accumulate that Australians will overwhelmingly pay for the fastest broadband speeds available if given the chance.
Melbourne CDN startup wins $2.3 million
Melbourne-based cloud content delivery network startup MetaCDN this week revealed it had completed one of the largest early stage investment rounds in an Australian technology startup over the past several years, winning $2.3 million in funding from investors including Starfish Ventures and the University of Melbourne Endowment fund.
“Criminal neglect”: Qld Govt IT fixes to cost up to $6 billion
Queensland’s new IT Minister Ros Bates said this week it would cost the state between $3.7 billion and $6 billion replace the “mess of mismatched, miscellaneous and duplicated [ICT] systems” which the previous Labor administration had left the state with.
Microsoft Surface gets modest Aussie markup
Global technology giant Microsoft has revealed that its Surface tablet will go on sale on 26 October next week, as its Windows 8 operating system also launches, in three different models and with only a small markup for Australian buyers compared with US prices.
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.
Top cybercop had no idea about Telstra logging
Australia’s highest-ranking cybercrime police officer yesterday acknowledged he had not followed the controversial news which broke in June that the nation’s largest telco Telstra had been archiving the web browsing activity of its users, despite the fact that his organisation, the Australian Federal Police, received requests by concerned citizens to investigate the issue.
“Misleading consumers”: ACCC sues HP
The national competition regulator has taken global technology giant HP to court for allegedly breaking Australian consumer law by making misleading representations to customers regarding their warranty rights.
NSW Govt “excited” about ICT progress
The two most senior ministers responsible for delivering technology projects in the NSW State Government have both declared they are “excited”, Big Kev-style, about the progress which the state has made over the past six months on implementing the state’s new whole of government ICT strategy, designed to lead it out of “the dark ages” of ICT service delivery.
More Internet regulation unnecessary: Turnbull
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has delivered a major speech arguing that government regulation is not the solution to societal challenges posed by the onset of new technology such as the Internet, in contrast to what he said was the Federal Government’s “command and control” approach to the medium.
FTTN or FTTH? It doesn’t matter, says Vodafone
The chief executive of ailing national mobile player Vodafone stated over the weekend that it wasn’t “important” whether Australia’s National Broadband Network policy pursued a fibre to the home or fibre to the node approach, with only “minor nuances” between the two platforms proposed separately by the Government and the Opposition.
Defence appoints new CIO: Peter Lawrence
The Department of Defence has appointed high-flying global IT executive Peter Lawrence, currently group manager of IT, Energy Markets for utility Origin Energy, to replace its outgoing chief information officer Greg Farr.
Development day
Just a quick note that Delimiter will be going through some site development today, so posting of articles will be very slow, if at all.
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.
Turnbull links data retention with Conroy’s filter
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has likened the Federal Government’s controversial data retention and surveillance plan to the mandatory Internet filtering project which remains official policy of the Federal Government, despite the fact that Labor’s attempt to introduce it several years ago was met with near-universal political and popular opposition.
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.
NSW Govt “confident” it can avoid IT disasters
The two most senior ministers responsible for delivering technology projects in the NSW State Government have declared they are “confident” the state has sufficient IT governance procedures in place avoid the sort of billion-dollar IT disasters which have plagued Queensland and Victoria over the past half-decade.
Turnbull on Quigley “witch hunt”, says Conroy
Communications Minister Conroy this morning heavily criticised his shadow, Malcolm Turnbull, stating that the Liberal MP’s continued criticism of the management of the National Broadband Network Company constituted “witch hunts” and “personal attacks” which needed to stop.
Govt censors pre-prepared data retention bills
The Federal Attorney-General’s Department has rejected a request by the Pirate Party of Australia to release draft legislation associated with the Government’s controversial data retention and surveillance proposal, with the department stating that public interest factors did not outweigh the need to keep the material private as it was still being deliberated on.
Google fails to delete Street View data again
The Australian branch of global search giant Google has written to the nation’s Privacy Commissioner admitting that it had found yet more examples of undeleted data which its Street View cards had collected over the past several years as they brushed past Australian Wi-Fi networks, in what marks Google’s third attempt so far to delete the illicit data it collected.
NEC expands NSW Police network business
Diversified ICT services business NEC this afternoon revealed it had retained and expanded its communications-related work with NSW Police, with the Japanese company to continue providing voice telephony services to the organisation and expand its remit to include maintenance and support of its data network as well.
‘Partisan ideology’: Turnbull blasts pro-NBN ‘media apologists’
Shadow Communications Minister has taken a verbal pick axe to a number of ‘pro-NBN specialist commentators’ who he said were delivering a “partisan ideology” and helping “fantasy” triumph over fact in the ongoing national debate over the specific details of how Labor’s flagship National Broadband Network project should go ahead.
Turnbull has “grave misgivings” on data retention
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has broken his silence regarding the Fedeal Government's controversial data retention and surveillance package, declaring that he has "grave misgivings" about a project which he feels "seems to be heading in precisely the wrong direction".
IT more valuable than mining, says Gillard
news: Prime Minister Julia Gillard has hailed knowledge and the technologies used to create and share it as being the key factor determining Australia's future economic success -- even beyond the resources sector -- as she met with key figures from Australia's technology sector and set in place key 'Digital Economy' strategies for the nation's future.
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.
Exetel launches 4G mobile plans
Tier two national broadband provider Exetel has launched a range of 4G mobile broadband plans with monthly download quota ranging up to 20GB, based on Optus’ new 4G infrastructure located in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Newcastle.
$1.5bn splurge: ANZ banks on customer tech
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group has revealed plans to spend up to $1.5 billion on a wide range of customer-facing technology systems and branch refurbishments, in the latest salvo of an intensifying battle between Australia’s major banks to position themselves as technology leaders.
Fed Govt releases motherhood ICT strategy
The Federal Government today published what it described as a new strategy document which would set the overall direction for the Australian Public Service’s use of ICT in the future. However, the document contains few specific details of steps that will be taken, preferring to focus instead on a series of high-level motherhood statements.
NBN could cost $100bn, claims Hockey
Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey has claimed the National Broadband Network could cost as much as $100 billion to build, despite the company’s own estimates showing that it will require around $37 billion of capital injection from the Government and eventually make a return, paying back the investment with some profit on top.
iiNet hid game forum hack from customers
Following several months of rumors, national broadband provider iiNet has admitted a now-defunct forum associated with its 3FL gaming network was recently hacked and that it concealed the break-in from affected customers whose login details may have been compromised.
More NBN cost/benefit analysis pointless: Budde
One of Australia’s most respected telecommunications analysts this week called for the nation’s politicians to show “leadership” when it comes to national telecommunications infrastructure, arguing out that further cost/benefit analysis conducted on the sector would constitute further ‘procrastination’, after dozens of such studies have already been conducted.
Vic Govt releases motherhood ICT strategy
The Victorian State Government has released the draft of a new whole of government information and communications technology strategy, with which it aims to start addressing extensive IT project and service delivery issues which have resulted in more than a billion dollars in budget overruns and a string of failed IT projects over the past half-decade.
Two thirds of Australians support the NBN
A new study has found that two thirds of Australians support the Federal Government’s National Broadband Network project, with most planning to connect to the network when it’s connected to their premises, as the project continues to experience high levels of popularity on a sustained basis over several years.
4G Samsung Galaxy S III hits Telstra next week
The nation's largest telco Telstra late last week revealed that it would launch the 4G version of Samsung's popular Galaxy S III handset on October 9, in a move which will see Apple's iPhone 5 face perhaps its most significant rival yet on the nation's largest 4G mobile network.
Indefinite data retention “appalling”, say critics
Critics of Federal Government's proposed data retention and surveillance scheme have labelled suggestions by police that Australians' telecommunications data could be retained indefinitely as "appalling", and pointed out that there is very little likelihood of political support for such a scheme.
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.
Universities must adapt education models: Conroy
Australian universities need to adapt their education models or face becoming irrelevant, says Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.
Medibank division deploys HP private cloud
Global technology giant HP this week revealed that Medibank division Medibank Health Solutions had deployed a complete stack of HP IT infrastructure ranging from blade servers to storage and interconnecting systems, in a rollout which appears to constitute the base parts of a scalable private cloud platform.
Private equity firm buys Dick Smith Electronics
Retail giant Woolworths this morning revealed it had sold its Dick Smith Electronics chain to local private equity firm Anchorage Capital, in a move which may help rejuvenate the ailing business and provide a certain degree of employment certainty for its 4,500 staff around the nation.
Has iiNet been hacked? Rumours swirl
National broadband provider iiNet has conducted an audit of its network security, as persistent rumours continue to swirl that one of the company’s customer databases has been broken into and its contents handed over to spammers – a claim iiNet says it can find no evidence for.
Microsoft beats SAP to Hastings ERP deal
Microsoft this week revealed that it had beaten fellow technology behemoth SAP to a major enterprise resource planning deal with Australian industrial dealership Hastings Deering, in a move which will see Redmond’s Dynamics AX 2012 software entrenched at the company.
Leighton to sell NextGen, Metronode, Infoplex
Diversified contract and industrial group Leighton Holdings has flagged plans to sell its NextGen, Metronode and Infoplex telecommunications and technology businesses, in a move which will move the so-called “non-core” assets off the company’s books and potentially into the arms of another major player in the sector.
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.
Victoria starts airing its IT dirty laundry
The Victorian State Government has over the past month started holding hearings which touch in depth on the wide-ranging IT project delivery issues which have resulted in the state’s departments and agencies broadly failing to deliver ten major IT projects over the past half-decade.
Federal Govt re-affirms Microsoft format choice
The Federal Government’s central IT strategy division has re-affirmed and formalised its decision to pick Microsoft’s Office Open XML document standard as the federal public sector’s common office document standard, despite the fact that most alternative office suites cannot write documents in the standard.
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.
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.
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.
Vodafone not selling iPhone 5 to new customers
National mobile carrier Vodafone has confirmed it is declining to sell the iPhone 5 handset which launched last week to new customers, with the carrier turning away those not already on Vodafone plans, in favour of prioritising getting the hyped Apple device to its existing customer base first.
CommBank standardises in-house fleet on iPhone
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has revealed that it will standardise its mobile phone fleet on Apple’s iPhone platform, as it progresses plans to move away from its
high-profile softphone-based unified communications strategy recently implemented at its flagship Commonwealth Bank Place facility in Sydney.
Twitter caves to Conroy’s troll pressure
news Global social networking site Twitter has agreed to closer cooperation with Australian law enforcement authorities, including handing over users’ IP addresses in certain...
Asciano upgrades “entire” IT infrastructure
Port and rail operator Asciano has revealed a wide-ranging plan to upgrade its “entire” IT infrastructure and applications stack, in a move which will see a broad tranche of technology platforms modernised with the assistance of Japanese diversified IT services giant Fujitsu.
Labor, Coalition avoid data retention debate
Australia’s two major sides of politics have avoided substantially discussing the Federal Government’s controversial data retention and surveillance package, in a Senate debate stimulated yesterday by Greens Senator Scott Ludlam, who described the privacy issues involved as “deadly serious”.
ABC embroiled in copyright debate over iview
The ABC has found itself caught up in a copyright debate after it forced the removal of an application that enabled people to download and watch programs offered on its iview service.
Govt IT buyers “struggling” with pace of change
Government departments and agencies are "struggling to keep up" with the pace of change in the technology sector, analyst firm Ovum said in a research note issued this month, with the rapidly evolving technology landscape outpacing the speed of procurement cycles.
Roxon conflates cyber-bullies, protests, data retention
Nicola Roxon has publicly linked the religious protests held in Sydney last week over a YouTube video and the issue of cyber-bullying to the Federal Government's wide-ranging packaging of surveillance and data retention measures, in what the Federal Attorney-General stated was "a lot of different trends coming together".
IT price hike inquiry may subpoena rebel vendors
Labor MP Ed Husic has publicly raised the prospect of forcing recalcitrant technology vendors to appear before a parliamentary committee on IT price hikes in Australia, alleging that some suppliers are "treating the Parliament with contempt".
TPG reveals $69.99 unlimited NBN plan
National provider broadband provider TPG has revealed it is planning to offer at least one plan on the National Broadband Network's fibre infrastructure featuring the same unlimited downloads it offers on ADSL networks, with speeds of 12Mbps and a monthly charge of $69.99 including a home telephone line.
iiNet to launch 4G through Optus
National broadband provider iiNet this morning announced it had signed a deal with Optus to start reselling access to the SingTel subsidiary's 4G mobile broadband network, with services to start "in the coming months".
NSW ramps up giant datacentre consolidation
The New South Wales State Government this week starting building a list of suppliers to help its departments and agencies migrate their server infrastructure from dozens of dated back-office server rooms and into modern datacentres, as part of the state's long-running and wide-ranging comprehensive datacentre overhaul project.
Nintendo Wii U hits Australia on 30 November
Nintendo announced this morning that its new Wii U console would launch in Australia on 30 November this year, with several different pricing options available ranging from a "Basic Pack" at $349.95 to a "Premium Pack" containing a black model with more space for $429.95.
“Extraordinary incompetence”: Turnbull on NBN greenfields
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has gone on the warpath regarding NBN Co's performance in rolling out fibre to greenfields housing estates, touring a number of estates nationwide and damning what he said was NBN Co's "extraordinary incompetence" in its greenfields rollout schedule.
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.
GetUp! rejects Roxon’s “partisan spin”
Citizen lobbying organisation GetUp! has published a strongly worded rejection of a YouTube video published by Federal Attorney-General Nicola Roxon yesterday relating to the Government’s current data retention and surveillance proposal, describing Roxon’s video as “partisan spin” and highlighting what it said were inaccuracies in it.
Google Apps defeats Lotus, GroupWise in Australia
Google's popular Apps collaboration suite has knocked IBM's Lotus Notes/Domino and Novell's GroupWise platforms off their perch to become the second most popular office suite in Australian enterprises behind Microsoft Outlook/Exchange, analyst firm Telsyte revealed this week.
Turnbull ignores FTTN cost issue
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has avoided responding directly to a claim by NBN Co chairman Harrison Young yesterday that the Coalition's fibre to the node-based broadband policy could end up costing more than the current fibre to the home-based NBN.
Data retention: Roxon makes YouTube plea
Federal Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has taken to YouTube to make an impassioned plea to Australians not to believe some of the criticism which is being spread about the Federal Government's highly controversial data retention and surveillance package, which has been widely slammed by a large number of interest groups as being over the top.
FTTN could cost more, says NBN chairman
NBN Co chairman Harrison Young gave a landmark speech in Sydney yesterday claiming that the Coalition's policy of delivering NBN cost savings by using fibre to the node technology wouldn't necessarily save money, and wouldn't actually meet the objective of structurally separating Telstra either.
EPA Victoria deploys SAP CRM
German software giant SAP this morning revealed that version 7.0 of its customer relationship management platform was being deployed at the Victorian Government's Environmental Protection Authority, along with a number of other components of SAP's broader software suite.
NBN Co faces wireless tower backlash
The National Broadband Network Company is under fire for an alleged lack of community consultation as it rolls out fixed wireless infrastructure across parts of regional Australia, with local councils expressing frustration at what they say is an 'apply first, consult later' pattern of behaviour.
Australian Govt has “cloud last” policy, says Ovum
The Federal Government has taken a "cloud-last" position on the adoption of the new generation of cloud computing technologies, analyst firm Ovum said today, as it lacked a clear vision of the benefits of the cloud computing model, but was very clear about its risks.
High Court doesn’t feel the Optus vibe
The High Court has knocked back Optus' request to appeal its lost case against sporting groups the NRL, AFL and rival telco Telstra over Optus' TV Now cloud TV recording service, spelling the end of the ongoing legal action on the issue.
Roxon just a front for department, says Newton
Prominent network engineer and commentator Mark Newton has accused the Federal Attorney-General's Department of using the Attorney-General of the day -- whether Labor or Coalition -- as a front for its long-running data retention and surveillance plans, which he said dated back to the Howard Government.
Forgotten again: No new Kindles for Australia
For the second year in a row, Amazon has decided not to launch the majority of its new Kindle tablet and e-reader devices in Australia, in a move which appears set to diminish the local popularity of the devices.
Data retention “hysteria” needs “cold shower”: Roxon
Federal Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has called for critics of the Federal Government's proposed new data retention and surveillance package to take a "cold shower" and stop insulting in "hysteria" over the proposal.
Backdown: Turnbull accepts NBN budget accounting
Malcolm Turnbull has acknowledged that the National Broadband Network's funding is correctly accounted for the in Federal Government budget as a capital investment and not an expense, in a move which opens up a divide between the Shadow Communications Minister and other senior Liberal leaders such as Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey.
Telstra gets two new 4G Motorola handsets
Google subsidiary Motorola has revealed it will launch two new Android-based handsets in Australia in the last three months of 2012, the RAZR M and the RAZR HD, with both models to be available exclusively through the nation's largest telco Telstra -- and supporting 4G speeds.
Health seeks new ICT outsourcing advice
The Federal Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) has gone to market for an advisor to develop a strategy for its future information and communications technology needs, in a move which is likely to see it examine a key IT outsourcing contract with IBM which has not been formally tested in a tender process since it was signed in 1999.
Turnbull won’t comment on data retention
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has declined a request to comment on the Federal Government's controversial surveillance and data retention policy, despite significant public demand for the Liberal MP and the Coalition in general to do so.
Optus 4G equal to ADSL2+, tests show
A new series of real-world usage tests conducted on Optus' 4G network have shown the brand new next-generation currently performs on par with legacy ADSL2+ broadband in terms of raw download speeds and latency, and offers significantly better upload speeds.
Liberal backbencher slams “Gestapo” data retention
The first sign of tension has emerged within the Opposition over the Federal Government's proposed new surveillance and data retention powers, with a prominent Liberal backbencher describing the proposal as being akin to tactics used by the Third Reich's notorious Secret Police.
Stop “hiding” your NBN policy, Conroy tells Turnbull
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has told his opposite Malcolm Turnbull to "stop hiding" and release the Coalition's rival broadband policy, as Australians "deserve to know" the basics of how the Coalition would handle the portfolio if it won the next Federal Election.
Tableau beds down Telstra Super
US business intelligence vendor Tableau Software has claimed Telstra's superannuation fund Telstra Super as a major Australian client, with the company deploying Tableau's solution to gain additional insight into its membership and transactional data.
‘Balance’, ‘open’: Roxon defends data retention plans
Federal Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has strongly defended the need for the Federal Government to enact controversial data retention laws making it mandatory for telcos to retain data on the Internet and telephone activities of all Australians for two years, despite the proposal having been described by privacy authorities as being akin to "a police state".
Forget naked DSL, says Telstra: Our IT can’t handle it
The nation's largest telco Telstra has claimed in a submission to the competition regulator that it can't deploy naked DSL broadband services to customers and other ISPs as doing so would require it to undertake significant development of its IT systems, which require a phone line to be connected before broadband can be provided.
Telstra, Optus launch 4G version of Galaxy S III
The nation's top two mobile telcos Telstra and Optus this morning revealed they would start selling a version of Samsung's popular Galaxy S III handset which will function on their growing 4G networks and come with the Jelly Bean version of Android, as Optus simultaneously launched consumer access to its 4G infrastructure.
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.
Purge: Qld Govt cuts 384 IT contractors
The new LNP Queensland State Government today revealed that it had terminated the contracts of some 384 technology contractors in total over the past few months, as it ramps up its drive to slash technology-related spending while simultaneously remediating dated IT systems left to languish by the previous Labor administration.
HP reveals first Win8 laptops for Australia
The first tranche of new laptop models slated to land in Australia and fuelled by Windows 8 have been announced by Hewlett Packard, with three new models due to launch locally later this year, all featuring touchscreens that take advantage of the new touch features of the new Microsoft operating system.
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.
Second high-end Huawei phone hits Australia
Chinese technology giant Huawei this week revealed it would launch a second high-end smartphone in Australia, the 'Honor', following its recent launch of its highly rated Ascend P1 model.
Woolworths store managers get Gmail
Google Australia today revealed that retail giant Woolworths had also deployed the search giant's email application Gmail and other custom applications based on Google Apps to all of its store managers, as part of a nationwide rollout of Apple's iPad tablet slated to hit some 890 staff.
Perpetual outsources IT planks to Fujitsu
Financial services giant Perpetual has signed off on a major IT transformation project involving the outsourcing of some key functions to Japanese IT services giant Fujitsu and the modernisation of key aspects of Perpetual's applications and IT infrastructure.
“Next item”: LNP mayor gives NBN Co just 8min
The Liberal/National Party-backed Mayor of the Gold Coast Council this week dramatically cut short a presentation by the National Broadband Network Company to the council, according to multiple reports, calling time on the company's comments just eight minutes into a scheduled half-hour briefing.
“Police state”: Privacy czar slams security reforms
Victoria's acting Privacy Commissioner has filed a strongly worded critique of the Federal Government's planned telecommunications surveillance and data retention reform package, labelling some of the included reforms as "being characteristic of a police state".
“Insufficient evidence”: Telcos pan surveillance reforms
A number of major telecommunications companies including iiNet and Macquarie Telecom, as well as telco and ISP representative industry groups, have expressed sharp concern over the Federal Government's proposed package of surveillance and data retention reforms, stating that "insufficient evidence" had been presented to justify them.
VMware cans unpopular vRAM licensing
VMware has abandoned its unpopular memory-based licensing model introduced in 2011, in a move which will likely be welcomed by the virtualisation vendor's Australian customer base, some of whom had been vocal about the increased charges they saw as unreasonable.
Total war: Telstra in colossal 4G expansion
The nation's largest telco Telstra has returned fire from all cannons in its developing war with Optus for 4G mobile coverage and customers, announcing this morning that it now has some 500,000 4G customers and would be expanding its 4G network to two thirds of Australia's population by mid-2013.
SBS is a huge fan of BMC Footprints
Business service management software vendor BMC has revealed that broadcaster SBS is expanding its use of the company's Footprints platform into departments beyond its IT support helpdesk, following a successful deployment of the system some three years ago.
NAB shifts UBank onto new core IT platform
The National Australia Bank today revealed it had migrated its UBank online brand onto its new Oracle-based core banking platform, in a move which is slated to deliver both the bank and its 300,000 UBank customers significant immediate benefits from the new technology.
4G Samsung Galaxy S III is “coming”
Korean manufacturer Samsung is planning to launch a 4G version of its popular Galaxy S III handset in Australia shortly, according to local blog Android Australia, in a move which will likely vault the company ahead of arch-rival HTC.
Ballarat best ‘on-shoring’ IT services hub
Enterprise IT analyst firm capioIT has crowned the Victorian region of Ballarat as the best non-metropolitan location in Australia for IT services delivery, for a range of factors including historical investment in the area and integration between the government, education and commercial sectors.
Time for a government rethink on Julian Assange
The granting of political asylum by the Ecuadorian government to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange puts pressure back on the Australian government to act, says leading QC and human rights advocate, Julian Burnside.
Lenovo slaps 37% AU tax on ThinkPad X1 Carbon
Chinese manufacturer Lenovo yesterday confirmed the newest 'Carbon' version of its popular X1 ThinkPad laptop was available in Australia -- but for a price 60 percent more expensive than it is sold for in the US, or around $755 more.
Fibre to the home the ‘preferred’ option, says NZ
New Zealand's conservative party technology minister has hailed fibre to the home as the preferred option for national telecommunications infrastructure, stating during a visit to Australia this week that it made better "fiscal sense" to deploy fibre all the way to the premise where possible, instead of only to neighbourhood 'nodes' as Australia's Coalition is proposing.
Tasmania’s Scottsdale rejects NBN towers
One of the first communities in Tasmania to receive the National Broadband Network's fibre infrastructure has knocked back two planning applications for NBN wireless towers in the area, continuing a trend seen nationally of concern over the infrastructure.
Defence wants special ops tablet, smartphone
The Australian Defence Force has gone to market for a solution which will allow it to provide highly secure smartphones and tablets to certain soldiers with the purpose of accessing command systems in the field.
News Ltd chief slams “scumbag” Internet pirates
The chief executive of the Australian division of publisher News Limited has given a major speech slamming what he described as "copyright kleptomaniacs" supporting "scumbag theft", arguing that Internet piracy was undermining the business case for the creation of great cultural works like never before.
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.
Cybercrime bill passes despite Greens protest
A controversial piece of legislation aiming to bolster the powers of law enforcement agencies has passed the Federal Senate, despite vehement protests from the Greens, who argued strongly that the bill was "yet another" unnecessary expansion of the Government's surveillance powers in Australia.
Telstra cuts 651 jobs in offshoring move
The nation's largest telco has revealed it will cut some 651 Australian jobs in areas such as customer support, with some of the work to be absorbed by other workers locally and some to be offshored to facilities in countries such as the Phillipines.
Turnbull in conflict of interest investment
Malcolm Turnbull has disclosed a new financial investment in France Telecom that places the Shadow Communications Minister in a significant conflict of interest situation with respect to the French telco, due to its extensive business operations in Australia through its Orange Business Services brand, including some 240 local staff.
BlackBerry PlayBook prices hit rock bottom
Online retailers have started heavily discounting Research in Motion's BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, taking up to two thirds off the unpopular tablet's price a year after it launched in Australia to a lack interest from local consumers and business customers.
Rackspace confirms dedicated Sydney datacentre
US hosting giant Rackspace has confirmed plans to launch a large datacentre in Sydney later this year, to support growing local demand for its services after entering the Australian and Zealand markets in 2009 using its infrastructure located overseas.
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.
How NAB’s private cloud keeps it carbon-neutral
The National Australia Bank has published a detailed white paper revealing how it used a combination of engineering and information technology tools and processes such as infrastructure on demand to achieve carbon neutrality and push beyond this benchmark into even greater heights of environmental efficiency.
Release your NBN plan already, Conroy tells Turnbull
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy this afternoon demanded his opposite Malcolm Turnbull release the Coalition's rival National Broadband Network policy, after the Liberal MP admitted to the Financial Review newspaper this morning that the policy was "ready".
UK pledges “fastest” broadband in Europe
One of the key politicians responsible for delivering telecommunications policy in the UK delivered a major speech overnight pledging to deliver UK residents the "fastest" broadband of any major European country by 2015, through a range of initiatives combining fibre to the home, fibre to the node and wireless technologies.
Court throws out Australia Post digital lawsuit
The Federal Court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Australia Post 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.
Nexus 7 continually selling out in Australia
Google's popular Nexus 7 tablet has been selling out repeatedly since it launched in Australia in late July, according to the tablet's manufacturer ASUS, in what may mark the first commercially successful launch of a tablet computer in Australia apart from Apple's market-dominating iPad.
Back to the future: Qld kickstarts payroll consolidation
The new LNP Queensland State Government has revealed plans to consolidate eight "outmoded and heavily customised" payroll IT systems into one outsourced system, in a move which will re-ignite the debate over how the state should provide core IT services supporting administrative functions to its various departments and agencies.
Turnbull rejects Kohler’s “pure fantasy” NBN analysis
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has sharply rejected a column by high-profile business commentator Alan Kohler this morning which argued the Coalition's NBN policy as being "madness", describing the Business Spectator founder's words as "pure fantasy".
Aussie mobile startup wins $2m funding
Australian mobile app platform startup biNu this week revealed it has picked up $2 million in investment funding from a number of high-profile investors, including TomorrowVentures, the investment group of Google chairman Eric Schmidt.
Two years on, SA Dept wants new social network
South Australia's Department of Premier and Cabinet has started examining new enterprise social networking solutions, just two years after implementing a solution which it has branded as delivering it significant benefits.
NBN Co not keeping secrets unnecessarily, finds review
A review of NBN Co's compliance with Freedom of Information laws has found that the company is meeting its legal responsibilities with regard to the release of information, despite the fact that out of 35 FoI requests over the past year, only two resulted in the information sought being fully released.
“Chaos” in NSW Govt IT shared services
A landmark report into the management of the NSW Public Sector commissioned by the state's new Coalition Government has described how dozens of overlapping and competing systems and services providers have created "chaos" when it comes to the state's current IT shared services paradigm.
FetchTV fail: iiNet has just 10,000 customers
National broadband provider iiNet today revealed that it had so far only signed up 10,000 customers to the FetchTV platform it launched in mid-2010, representing only a tiny success rate in converting its 824,000 ADSL broadband customers to the system.
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.
$1.2m: Aussie startup Scriptrock gets funded
Australian IT startup Scriptrock has won venture capital funding of $1.2 million from a list of names which reads like a who's who of the local and international technology investment scene.
Ludlam demands Govt TrapWire answers
Greens Senator Scott Ludlam has demanded answers from the Federal Government as to whether it knows whether the controversial TrapWire surveillance system had been deployed in Australia to keep tabs on locals through the use of public surveillance cameras.
NSW Police wants huge internal social network
The New South Wales Police Force has flagged plans to deploy a sizable internal social networking platform, as it moves ahead with plans to better serve the information needs of its 17,000 police officers and 4,000 civilian administration staff.
Ansell sees light at the end of ERP tunnel
Australian condom and medical protection giant Ansell this week said it "can see the light at the end of the tunnel" following remediation efforts involving a botched implementation of Oracle’s ERP platform which went live last year and subsequently caused US$13 million to US$15 million worth of lost sales.
330k users: Google Apps hits Catholic schools
Search giant Google has revealed its Google Apps software as a service platform has been deployed to some 330,000 students, teachers and administrative staff at Catholic schools across Australia, in one of the largest local known rollouts of the platform so far.
Short-lived: Six months killed two hyped startups
Two of Australia's most hyped Internet startups have shut their doors just six months after launching or taking investment, in a sign of how quickly events move in the rapidly evolving local technology ecosystem.
Nintendo Australia takes huge revenue hit
The Australian division of Japanese video gaming giant Nintendo has lost a staggering 41 percent of its local revenue in one year, as diminishing interest in the company's aging Wii platforms and lacklustre launch of its 3DS handset console have slugged the company's finances hard.
NBN a “financial disaster”, claims Andrew Bolt
Conservative commentator Andrew Bolt has published a series of strongly worded blog posts over the past week arguing that the "gold-plated" National Broadband Network project is turning into the Federal Government's "biggest financial disaster by far".
NBN opt-out: Tassie slams Coalition states’ ‘politicking’
Tasmania's Labor Premier has praised NBN Co for adopting a universal 'opt-out' model for the deployment of its fibre to premises around Australia, and sharply criticised what she said was the "politically motivated" opposition of Coalition-dominated State Governments to the plan.
Transformer Pad Infinity hits Oz for $999
Taiwanese consumer electronics giant ASUS has launched its most high-profile Android-based tablet yet, the Transformer Pad Infinity, with the device to sell in Australia for a local recommended retail price of $999.
Fortescue deploys HP server stack
Mining giant Fortescue this week revealed it had deployed a broad swathe of technology products and services from diversified global technology vendor HP as it overhauled much of its basic underlying IT server infrastructure.
Telstra 12Mbps wireless to surpass NBN: Liberal MP
A Liberal Member of Parliament inaccurately claimed this week on national television that Telstra would launch a 12Mbps wireless broadband service which would "surpass" the National Broadband Network's 100Mbps fibre to the home service, meaning there was no need to proceed with a project he said was a "white elephant".
Sarv Girn becomes Reserve Bank CIO
Recently departed Westpac group general manager of Enterprise Technology Services Sarv Girn has picked up a high-profile position as the new chief information officer of the Reserve Bank.
IE6 still popular in Federal Government
The outdated version 6 of Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser is still mandated and/or supported by seven Federal Government agencies, according to a new survey of the Canberra public sector's browser preferences, in a further indication that legacy versions of key software platforms continue to be maintained by the Government.
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.
Whirlpool more accurate than AFR, says Conroy
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has delivered a fiery tirade against the media for constantly repeating misconceptions about Labor's National Broadband Network project, singling out the Financial Review newspaper for particular ridicule and recommending that those interested in accuracy read broadband forum Whirlpool.
Turnbull slams “insulting” NBN delays, blowouts
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday claimed the new corporate plan released by NBN Co this week showed the project was falling "disastrously" behind its benchmarks on both financial and infrastructure rollout measures, in a trend which he described as being "insulting" to the nation's taxpayers.
Labor releases new NBN corporate plan
The Federal Government today released the National Broadband Network Company's latest corporate plan covering the years from 2012 through 2015, stating that it showed the project was on track financially and in its rollout of broadband infrastructure around the nation.
Privacy czar wants Google Wi-Fi deletion evidence
Australia's Privacy Commissioner has written to search giant Google requesting it provide several forms of evidence -- including confirmation by an independent third party -- that all of the payload data its Street View cars had collected over the past several years as they brushed past Wi-Fi networks on their journeys around Australia had actually been deleted.
Westpac launches Android NFC payments app
Westpac Banking Corporation has joined the throng of Australian financial services giants attempting to stay ahead of the growing trend towards payments from mobile phones, launching an app yesterday that will allow those with Android smartphones to make mobile payments through their embedded NFC chip.
Pirate Party launches anti-surveillance petition
The Australian division of digital rights movement the Pirate Party has launched an online petition through which it is collecting support from Australians who object to the wide-ranging new tranche of surveillance and data retention powers currently being proposed by the Labor Federal Government.
NBN corporate plan lands 2PM today
The National Broadband Network Company will release its latest corporate plan at 2PM today, with Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley to host a press conference in Sydney this afternoon.
IBM to revamp HCF’s core IT systems
Australian health insurer HCF today revealed it had inked a major multi-million dollar contract with IBM which will see Big Blue "continue" to transform HCF's IT systems, using IBM's iLog and Lombardi software to do so.
Internode plans for 4G mobile launch
National broadband provider Internode has revealed it expects to launch 4G mobile broadband services through Optus’ fledgling LTE mobile network, following other Optus mobile resellers in getting access to the next-generation wireless infrastructure.
AGIMO in flurry of cloud computing moves
The Federal Government’s peak technology strategy division has made a series of announcements aimed at pushing forward its vision with respect to public sector uptake of the new generation of cloud computing services and making such services available on the right terms to departments and agencies.
Broadband quota caps fair, says iiNet
National broadband provider iiNet has published an article arguing the pay as you go quota charging system used by most Australian ISPs is fairer than the 'unlimited' quota models popular in regions such as the United States and Europe.
UK Lords back universal fibre NBN
A landmark report produced by the United Kingdom's House of Lords branch of its parliament has recommend that fibre broadband be driven out "as close as possible" to end users in the country and that an open access national broadband network similar to Australia's own NBN be regarded as a "fundamental strategic asset".
HP CEO Whitman lands in Australia
HP has confirmed its global chief executive Meg Whitman has landed in Australia for a brief visit, in a move that comes as fallout from a bungle at key HP customer the Commonwealth Bank of Australia continues to make itself felt.
CBA outage took down CommSee
The Commonwealth Bank's wide-ranging outage also took down its customer relationship management platform CommSee, one of its main unions has revealed, in a move which further illustrates how extensive the technology-related problems suffered by the bank over the past week truly have been.
Nokia shutters Aussie development facility
Finnish mobile manufacturer Nokia has revealed plans to close an Australian development facility which was one of the main global software groups working on the Qt application development toolkit which Nokia acquired with its 2008 buy of Norwegian company Trolltech.
Optus launches Motorola RAZR V
Google-owned US handset manufacturer Motorola has launched its latest high-end Android-based smartphone in Australia, the RAZR V, through the nation's number two telco Optus.
Sell off the NBN? Abbott won’t confirm or deny
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has repeatedly refused to confirm or deny whether the Coalition would sell off finished portions of the National Broadband Network infrastructure if it won the next Federal Election, stating only that the Coalition believed the private sector could deliver broadband to Australia better than the Government.
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.
Brisbane Airport deploys VCE private cloud
Brisbane Airport today announced it had selected technology from the VMware, Cisco and EMC coalition to deploy a new private cloud computing environment to meet its server processing needs, reportedly migrating on a previous IBM platform along the way.
Take that, Telstra: Optus has 500 4G towers
The nation's number two telco Optus has revealed it has already upgraded some 500 mobile phone towers across Australia to support high-speed 4G mobile broadband services, in a rapid-fire rollout aimed at curtailing Telstra's lead in the provision of the next-general mobile services.
ASUS PadFone docks in Australia
Taiwanese electronics giant ASUS this morning announced that its combination smartphone, tablet and netbook device the PadFone, would launch in Australia through Harvey Norman from 14 August, retailing locally for $999.
Telstra increases mobile, fixed phone costs
The nation's biggest telco Telstra has broadly increased its charges for fixed-line telephony services, a move that comes on the back of similar price increases unveiled at the beginning of this month for mobile customers.
‘Bring your own app’ revolution hits Australia
Australian organisations are increasingly allowing their staff to use their own software at work, in a trend being dubbed "Bring Your Own Apps" or BYOA, according to a new survey of Australian chief information officers and other senior IT staff.
Famed StarCraft hosts ‘Tastosis’ hit Australia
Australia is shortly to play host to two of the biggest celebrities in the global StarCraft II competitive gaming scene, with commentators Tasteless and Artosis to arrive in Sydney in mid-August to host one of the nation's largest and lucrative tournaments in the local history of electronic sports.
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.
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.
Anonymous posts hacked AAPT data
The loose knit group of Internet activists known as 'Anonymous' over the weekend published some 3.5 gigabytes of data sourced from Australian telco AAPT, in protest against a wide-ranging package of surveillance and data retention reforms currently proposed by the Federal Government.
Disastrous patch cripples CommBank
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is currently reeling with internal chaos and some service delivery problems, following what appears to be a disastrous mis-application of an operating system patch to thousands of desktop PCs and hundreds of servers last week.
Conroy savages Coalition’s rural fibre complaints
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has issued an angry statement rejecting Coalition criticism of Labor’s plans to deploy fibre to the home infrastructure in rural areas throughout Australia, demanding the Coalition “come clean” with its own plans for rural Australia.
NBN Co hires major critic as commercial exec
The National Broadband Network Company has appointed an executive who has been publicly critical of the project to be its new chief commercial officer, a role which will see him buying services from other telcos and negotiating commercial arrangements with infrastructure providers and utilities.
MyNetFone supplies VoIP to Tassie Govt
IP telephony and broadband company MyNetFone this week revealed it had been selected by the Tasmanian Government to supply Voice over IP telephony services to the state, in a three-year deal expected to be worth some $20 million over the period.
SAP Australia wins ‘biggest cloud deal ever’
German software giant SAP has won a substantial deal with the NSW Government’s Trade & Investment agency which it yesterday described as its biggest deployment of its Business ByDesign software as a service suite globally, and its first cloud platform win in the local public sector.
100,000 Coles staff get SharePoint Online
National retailer Coles yesterday revealed it had deployed SharePoint Online, a component of Microsoft’s software as a service-based suite Office 365 to some 100,000 Australian staff, in the latest indication that the cloud platform is gaining traction amongst large Australian enterprises.
Turnbull accuses ABC of NBN “propaganda”
Malcolm Turnbull has accused the national broadcaster of creating “relentless propaganda” to support Labor’s flagship National Broadband Network, in a stance which the Shadow Communications Minister yesterday described as “embarrassing”.
LNP Qld Government kicks off IT cuts
The new LNP Queensland State Government has kicked off a substantial drive to reduce the amount it spends on technology-related goods and services, even ahead of a landmark audit of the state’s public sector technology use, expected to be handed down in December this year.
New tests: Optus 4G as fast as Telstra
A series of new speed tests on Optus’ fledgling 4G mobile network in the Hunter region of NSW appear to show the network has the potential to be at least as fast as Telstra’s 4G network, reversing earlier results which had appeared to show Optus’ infrastructure was much slower than that of its rival.
Qantas signs up for Office 365
Qantas has reportedly revealed plans for a mass deployment of Microsoft's Office 365 suite, in a landmark move which will mark one of the first major Australian rollouts of the software as a service platform in a private sector entity.
ACCC rubber stamps Optus’ NBN deal
The national competition regulator has approved an $800 million deal which will see number two telco Optus shut down its HFC cable network and migrate its fixed-line broadband and telephony customers onto the National Broadband Network infrastructure as it is rolled out over the next decade.
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.
Choice wants geo-IP blocking abolished
One of Australia's peak consumer groups has recommended the Federal Government investigate whether region-coding and charging Australians higher prices for products based on Internet IP address should be banned, in the context of an investigation which has found little justification for average Australian price hikes of 50 percent on technology goods.
Trio of Aussie IT startups win investment
Three Australian IT and web startups have revealed that they have attracted sizable investment rounds over the past week, as the nation's startup community continues to gain in scale amid a constant and ongoing series of capital injections that is fuelling individual company growth and the growth of the local ecosystem as a whole.
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.
Telstra’s 4G much faster than Optus’ 4G
A real-world comparison test conducted by Lifehacker has found that Optus' fledgling 4G mobile network does not deliver anywhere near the speeds possible on Telstra's rival 4G infrastructure, despite claims by Optus that the telco was planning to build "the best-performing network in Australia".
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 Australia fails election rego again
For the second time in two years, Australia's division of the Pirate Party has failed key registration requirements determining its elegibility to contest major elections, with the group noting this week that it had fallen short of required numbers for the Australian Capital Territory's upcoming poll.
Stephen Wilson leaves Qantas
One of Australia's most high-profile IT executives, Stephen Wilson has finished a short-lived stint in the private sector, with the executive confirmed to have left a senior role at Qantas to lead the IT operations of Sydney Water, just two years after he left his post as CIO of the NSW Department of Education to join the airline.
CommBank unveils Square payments rival
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia this morning revealed several devices and an application development platform that together constitute an ecosystem similar to the Square mobile payments system which is becoming popular in the US for transactions at merchants such as retailers, restaurants and cafes.
Telstra’s second T-Hub runs Android
The nation's biggest telco Telstra has unveiled a new generation of its modernised T-Hub home fixed telephony platform, in a new tablet form factor and running version 2.3 ('Gingerbread') of Google's Android platform.
Nationals Leader grossly inaccurate on NBN
The Federal Leader of the Nationals, Warren Truss, has again made a number of major factually incorrect public statements with respect to Labor's National Broadband Network project, in an extended interview on the topic riddled with mis-statements about the project and his own party's rival policies.
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.
Tribunal backs ANZ Bank’s IT outsourcing
Industrial regulator Fair Work Australia has issued a ruling supporting ANZ Bank's decision to shift some 260 Australian and Indian staff IT testing staff to employment with outsourcer Capgemini, rejecting union demands that the bank must negotiate with staff over the move.
BlackBerry 10 Jam, Sydney: Photo gallery
Last week Research in Motion held the Sydney leg of its BlackBerry 10 Jam World Tour series of developer events to promote its upcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system.
New surveillance powers akin to ‘China, Iran’
Digital rights lobby group Electronic Frontiers Austraklia has described the Federal Government's proposed new surveillance and data retention powers as being akin to those applied in restrictive countries such as China and Iran, as the group and others have renewed calls for an inquiry into the powers to have its timeframe extended.
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.
Govt blocks surveillance inquiry extension
The Federal Parliament has rejected a number of requests from interested parties to extend the short deadline for submissions to an inquiry into a wide-reaching package of legislative reforms proposed by the Federal Government which the Greens have slammed as constituting a “systematic erosion of privacy” in Australia.
RIM loses second Australian MD
The Australian division of Research in Motion has lost its second managing director in six months, with Ray Gillenwater reportedly to leave the company just three months after he took up the role, following the departure of his predecessor Adele Beachley.
Vodafone buys TelstraClear for $660m
The nation's largest telco Telstra this morning confirmed it would walk away from its ill-fated venture into the New Zealand market, with rival Vodafone New Zealand to buy its Kiwi division TelstraClear for A$660 million.
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.
“Systematic erosion of privacy”: Parliament launches surveillance review
The Federal Parliament has kicked off a review of and is seeking public submissions into a wide-reaching package of legislative reforms proposed by the Federal Government which the Greens have slammed as constituting a "systematic erosion of privacy" in Australia.
Slow week at Delimiter
Just a quick note that this week will be a slow posting week at Delimiter, as I'll be working half-days only to take a bit of a break after an especially busy period.
NEXTDC M1 datacentre launch: Photos
In a ritzy ceremony, NEXTDC this week opened its new M1 datacentre in Melbourne. Attending the event were the company's founder Bevan Slattery, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, new NEXTDC chief executive Craig Scroggie, financial executive Mark Bouris, Conroy's chief of staff Shain Drabsch and others.
Huawei’s Ascend P1 lands in Australia
Chinese manufacturer Huawei this morning confirmed that it had started selling its high-end Android smartphone, the Ascend P1, in Australia, with the model being on sale outright through retailer Dick Smith for $499.
Australia doesn’t need the NBN, says Abbott
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has proclaimed that Australia doesn't "need" the National Broadband Network project and the billions being invested in the initiative would be better spent on "our roads, our rail and our ports" under a Coalition Government.
Fairfax wants to dump Office, Exchange for Google
Media giant Fairfax has announced plans to will ditch Microsoft's Office and Exchange platforms for most of its 11,000-odd staff, with the company to become one of the largest known Australian organisations to shift onto Google's Apps platform for both email and office productivity software.
Conroy slams Turnbull’s NBN policy “pretence”
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has rejected comments by his opposition shadow Malcolm Turnbull that a Coalition Government would proceed with Labor's National Broadband Network project, describing them as a con, as misleading and "merely pretence" that didn't reflect the reality of the Coalition's actual NBN policy.
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.
Propaganda: Govt creates NBN newspaper
Stephen Conroy's broadband department has created its own tabloid-style print newspaper, which will be distributed to Australian residences and businesses in an effort to continue educating local communities about the benefit of the Federal Government's flagship National Broadband Network project.
SAP Australia poaches Unisys chief
The Australian division of German software giant SAP today confirmed it had poached Andrew Barkla, the long-serving Asia-Pacific chief of IT services giant Unisys to lead its Australian operations, following the departure of incumbent Tim Ebbeck in January this year.
‘National security’: NBN Co blocks Huawei FoI
The National Broadband Network Company, in consultation with associated Federal Government Departments have used a complex series of legal arguments, including national security grounds, to block the public Freedom of Information release of a series of documents relating to the decision to block Chinese vendor Huawei from tendering for NBN contracts.
NBN backers question Turnbull’s support
A number of commentators and politicians have questioned a claim by Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull that the Coalition would not "cancel or roll back" the Government's National Broadband Network project, with one commentator labelling the claim as "disingenuous".
Broadway Apple store: Opening video
Want to see hundreds of iFanbois lining up to buy things they could already buy elsewhere? Want to see dozens of Apple retail staff in blue t-shirts revving themselves up to sell them those iThings? Then you'll want to watch the video above of Apple's new Broadway, Sydney store opening last Saturday. iExciting.
Qld dumps whole of government email project
Queensland's new LNP State Government late last week revealed plans to dump the troubled colossal whole of government email project begun under the previous Bligh Labor administration, with IT Minister Ros Bates highlighting the possibility to shift to a "cloud-based solution" instead.
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.
330Mbps: BT extends fibre from node to premise
British telco BT has revealed plans to modify its 80Mbps national fibre to the node rollout so that customers will be able to choose to have fibre fully extended to their premises, delivering a large speed upgrade to 330Mbps in the process and shifting its rollout model closer to Australia's own National Broadband Network.
HTC One S to hit Telstra, Optus, Virgin
Taiwanese consumer electronics giant HTC yesterday afternoon revealed that the middle smartphone in its flagship One series, the One S, would shortly launch through Australian mobile carriers Telstra, Optus and Optus brand Virgin Mobile.
Australia to get IBM public cloud in Q4
Global IT giant IBM today confirmed plans to deploy its enterprise-class public cloud computing infrastructure in Australia, in a move which will give large organisations and government departments with data sovereignty concerns another option for utilising public cloud facilities based in Australia, as opposed to offshore.
Rental chain deploys Office 365 to 90 stores
Home appliance rental franchise chain Mr Rental has deployed Microsoft's software as a service-based Office 365 productivity platform to more than 90 stores across Australia and New Zealand, Microsoft announced this morning.
Wireless could beat NBN’s fibre, claims AFR
In its main masthead editorial, The Financial Review newspaper this morning published a number of heavily disputed statements regarding the Federal Government's National Broadband Network project, including backing the controversial claim that a new generation of wireless technologies could make the NBN's fibre rollout obsolete.
NBN: 85% of Australians want 50Mbps or higher
85 percent of Australian consumers want to be able to connect to the Internet at speeds of 50Mbps and higher, a new survey released this week showed, in figures which support the release of statistics by NBN Co showing that most new NBN connections are opting for the network's higher speed tiers.
Review brands ATO’s Change Program a success
An extensive review of the Australian Taxation Office's colossal $814 million Change Program IT platform overhaul has found the program broadly to be a success, with the initiative delivering on most of its objectives and making a return on its investment in just four years, despite a history which at times seemed close to going off the rails.
ABC unlocks 3G iview iPhone app, Android coming
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has modified its highly popular iview streaming video iPad app so that it will function on Apple iPhones, as well as unlocking the streaming ability for the app on 3G networks and revealing that it also has a separate version in the works for Google's rival Android platform.
You’re flat out wrong, NBN Co tells AFR
NBN Co and two of its key contractors have categorically denied a front page report by the Financial Review this morning that the contractors weren't bidding for the next round of NBN construction deals due to rollout delays, describing the newspaper's report as "patently untrue".
Telstra cancels covert filter testing
The nation's largest telco Telstra today announced it had stopped archiving the web browsing activity of its users for the purpose of implementing a new voluntary Internet filter product, following widespread concern expressed this week after the test was revealed by a savvy group of network administrators.
Sydney’s Bubble Gum studio raises $2.5m more
Sydney-based children's entertainment company Bubble Gum Interactive has raised another $2.5 million to help fund the expansion of its Little Space Heroes online game, adding to an initial $1 million raised in mid-2011.
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.
Two years on, Virgin happy with Exadata
When it was first revealed in 2008, Oracle's Exadata machine was an unproven new factor; its new model tying Oracle's software to a specific hardware platform for the first time. But two years after its implementation, one of the first Australian customers to deploy an Exadata has praised the platform, giving credence to the idea that it has earnt its place.
Vodafone’s 4G rollout starts in 2013
Vodafone has revealed it will start rolling out 4G speeds to its national mobile network from 2013 in a belated effort to catch up to its rivals Telstra and Optus, who will have started their own national 4G rollouts 18 months and almost a year previously at that stage.
Telstra wins $474m DHS telco contract
Telstra has emerged as the victor from a prolonged tendering process for a comprehensive suite of telecommunications services at the Federal Department of Human Services, announcing today that it had won a deal with the department worth $474 million.
News aggregator Wotnews shuts down
Australian Internet news aggregator Wotnews has announced it will shut the site down to focus on its sister site WeAreHunted, potentially leaving site investor and Wotif.com multimillionaire Graeme Wood out of pocket.
Angry consumers flood IT price hike inquiry
Dozens of frustrated Australians describing themselves as concerned private citizens have flooded the Government's IT price hike inquiry with hundreds of examples where they allege technology retailers and vendors have been ripping them off with unfair markups, while the major vendors concerned have yet to formally respond.
Telstra, Accenture, to deliver SAP cloud
German software giant SAP has signed a landmark deal with the nation's largest telco Telstra and IT services giant Accenture that will see the pair deliver hosted SAP solutions to Australian customers from Telstra's on-shore datacentre infrastructure.
Fatality: Optus plans to kill Telstra’s 4G monopoly
The nation's number two telco Optus has kicked off a verbal offensive aimed at the mobile dominance of its arch-rival Telstra, with the SingTel subsidiary claiming its own fledgling 4G infrastructure will be the "highest capacity" and "best-performing" mobile network in Australia when it is completed.
Cloud computing decimates Vic Uni’s IT dept
If you're nervous about the impact that the deployment of cloud computing infrastructure could have on the need your organisation has for dedicated IT staff, you probably don't want to read this chilling article by iTNews, which details some rather mercenary comments by Victoria University on its own plans in the area.
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.
4G: Judge finds Apple flouted Australian law
A Federal Court judge has found that iconic technology giant Apple's US headquarters deliberately chose to ignore the fact that its new iPad was not capable of 4G mobile broadband speeds in Australia, during a marketing campaign for the device.
Transfer pricing rules won’t affect Google tax
New legislation introduced by the Federal Government to stop multinationals such as Google from transferring profits out of Australia and evading local taxation won't have much effect on the search giant and similar Internet firms, it appears, despite statements by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy that they would.
SA Govt CIO to fix Victoria’s IT nightmare
The Victorian State Government has appointed Grantley Mailes, a former whole of government chief information officer for sister state South Australia, to lead a committee to establish a new wide-ranging IT strategy to resolve Victoria's ongoing problems with IT service and project delivery.
Amazon confirms Sydney CDN node
Global cloud computing player and retailer Amazon today confirmed that it had added an 'edge' location in Sydney to speed up the delivery of content to Australians, confirming a deployment model which was the subject of speculation some 12 months ago.
Buildcorp deploys 150 Nokia Lumias
Construction firm Buildcorp has deployed some 150 new staff mobile phones in Nokia's Lumia line, the Finnish smartphone vendor announced this afternoon.
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.
Abbott, Hockey mislead again on NBN funding
Senior Coalition figures Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey have both this week again made misleading statements about the funding model for the National Broadband Network, separately stating that the NBN funding should be included in the Federal Budget as an expense, although standard accounting guidelines would see it listed as an investment.
Job losses hit iiNet after TransACT, Internode buys
National broadband provider iiNet has reportedly kicked off a round of redundancies, as rumours swirl about a staff rationalisation in the wake of its Internode and TransACT acquisitions.
Costello says Qld should sell IT services units
A landmark report into the Queensland Government's financial position penned by Howard-era Treasurer Peter Costello has recommended the state government consider selling off its IT shared services unit, as there was no guarantee they could provide IT services to the government efficiently.
Brisbane reveals $353 million IT overhaul
Australia's largest council administration, Brisbane City Council, has revealed an ambitious plan to spend $353 million on a comprehensive new SAP-based business administration platform which will see some 62 legacy systems shut down and replaced with the aid of IT services firm Accenture.
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.
Hockey wrong on 4G, says analyst
A senior telecommunications analyst who has previously praised the Coalition's alternative NBN policy has heavily criticised Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey over his claims that 4G mobile broadband could be "far superior" to the NBN's fibre in some areas.
Toshiba Android tablet trio hits Australia
Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer Toshiba has launched three new tablets in Australia, all running the latest version 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) of Google's Android platform and in sizes ranging from 7.7" to a large 13.3".
Australia’s Internet freedom being eroded, Greens warn
The Australian Greens have issued a broad statement warning Australians that their Internet freedom is being steadily 'eroded', with a wide swathe of government initiatives in areas ranging from surveillance to data retention, to the freedom of expression and privacy set to affect the nation over the coming years.
NBN: Turnbull strengthens FTTN focus
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has intensified the Coalition's focus on fibre to the node as an alternative to the fibre to the home-style rollout used by the NBN, using similar FTTN rollouts by AT&T in the US, BT in the UK and Deutsche Telekom in Germany as examples for how the broadband rollout style could be carried out in Australia.
Sydney’s Paloma wins $1.5m local investment
Sydney-based next-generation mobile startup Paloma Mobile has raised $1.5 million in investment funding from Australian venture capital firm OneVentures, in a move which will further highlight the growing strengths of the local funding landscape for Australia-based technology startups.
ANU buys hemisphere’s biggest supercomputer
The Australian National University has bought a supercomputer capable of 1.2 Petaflops of processing power from Japanese giant Fujitsu, in a deal which is expected to create the largest supercomputer of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.
Kogan to tax shoppers for using IE7
Australian consumer electronics upstart Kogan Technologies has deployed a special "tax" on its popular website which will charge online shoppers an extra 6.8 percent on top of their purchases if they persist in using what the company described as Microsoft's "antique" Internet Explorer web browser.
HP opens giant NSW datacentre (photos)
Global technology giant HP yesterday opened its colossal $119 million new datacentre in Western Sydney, revealing that it had dubbed the new facility "Aurora".
Apple harmonises Aussie MacBook pricing
Iconic technology giant Apple appears to have broadly harmonised the Australian prices of its MacBook laptop line with its US pricing, with its new line-up of products released overnight to cost broadly the same locally as they do in its home country.
ACT audit praises IT security; without testing it
The ACT Auditor-General's Office has published a report praising the security of the territorial government's IT systems, basing its conclusions on the evidence presented by government staff, but without actually testing that security, as some State Governments have done over the past several years.
4G “far superior” to the NBN, claims Joe Hockey
Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey has inaccurately claimed that 4G mobile broadband has the potential to be "far superior" to the fibre technology which Labor's National Broadband Network policy features, in a controversial interview in which he also claimed that it could cost Australians up to $1,000 to connect to the NBN.
Cisco issues 9.2 percent Aussie price rise
Networking hardware giant Cisco has slapped a blanket 9.2 percent price increase on all of its products and services in Australia, giving its customers and partners just one month's notice of the price rise.
Telstra top hat fixing NBN failures, says Vic IT minister
Victoria's Liberal IT minister has praised Telstra for deploying so-called 'top hat' upgrades to its ADSL2+ infrastructure in the Victorian region of Narre Warren in his electorate, stating that the rollout would provide high-speed broadband in areas where the National Broadband Network had so far failed to deliver on its promises.
ABC wants Apple, Android, Windows tablets
I would not be surprised at all if major Australian corporations were eyeing off Windows 8 and its bevy of hardware partners at this point, and wondering if the platform will allow them a much greater degree of control, flexibility and manageability over the tablets that they use than Apple's iPad will.
Turnbull “evasive” on Coalition NBN policy, says Conroy
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has accused his Opposition shadow Malcolm Turnbull of being "evasive" with respect to the Coalition's telecommunications policy, stating the Liberal MP had "no excuses" for failing to come clean on the policy after five straight months of questions on it.
“Abomination”: Qld Health payroll needs $837m more
A KMPG audit into Queensland Health's payroll disaster has found the project has already cost $417 million and will need some $837 million to fix over the next five years, in a finding which the state's new LNP Health Minister Lawrence Springborg said in Parliament this week illustrated that the project was an "abomination".
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".
Core banking IT battle not over, says NAB
The chief information officer of National Australia Bank has delivered a major speech arguing that it's too early for any of Australia's major banks to "claim victory" in the race to upgrade their aging technology platforms, in comments that run directly counter to the Commonwealth Bank's ongoing claims that it is far ahead of its rivals in the area.
NSW Parliament turfs “aged” Novell platforms
The New South Wales State Parliament will replace a broad swathe of Novell platforms it described as "end of life", "aged" and "legacy", replacing them primarily with new Microsoft software in areas such as email, identity management and file and print services that will bring its desktop IT infrastructure up to the "industry standard".
Consumer group has piracy conflict of interest
A substantial conflict of interest issue has arisen regarding the participation by the sole consumer group invited to attend the Government's secret Internet piracy talks, with the group's chairman attending the meetings also currently leading the peak national organisation devoted to advocating copyright on behalf of creative professionals.
Vodafone NZ may buy TelstraClear
The nation's largest telco Telstra this morning revealed it was in talks to sell its New Zealand unit TelstraClear to Vodafone New Zealand, in a move which would finally put an end to speculation about the future of the struggling division, which has always found it hard to bring in profits from the Kiwi nation.
ANZ Bank shifts 260 testing staff to Capgemini
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group late yesterday revealed it would shift 110 Melbourne IT testing staff and a further 250 located in India to employment with outsourcing and consulting company Capgemini, in a bid to deliver what it described as a "step change" in its development operations.
Consumer group invited to secret piracy talks
The Federal Government has invited the nation's leading telecommunications consumer groups to participate in the latest round of the closed door talks it is holding on the issue of Internet piracy, reversing a previous ban on consumer representatives attending such talks.