Defence graduate allegedly leaked secret info to 4chan
If you're a regular user of 4chan, then you're probably aware that the Internet board is notorious for the number of Internet subcultures and memes it has created. What you probably wouldn't expect to find on 4chan is classified Department of Defence documents.
Labor demands Turnbull release NBN business plan
The Opposition has demanded that the Government release a full business plan for its heavily revised version of the National Broadband Network.
Turnbull and Clare: Best of mates
If you attended the Australian American Leadership Dialogue in Melbourne over the weekend, you might have caught a most unusual sight: Australia's noble Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and his Shadow, Jason Clare, breaking bread together in a most congenial display of bipartisanship.
“Abandon” TSSR bill, telco industry tells Brandis
Australia’s technology sector is almost universally opposed to the Government’s planned national security telco legislation in its current form, submissions published this morning to the exposure draft of the bill have revealed, in a further sign that the Government has alienated industry on the issue of national security.
What it means: Five key points from the Senate’s Digital Currency report
Last week the Senate Standing Committee on Economics handed down a detailed report following its inquiry into Australia’s emerging digital or crypto-currency sector. The release was hailed as a “watershed” moment for this financial technology — here’s why it matters, in five succinct points.
New chair takes reins as NBN Committee sits this Friday
The Senate Select Committee on the National Broadband Network will hold its first public hearing under the control of its new chair, Senator Jenny McAllister, this Friday morning, with nbn’s recent hiring spree and progress around its deployment of Fibre to the Node technology likely to be on the agenda.
Labor introduces PJCIS reform bill
The Opposition has introduced a bill designed to significantly expand the powers of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security as well as freeing up its operations, in a move which could have a significant impact on the chief parliamentary oversight body of Australia’s national electronic surveillance regime.
“They’ve completely stuffed it”: MyRepublic slams Turnbull’s “shit” NBN
Pioneering Singaporean broadband provider MyRepublic has reportedly damned Malcolm Turnbull’s Multi-Technology Mix vision as “shit” on the eve of launching predominantly fibre-based broadband services with unlimited quotas in Australia.
The Senate NBN Committee should interview MyRepublic
The interjection by Singapore’s MyRepublic into Australia’s broadband debate this morning may have been inflammatory and used mildly offensive adult language. But there are some fundamentally good points being made by the upstart telco. The next step should be for the Senate’s NBN Committee to interview its chief executive in person.
NBN company defends “excellent” FTTN network
The NBN company has rejected claims by Singaporean telco MyRepublic that the fledgling Fibre to the Node component of its network rollout is “shit”, stating instead that the rollout mechanism delivers “excellent” speeds to Australians.
Turnbull rejects MyRepublic’s “confounding” NBN critique
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has rejected what he described as MyRepublic’s “confounding” comments on the Coalition’s Multi-Technology version of the NBN, among other arguments reminding the Singaporean company of cost differences when deploying fibre in Australia.
MyRepublic full of “bullshit”, says CommsDay publisher
Your writer has been pretty supportive of the controversial comments made by MyRepublic chief executive Malcolm Rodrigues about the Coalition's version of the National Broadband Network. However, not everyone shares the same views. One very well-argued piece of detailed analysis comes from the founder of Communications Day, Grahame Lynch.
Labor demands TSSR bill revamp
Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has reportedly demanded that the Government provide a revised draft of its planned telco national security bill, in the wake of loud complaints from Australia’s entire technology sector about the controversial legislation.
While the Coalition was tearing itself into marriage equality knots, Labor was partying with...
Last night, while Coalition MPs debated marriage equality in a small room in Parliament House for six hours straight, tech-focused Labor MPs Jason Clare and Ed Husic flew to Melbourne and were partying on, Silicon Valley-style.
Labor slams the FTTN its new policy may also support
The Opposition has backed comments by upstart Singaporean telco MyRepublic that the Coalition’s preferred Fibre to the Node technology is “shit”, despite acknowledging that its new National Broadband Network policy currently under development may feature the same technology.
“Marvel of science”: First NBN satellite to launch 1 October this year
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull this morning revealed the first of two satellites planned for the National Broadband Network will launch on 1 October this year from French Guiana, describing the infrastructure as “literally a marvel of science”.
Fact Check: Is ridesharing no safer than hitchhiking?
The claim that ridesharing is no safer than hitchhiking is not supported by empirical data. Much of the data used by critics of Uber rely on anecdotal data and media reports to support their view ridesharing puts passengers at personal risk.
Attorney-General won’t confirm TSSR bill revamp
Attorney-General George Brandis has refused to confirm whether the Government will accede to the Opposition’s demand that it provide a revised draft of its planned telco national security bill, in the wake of loud complaints from Australia’s entire technology sector about the controversial legislation.
New Greens Leader holds firm on FTTP NBN policy
New Greens Leader Richard Di Natale has confirmed he will stand firm behind the original universal Fibre to the Premises version of the National Broadband Network, rejecting what he said was the “half-measures” being implemented by the Coalition Federal Government.
What now after the Dallas Buyers Club pirate claim is rejected as ‘surreal’?
Time and again, Australians have shown they are willing to pay for reasonably priced and accessible content. Copyright owners who try to extort money from downloaders are going about this the wrong way.
Mandate self-driving cars and support Uber, Telstra tells MPs
The nation’s largest telco Telstra has recommended the Parliament assess the potential benefits of mandating the use of self-driving cars in Australia and support new transportation models such as Uber, as the Parliament’s inquiry into the use of ‘smart ICT’ in infrastructure gets up to steam.
NBN Co overbuilding Turnbull’s 100Mbps FTTN election case study
The NBN company appears to be deploying its own competitive infrastructure to a housing estate in Sydney which Malcolm Turnbull specifically used during the 2013 Federal Election to highlight the strengths of his chosen Fibre to the Node technology.
Hockey asks for (yet another) review of Intellectual Property policy
Treasurer Joe Hockey has asked the Productivity Commission to commence an inquiry into Australia’s intellectual property arrangements, in a move which will see the nation’s copyright regime reviewed yet again, following a series of similar reviews.
Turnbull allows Aussie TV stations to broadcast in HD
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has introduced a bill which would allow Australia’s free to air television stations to broadcast their primary channel in high definition, in a long-awaited move which will finally unlock the full potential of Australia’s huge fleet of HD-capable television screens.
NBN overbuild based on “fairer competition”, says Turnbull
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has issued a statement to the effect that the NBN company’s alleged “overbuilding” activities were based on regulatory decisions to ensure “fairer” competition in the broadband market that would allow the NBN company to compete with commercial providers.
The ACCC has killed off Australia’s broadband competition
The ACCC’s move to allow TPG’s buyout of iiNet is an appalling decision which will finally complete the long-running, gradual death of actual competition in Australia’s broadband market. The tragedy of the situation is that the well-meaning regulator has nevertheless contributed to the process at several key points along the way.
Palmer United Senator Wang stumps Govt with basic IT sector questions
Palmer United Party Senator Dio (Zhenya) Wang has taken the Government to task over its handling of Australia’s ICT research and tech startup sector, in a fraught Senate session which appeared to illustrate how little the Government’s Senate spokesperson on the issue appeared to understand about the sector’s basic dynamics.
Hockey’s IP inquiry another opportunity likely to be missed
Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey has asked the Productivity Commission to undertake a wide-ranging review of Australia’s intellectual property regime. The review is an opportunity for an increasingly distracted government to set its stamp on the Australian economy for the next 20 years. It is an opportunity that will almost certainly be missed.
I WANT MY IPAD! Are our kids getting addicted to technology?
Are toddlers really becoming addicted to technology? There’s certainly a lot of media hype to suggest that they are. And there’s no question the footage of small children breaking down when their tablet is taken away is unsettling.
“Criminal”: MyRepublic CEO mourns loss of Australia’s “marvellous” NBN vision
feature The chief executive officer of upstart telco MyRepublic has described the Coalition’s move to significantly water down Labor’s National Broadband Network vision as...
NBN Co delays FTTN rollout for further testing
The National Broadband Network company has acknowledged it is significantly delaying its rollout of Fibre to the Node technology in order to better test its own systems involved in the deployment, as debate continues to swirl around the controversial broadband rollout style.
NBN Co doubles coverage, user base over past year
The NBN company has doubled the amount of premises it serves and the number of end user customers actually connected to its network over the past year, the company announced this morning, as the deployment of its broadband network around Australia continues to proceed.
Govt “determined” to stick “head deep in the sand” on tech policy, says Atlassian...
Much has been written about the general lack of understanding which Australia's political sector has when it comes to setting good technology policy. But few have put it as bluntly as Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes did last week in an interview with Business Insider.
NBN Co dumps FTTP plan for another half a million premises
The National Broadband Network Company this afternoon revealed up to 550,000 less Australian premises would receive the full Fibre to the Premises rollout than had been previously been planned under the Coalition’s Multi-Technology Mix, with the project’s funding requirement also blowing out by between $5 billion and $15 billion.
Turnbull has “no-one else to blame”, Labor says on NBN cost blow-outs
The Opposition has blamed the up to $15 billion National Broadband Network funding blow-out revealed this morning on “poor decisions” and “wrong assumptions” made by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull during his stewardship of the project, as the war of words between the major parties on the issue ramps up.
We must determine how the $15bn NBN cost blow-out occurred
The full resources of the Federal Parliament and other Government accountability mechanisms must be deployed to determine how a cost blowout of between $5 billion and $15 billion was allowed to occur in the National Broadband Network, and how to stop a similar situation from occurring again in future.
Turnbull loses Rupert Murdoch’s favour over ‘unaffordable’ $56 billion NBN
Leaving the Member for Wentworth off Murdoch’s list at this point, taken together with the NewsCorp mogul’s sledge at the NBN, may be a signal indicating where Murdoch’s views on the subject of leadership lie.
Politicians flood launch of #fintech hub Stone & Chalk
blog Sydney-based financial technology startup hub Stone & Chalk launched last night to great fanfare, with a solid wedge of politicians from both major...
Turnbull ‘has no clue what he is doing’, says Paul Budde
Veteran telecommunications analyst Paul Budde has accused Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull of having “no clue what he was doing” with the National Broadband Network project, in the wake of news that the Coalition’s Multi-Technology Mix approach to the NBN has blown out in cost by up to $15 billion.
Digital Transformation Office adds Sydney digs as formal hiring campaign kicks off
The Federal Government’s Digital Transformation Office has revealed plans to locate a small office on-campus at the University of Technology Sydney, as well as embarking on a rapid hiring campaign in which it will seek the best Australian technologists to help deliver lasting changing in government IT service delivery.
The sharp end of copyright policy: Village Roadshow will sue Internet pirates, block websites
Film distributor Village Roadshow has officially confirmed it will take legal action to both sue alleged Internet pirates and block websites which host pirated material, in moves which signal the start of the implementation phase for the Government’s controversial policies on Internet copyright infringement.
Turnbull, Macfarlane praise NICTA, CSIRO merger after cutting funding to “the bone”
Two senior Government Ministers have praised the merger and research credentials of Australia’s peak scientific and IT research organisations, despite having simultaneously cut the groups’ funding levels to a level described as “to the bone”, causing the merger and the potential loss of several hundred jobs.
Turnbull involves NBN contractor in Canning by-election
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull appears to have called in National Broadband Network contractor Fulton Hogan to assist with a political photo opportunity associated with the by-election campaign in the Canning electorate in South-East Perth and Mandurah.
Dyson Heydon doesn’t have a PC, does not know how to email
The beleagured head of the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption has admitted he does not use a computer at either of his several offices and does not know how to send and receive emails, being completely dependent upon his personal assistant to do so.
ACCC chair says NBN should be broken up, compete with itself
The chair of the competition regulator has repeated his view that the NBN company should ultimately be broken up into chunks that would compete with each other, in comments that appear to run directly contrary to the complementary network design model currently being pursued by the company.
Poll: Support for Labor’s NBN dives as Turnbull seen as strong Minister
New polling data released over the past several weeks has shown that national support for Labor’s version of the National Broadband Network is weakening, in the context that Australians appear to strongly approve of the job that Malcolm Turnbull is doing as Communications Minister.
Dyson Heydon doesn’t have a PC … but he does have an iPhone 5
You may recall how earlier this week it was revealed that Dyson Heydon, former High Court judge and now head of the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption, had admitted he did not use a computer at either of his offices and did not know how to send and receive emails. Well, the plot thickens.
“They don’t get it”: Huston slams “Village Idiot” approach on Data Retention
Global Internet networks expert Geoff Huston this week said Australia was at risk of being positioned as the “Global Village Idiot” courtesy of the Data Retention legislation passed by the “bureaucrats” in the Government, alleging that none of the organisations in support of the policy actually understand technology.
UK Govt flies Aussie tech startups to London in open bid to nick Aussie...
So it's come to this. Other first-world countries are pushing so hard to attract lucrative technology startups to their shores to grow their own digital economies that they are actually paying to fly Australian entrepreneurs overseas to check out the local scene.
Dallas Buyers Club won’t appeal piracy ruling, but may still seek large damages
In essence, what we’re seeing here is that Dallas Buyers Club and Marque Lawyers have decided to more or less accept Justice Perram’s ruling, but may be seeking to reword their approach to alleged copyright infringers to still target them for facilitating uploading of content online (as occurs in a BitTorrent situation, for example), rather than merely targeting them for downloading material.
Break up the NBN? Wow. How about we actually build the damn thing first.
The National Broadband Network should not be broken up into smaller parts. It should not be set up to compete with itself. And it should most definitely not be sold off to the private market. There is only one thing that the Government should do with the NBN. It should damn well get on with the job of building it.
Turnbull’s NBN “fundamentally unfair”, says Michelle Rowland
Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland has delivered a speech criticising the Coalition’s version of the National Broadband Network for not being “fair”, highlighting among other factors the fact that premises with inferior technologies such as Fibre to the Node will pay the same access charges as those on full fibre.
Instant scope creep: Parliament recommends ATO data retention access
The Parliament’s Joint Committee on Law Enforcement has recommended the Australian Taxation Office be added to the list of agencies able to access data retention under Australia’s new data retention legislation, as part of a report that also recommended other technological measures to curb financial crime.
Turnbull tries to accelerate mobile blackspot fix for Canning by-election
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has reportedly promised to attempt to intervene in the Government’s Mobile Black Spot Programme to accelerate the deployment of a mobile tower in Dwellingup in Western Australia, in what appears to be an effort to boost the Liberal Party's chances in the Canning by-election in the state.
Fibre speeds “amazing”, but Bernardi slams “hopeless” NBN installers
Conservative Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi has labelled the performance of his his new National Broadband Network fibre connection as “quite amazing”, but has slammed the NBN company for a bungled installation which required repeated visits to get the connection running.
Delimiter has been approved to join the Press Gallery in Canberra
I just wanted to drop readers a brief note to let you know that yesterday I was approved to join the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery in Canberra.
Turnbull’s NBN: Why it’s slow, expensive and obsolete
The Coalition sold the Australian public a product that was supposed to be fast, one-third the cost and arrive sooner than what Labor was offering us. Instead the Coalition’s NBN will be so slow that it is obsolete by the time it’s in place, it will cost about the same as Labor’s fibre-to-the-premises NBN, and it won’t arrive on our doorsteps much sooner.
You’re wrong, NBN Co tells Rod Tucker — Turnbull’s MTM is a “game-changer”
The NBN company has furiously rejected the claim by telco academic Rod Tucker that Malcolm Turnbull’s Multi-Technology Mix approach will turn Australia into an “internet backwater”, arguing instead that the controversial network model will be a “game-changer for the Australian economy”.
Rod Tucker’s right: Turnbull’s MTM model will leave Australia behind
University of Melbourne academic Rod Tucker attracted strident criticism this week for his claim that Malcolm Turnbull’s Multi-Technology Mix approach to the National Broadband Network will result in Australia remaining an “Internet backwater”. However, the unfortunate reality is that Tucker’s comments are all too accurate.
Richard Branson tells Turnbull OneWeb satellites could save Australian broadband
Just when you thought Australia's broadband scene couldn't get any more absurd, along comes something which breaks the mold yet again.
Turnbull resigns as Communications Minister to challenge Abbott
Malcolm Turnbull has reportedly resigned his post as Communications Minister and from Federal Cabinet to challenge Tony Abbott for the Prime Ministership, in a move that has the potential to result in a dramatic shake-up of the way the National Broadband Network project is run.
Malcolm Turnbull was Australia’s worst ever Communications Minister
He might be charismatic, he might be popular, and pretty shortly he might be Prime Minister. But when it comes to technology policy, Malcolm Turnbull has been a disaster. The Member for Wentworth will be remembered as Australia’s worst ever Communications Minister — the man who singlehandedly demolished the NBN and put a polite face on draconian Data Retention and Internet piracy laws.
Turnbull starts his pitch: ‘The Prime Minister for Innovation’
Malcolm Turnbull has used his first brief comments as Australia’s 29th Prime Minister to emphasise that Australia is facing disruption driven by technology, and that the nation needs to work to take advantage of that trend rather than rejecting it.
Now it gets interesting: Australia has its first digitally literate Prime Minister
Australia has never before in its history had a digitally literate Prime Minister of the likes of Malcolm Turnbull.
Analysts expect ‘unchained’ Turnbull to return NBN to FTTP model
Several of Australia’s telecommunications analysts have published statements noting they expect Malcolm Turnbull to reveal his ‘real’ views about the National Broadband Network project after taking the Prime Ministership and perhaps even return the project to a footing more based on its previous Fibre to the Premises technology.
Forget it: Turnbull won’t return the NBN to a FTTP model
Prime Minister or not, there is simply no way that Malcolm Turnbull is going to reverse five years of bitter campaigning and return the National Broadband Network to its previous near-universal Fibre to the Premises model. So let’s give up hope on that misguided delusion right now and save ourselves a great deal of painful mental anguish.
Alston successor Mitch Fifield is Australia’s new Communications Minister
Malcolm Turnbull has appointed veteran Senator Mitch Fifield to be Australia’s new Communications Minister as part of his new Cabinet, with the new Prime Minister’s former Parliamentary Secretary Paul Fletcher leaving the portfolio and current Attorney-General George Brandis to retain his role.
Fletcher praises Turnbull’s “fact-based” NBN approach
Malcolm Turnbull’s outgoing Parliamentary Secretary Paul Fletcher has publicly praised what he described as the new Prime Minister’s “fact-based” approach to revamping Labor’s National Broadband Network project over the past two years.
Two years later, NBN Co finally launches FTTN
The NBN company today took a major step towards its goal of implementing the Multi-Technology Mix approach which Malcolm Turnbull has brought to the project, formally launching its Fibre to the Node product as an option to retail broadband providers some two years after the 2013 Federal Election.
Fifield’s website goes down on first day as Comms Minister
Spare a thought for Senator Mitch Fifield. Just as the new Communications Minister was being sworn in at Government House in Canberra this morning, his web developer was apparently knocking his website offline for maintenance.
Truth: Turnbull’s new Communications Minister is … Malcolm Turnbull
Seven days ago Malcolm Turnbull formally resigned as Communications Minister to take the top role from Tony Abbott. But yesterday’s Cabinet reshuffle reveals that upgrade to be an illusion: Our new PM will, in fact, retain direct control of his former portfolio through several able lieutenants who will do exactly as he bids.
Turnbull rips copyright portfolio from Attorney-General’s Dept
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has ripped responsibility for copyright (including Internet piracy), classification and censorship matters out of the portfolio of Attorney-General George Brandis and allocated them to Communications Minister Mitch Fifield, in what appears to be a damning indictment of Brandis’ handling of the issues.
Turnbull a ‘failure’ as Comms Minister, says Jason Clare
The Opposition has accused Malcolm Turnbull of being a “failure” as a Communications Minister, highlighting yesterday’s launch of Fibre to the Node technology in New South Wales as a prime example of how the “self-appointed Digital Prime Minister” is taking Australia back to “pre-war technology”.
Truth: Turnbull didn’t “fix” the NBN, Mr Fletcher — he turned it into a...
Malcolm Turnbull didn’t “fix” the National Broadband Network … but he did do an extraordinarily successful job at turning what was formerly a visionary nation-building project into an incredibility politicised, tragic mess.
Fifield leaves door open for greater NBN FTTP rollout
Senator Mitch Fifield appears to have opened the door for the NBN company to change its percentage mix of broadband technologies, in his first interview since being sworn in as Malcolm Turnbull’s replacement Communications Minister on Monday this week.
The Inside Track: Australia’s tech sector has a new champion: Wyatt Roy
Australia’s new Assistant Minister for Innovation Wyatt Roy has only been in the job for two days, but he’s already strongly demonstrated that he understands the needs of Australia’s technology startup sector. Are we about to enter a new era of tech-savvy politicians in Canberra?
Firing back at the ‘innovation PM’: Labor to extend HELP to ‘startup year’
Labor has fired the first shot at Malcolm Turnbull in what looks set to become a war beterrn the major parties on who can develop the best innovation policy, announcing it will extend the HELP system to allow university students to take 12 months after their degree to launch their own startup.
Pyne tries to rewrite history on Coalition innovation funding
New Industry, Innovation and Science Minister Christopher Pyne appears to have mildly misled the public on the Government’s approach to funding innovation, pushing the Coalition’s credentials in the space without mentioning the significant amount of programs and funding Tony Abbott’s administration has cut over the past several years.
Australia slips in global broadband rankings again
Australia has taken another step in the wrong direction down the global rankings of countries with the best broadband, with the latest report by technology giant Akamai showing average broadband speeds in Australia actually decreasing and the nation slipping behind neighbours such as New Zealand and even Thailand.
Watch Delimiter’s article on Turnbull read out in Parliament
As you may remember, when Malcolm Turnbull seized the Prime Ministership from Tony Abbott two weeks ago, I took the chance to publish an examination of the Member for Wentworth’s history leading the Communications Portfolio over the past five years for the Coalition. What you may not have known is that it was also mentioned on the floor of the House of Representatives.
Data retention confusion could send “many” small ISPs broke, says Internet Australia
Australia’s peak body representing Internet users has warned that “some, perhaps many” of Australia’s smaller Internet service providers could be forced out of business in the near term as a result of the lack of clarity over the Federal Government’s plans to reimburse ISPs for part of the cost of implementing its controversial data retention policy.
The first pictures of our new Communications Minister gloriously holding a fibre cable have...
All glory to the Fibre to the Node cabinet.
ACT Govt to legalise ride-sharing
news The ACT Government this morning announced it would legalise and regulate ride-sharing services such as UberX, in the wake of a wide-ranging review...
They did it
From this day on, whenever Australian engineers are facing a tough task, they should look up into the skies and remind themselves of the power of the Australian mind. If Australian ingenuity can put such a hunk of incredibly complex communications infrastructure into orbit to serve our broadband needs, purely on the strength of some clear thinking and a lot of hard work, then we truly can do anything. And we will.
It’s our damn NBN satellite, says Labor
The Australian Labor Party has issued a fiery statement noting that it was responsible for commissioning the National Broadband Network satellite that successfully launched from French Guiana this morning, reminding the electorate that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull “fought tooth and nail” against the idea of the NBN company launching its own satellite infrastructure.
Australia will be at bottom of broadband ranking for “many years to come”
Australia will languish at the bottom of international broadband ranking ladders for “many years to come”, veteran telecommunications analyst Paul Budde has said, due to delays in the rollout of the National Broadband Network and the Coalition’s decision to switch to the controversial Multi-Technology Mix approach to the project.
Truth: Will NBN Co be rolling brand new copper in some places to deal...
The NBN company has recently been putting out conflicting messages about what it will do when faced with sections of Telstra’s copper network which are too degraded to use for Fibre to the Node. But when you did a bit deeper, the truth is that the company appears to have a preference towards remediation or even replacement of the copper rather than upgrading it with fibre.
Truth: The Internet piracy industry code may be dead in the water
The required date for Australia’s Internet service providers to address the Internet piracy issue has long ago come and gone. Now our new Communications Minister appears determined to let the issue lie. Has the Government decided to abandon its efforts to curb Internet piracy?
Five things you need to know about the Trans-Pacific Partnership
This article is by Charis Palmer, Deputy Business Editor at The Conversation. It originally appeared on The Conversation.
After eight years and 19 rounds of...
How the NBN could boost Australia’s GDP by 2 percent
This article is by Leith Campbell, Honorary Fellow, Melbourne School of Engineering and Sascha Suessspeck, Economist and Ph.D. Electronic and Electrical Engineering student, both...
Wyatt Roy’s innovation policy hack day will be Saturday week in Sydney
Remember how Assistant Minister for Innovation Wyatt Roy publicly discussed the possibility of holding an innovation policy ‘hackathon’ to generate new policy ideas to help develop Australia’s economy into an innovation powerhouse? Well it’s already organised, and it’ll be Saturday week in Sydney, with tech accelerator BlueChilli doing much of the organising.
PM Turnbull using Netregistry email for official business
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has acknowledged he is using a private email platform hosted by a non-government provider for official business relating to his ministerial roles, in a revelation which has already reminded commentators of the hot water which US presidential candidate Hilary Clinton found herself in for the same behaviour.
Rightscorp receives Australian patent for Internet piracy tracker
US-headquartered copyright enforcement company Rightscorp this week revealed it had received an Australian patent for its technique for identifying copyright infringement online, in a move that appears to signal the organisation’s plans to target Internet pirates down under.
Govt email may not be more secure, says Turnbull
Malcolm Turnbull has advised the public not to assume that Government email services are more secure than private systems, in the wake of news that the new Prime Minister will continue to use non-Government email and instant messaging platforms for communication.
“Welcome to the 1940s”: Labor lampoons NBN Co for deploying new copper
The Australian Labor Party has lampooned the NBN company for its willingness to deploy brand new copper cables in some areas to ensure the Government’s Fibre to the Node model will succeed, welcoming the company back to the “1940’s”, when copper cables were regarded as state of the art technology.
NBN HFC trial to start in November
The NBN company has revealed it will conduct a pilot trial of HFC cable technology on the National Broadband Network starting in November this year and lasting until March 2016, in a move which appears set to finally provide some hard data around the performance of the HFC networks the company is buying from Telstra and Optus.
Attorney-General’s Dept proven comprehensively unable to administer Data Retention scheme
The Federal Government has comprehensively bungled the implementation of its controversial Data Retention policy, with data released by the Communications Alliance today showing the Attorney-General’s Department has proven comprehensively unable to successfully administer the scheme.
Truth: Data Retention: We told you so
The catastrophic failure of the Attorney-General’s Department to successfully implement the ludicrous Data Retention scheme its incompetent bureaucrats dreamed up at the behest of Australia’s intelligence and law enforcement cabal comes as absolutely no surprise. In fact, many people have been predicting it since the start of this doomed project.
Turnbull asked NBN Co to generate info to tear down FTTP
A letter tabled in the Senate by the Government yesterday has revealed that as Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull explicitly asked the NBN company to create information that could help the Coalition make the case that Labor’s Fibre to the Premises model was not worth pursuing.
Conroy needs to grow a set and censure Fifield for his NBN OPD nonsense
Stephen Conroy needs to stop dithering about with wishy washy attempts to extract basic information from the closed shop that the NBN company has become under the Coalition and actually use the full powers of the Senate to hold the Government to account over the tragic mess it has made of the project.
Former health CIOs, IT startup luminary to fix troubled eHealth records project
news Two of Australia’s most high-profile chief information officers in the health field have been appointed to sit on a new committee overseeing the...
Labor reshuffle sees Husic take on startups, Rowland lose Communications
A portfolio reshuffle announced by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten this afternoon has brought both good and bad news for Australia’s technology community, with tech-focused MP Ed Husic taking on additional responsibilities for digital innovation and startups, but Michelle Rowland losing her Assistant Minister role in the Communications portfolio.
Turnbull appointee Adcock to leave NBN in search of greater challenge
One of the most high-profile executives appointed shortly after Malcolm Turnbull became Communications Minister has signalled he plans to depart the NBN company in search of greater challenges.
NBN Co rolling out “kilometres” of brand new copper to ensure FTTN actually works
The NBN company is deploying many “kilometres” of brand new copper in some areas to ensure that the Coalition’s Fibre to the Node model functions correctly, the Opposition said today, with Telstra’s copper network in such bad condition that up to “90 percent” of the copper needed to be repaired or replaced in some areas.
The final leaked TPP text is all that we feared
Today's release by Wikileaks of what is believed to be the current and essentially final version of the intellectual property (IP) chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) confirms our worst fears about the agreement, and dashes the few hopes that we held out that its most onerous provisions wouldn't survive to the end of the negotiations.
Truth: No, Labor will not be returning to a full FTTP NBN model
If you believe what you read, the Australian Labor Party plans to ditch Malcolm Turnbull's Fibre to the Node technology and shift the NBN back to a full Fibre to the Premises model if it wins the next Federal Election. However, the truth is a great deal more complicated than the headlines would suggest.
Turnbull wants whole Cabinet to use Slack
We knew that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was a technophile, but I suspect many of us didn't quite appreciate how focused on technology the Member for Wentworth truly is.
Labor NBN FTTP policy an “expensive joke”, claims Financial Review
The Financial Review newspaper has launched an extraordinary attack on Labor’s Fibre to the Premises-based National Broadband Network policy, describing it as an “expensive joke” and a “Kevin Rudd vanity project”, claiming that Labor has “no credibility” when it comes to broadband.
Digital Transformation Office announces ambitious work program
The Federal Government’s Digital Transformation Office has announced its work program over the initial period of its operation, listing a number of thorny problems that have been plaguing Australians for some time in terms of their interaction with the Federal Government.
Fifield denies Turnbull asked NBN Co to create “distorted” info to attack FTTP
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has rejected a claim by the Opposition that Malcolm Turnbull asked the NBN company to generate “distorted” information to help the Coalition attack Labor’s previous Fibre to the Premises approach to the NBN.
NBN company re-writes blog post to clarify copper condition
The NBN company appears to have slightly reworked a blog post it published yesterday defending the state of the copper network it is buying from Telstra, in effect removing its claim that it had not had to replace any copper to ensure the Coalition’s Fibre to the Node technology functioned correctly.
Nonsensical farce: NBN massively overbuilding Canberra’s FTTN with … more FTTN
The NBN company’s new three-year rollout plan has revealed the company plans to overbuild TransACT’s long-established Fibre to the Node and HFC cable networks in Canberra, Mildura and Geelong with more Fibre to the Node cables, in a decision which appears to make no technical or commercial sense.
Labor’s NBN was a “fantasy model”, says Fifield, despite FTTP progress
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has described the previous Labor Government’s near-universal Fibre to the Premises approach to the National Broadband Network as a “fantasy model” and “unachievable”, despite the fact that almost all of the progress on the NBN thus far has been based on that model.
Watch Steve Baxter interview Wyatt Roy about #policyhack
By all accounts the innovation policy hackathon held by new Assistant Minister for Innovation Wyatt Roy in Sydney over the weekend went quite well.
The Inside Track: What’s delaying Telstra’s data retention compliance?
The deadline for the Government’s Data Retention policy to go live has come and gone, and yet large Australian telcos such as Telstra have openly stated they are not yet complying with the policy. What’s holding things up? We’ll provide a view from the inside in this edition of The Inside Track.
Gizmodo comes to false conclusions about Data Retention
Technology blog Gizmodo yesterday published an article regarding the Federal Government’s controversial Data Retention policy which contains factually inaccurate information and draws some false conclusions that could lead those taking the article’s advice to have their data being captured by this and other electronic surveillance schemes.
Three-year NBN plan shows no politically motivated pattern
Analysis of the National Broadband Network’s three year plan released last week appears to show that the NBN company is not following a politically motivated pattern with respect to its rollout, with Labor and the Coalition largely receiving equal treatment from the company ahead of the upcoming Federal Election.
Switkowski worried about “heroic” effort needed to meet NBN targets
Some of you may recall that then-Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull was fond of using the word "heroic" with reference to the NBN company's rollout targets and revenue assumptions under the previous Labor Government, indicating that he did not believe they were realistic. With this in mind, we were surprised this week to read in the pages of the Financial Review that the NBN company's chair Ziggy Switkowski has chosen the same word to apply to the NBN's rollout plans for the next five years.
Vic Police to get computer hacking power
Those with a close interest in electronic surveillance may recall that the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) was given new powers last year that would allow the agency to hack into computers remotely for investigation purposes -- and even break into the computers of completely innocent Australians on the way. Well, now they're not the only ones.
Why the drop in illegal movie downloads in Australia?
This article is by Marc C-Scott, Lecturer in Screen Media, Victoria University. It originally appeared on The Conversation.
analysis There has been a decline in...
The Inside Track: How NBN Co decides rollout locations
If you’re wondering how the NBN company decides which locations around Australia it will roll out the National Broadband Network infrastructure to and why, wonder no more. This issue of The Inside Track will examine the company’s selection criteria.
Watch: 1800km of new copper ‘simply part of NBN architecture’, says Turnbull
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has defended the NBN company’s purchase of 1800km of brand new copper from repeated attacks by the Opposition in Question Time, telling the Parliament yesterday that the copper cable was “simply part of the architecture” of the NBN company’s new Multi-Technology Mix approach.
Hockey pays “tribute” to Labor’s NBN project in final speech
One of the Coalition’s most vocal critics of the National Broadband Network, former Treasurer Joe Hockey, has used his final speech to Federal Parliament to praise the previous Labor Government for initiating the project, which he described as “a very significant commitment”.
NBN Co secretly overbuilding Telstra’s South Brisbane fibre with … more fibre
The NBN company is secretly overbuilding portions of the Fibre to the Premises network which the nation’s biggest telco Telstra built in the several years up to 2013, in a move that calls into question whether the Telstra FTTP infrastructure will ever become part of the National Broadband Network.
Andrew Bolt slams Turnbull for ‘fumbling’ NBN fix
Conservative commentator Andrew Bolt has opened fire on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over his handling of the National Broadband Network, stating Turnbull has “fumbled” the catch on the NBN and let the project blow out to twice the cost and four years behind the delivery that Turnbull promised.
Telstra “unable” to sell South Brisbane FTTP to NBN Co
Negotiations appear to have broken down over the planned sale of Telstra’s Fibre to the Premises network in South Brisbane to the NBN company, with the Government stating that Telstra has been “unable” to reach an agreement for the infrastructure to become part of the National Broadband Network.
Fifield praises “superfast” Fibre to the Node rollout
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has praised the controversial Fibre to the Node technology which the NBN company is launching at the moment as part of the Coalition's Multi-Technology Mix vision, describing FTTN as "superfast", despite the fact that some residents may only get speeds of 50Mbps.
Telstra still upgrading the HFC network it is selling to NBN Co
The nation's largest telco Telstra has revealed it will invest a significant amount of capital upgrading the HFC cable network it has contracted to sell to the NBN company, in a move which raises questions about the long-term future of the network.
NBN G.Fast “more hype than reality”, says Budde
Veteran telecommunications analyst has described the G.Fast technology which the NBN company plans to deploy into its network from 2017 as "more hype than reality", questioning whether it will actually be able to deliver on its close to a gigabit speed promises.
Australian court holds Google responsible for linking to defamatory websites
The South Australian Supreme Court this week found that Google is legally responsible when its search results link to defamatory content on the web.
Julie Bishop wants to store Australian passports in “the cloud”
With Malcolm Turnbull's ascension to the Prime Ministership, sometimes your writer feels as though the whole Federal Government has gone technology-mad. It's a good feeling -- so much is being discussed at high levels that the technology sector has been trying to get on the table for years -- but things are also getting deeply, deeply weird.
Women in IT: Govt action only part of the solution
From my point of view, although this is an important policy debate, and I am glad that we are having this debate on Delimiter, I don’t personally want to weigh in too heavily into it. The reason is pretty basic: I am male, not female, and I don’t feel that it’s my place to set policy for women or to preach to women how they should engage with the IT sector.
Data Retention requests almost tripled in 2015
Well, we knew Australia's law enforcement and government agencies were keen on accessing Australians' metadata, but until this week we didn't know quite how keen they were.
Fifield gets serious about VDSL cross-talk issue
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has registered a new regulation which will force Australia's broadband industry to develop its own industry code dealing with the thorny issue of cross-talk interference in the new generation of Fibre to the Node and Basement technologies.
TPG’s FTTB rollout still progressing extremely slowly
news Retail broadband provider AusBBS has released new statistics showing that the Fibre to the Basement network which Australia's third-largest telco TPG is deploying...
Turnbull’s NBN blowout caused by MTM, says Quigley
Former NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley has stated that the up to $15 billion blowout in the cost of the National Broadband Network was due to the Multi-Technology Mix imposed by Malcolm Turnbull, using previous comprehensive audits of the company as evidence.
The Inside Track: DataStart is much older and smarter than it looks
The truth is that those criticising DataStart as a lightweight program are off the mark. I like Stilgherrian, but in this case he's wrong. Behind the scenes, this initiative involves a great deal more than it appears to on the surface, and it wasn't put together overnight. It may never set the world on fire. But for a few Prime Minister keen to get some wins, DataStart may eventually turn out to be the little engine that could.
Turnbull partners with Pollenizer on data startup plan
An open data initiative named DataStart has been brought about by the collaboration of Malcolm Turnbull's Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet with an established Australian incubator, Pollenizer, to support data-driven innovation in Australia.
Police target Gumtree Internet pirate
Officers from Green Valley Local Area Command and investigators from Australian Screen Association have executed a search warrant on a residential address in Busby, NSW during which they discovered a large number of allegedly illegally stored film and television titles.
Melbourne Cup corruption agency demands metadata access
Victoria's Attorney-General Martin Pakula has written to Federal Attorney-General George Brandis requesting that the state's Racing Integrity Commissioner -- which oversees the Melbourne Cup and other races -- be given access to Australians' telecommunications metadata.
NBN CTO pitches 5Gbps speeds for HFC cable modems
The chief technology officer of the NBN company yesterday said new modems launched by the company's equipment supplier ARRIS will allow theoretical top speeds of 5Gbps down and 2Gbps up, in comments which appear to run contrary to ongoing claims by the company that Australians are not interested in gigabit NBN speeds.
Privacy Foundation outlines ‘major concerns’ with opt-out e-Health scheme
The Australian Privacy Foundation (APF) has aired “major concerns” with the Personally Controlled eHealth Record (PCEHR) system and the government's proposals to make it an ‘opt-out’ scheme.
Government Departments lost in digital transformation
Less than 30 percent of Australian public sector officials are confident in their organisations’ ability to respond to digital trends, according to a Deloitte global survey published last week.
Quigley releases detailed evidence showing MTM NBN cost blowout
The former chief executive of the NBN company has released an extraordinarily detailed and highly referenced document analysing the company's costs, to back his claim that the up-to-$15 billion blowout in the cost of the NBN was due to the Multi-Technology Mix imposed by Malcolm Turnbull.
The Inside Track: How will G.Fast actually work on the NBN?
How will G.Fast actually be implemented in the NBN company's network in a practical sense? How will it be installed? Who will benefit? When will it be installed? How will the whole process work? What can Australia's broadband users expect from G.Fast? It's these questions with respect to G.Fast that we'll try to answer in this issue of The Inside Track: Not the debate or the hype, but the granular details about this controversial standard which will affect people's lives.
Consumer advocacy group calls for independent assessment of TPP
Consumer advocacy group CHOICE has called for an independent assessment of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement after the full text was released last week – months after the Australian government already agreed to its terms.
ACCC moves to regulate ‘superfast’ broadband networks
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released a draft decision proposing regulation via a Superfast Broadband Access Service (SBAS) in order to prevent local monopolies by service providers.
Quigley’s right: Morrow says $15bn NBN blowout “mostly” relates to MTM
NBN chief executive Bill Morrow this morning broadly confirmed analysis by his predecessor Mike Quigley showing that the up to $15 billion blowout in the NBN company's costs was due to the Multi-Technology Mix imposed by Malcolm Turnbull, in a move that appears set to increase the pressure on the Government over the issue.
Victoria partners with Zendesk to boost Melbourne employment
Customer service platform provider Zendesk, Inc, has announced a new partnership with the Victorian Government that will create up to 175 new jobs in the state's developing tech industry.
ACT Government raises privacy concerns over facial matching initiative
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government has raised "fundamental concerns" about the proposed National Facial Biometric Matching Capability – a Federal Government initiative that will allow images of unidentified individuals to be matched to photographs stored across a range of government records.
Education union wins landmark case for teachers over unlawful laptop scheme
More than 40,000 Victorian teachers and principals could receive millions of dollars in back payments following a victory by the Australian Education Union (AEU) in a landmark case against the state government.
It will take more than being ‘bouncy’ to fix Australia’s innovation system
It is a good sign that Turnbull is upbeat about innovation; but he appears not to understand that innovation is not a matter of pressing the right button and expecting that change will happen.
Why tax breaks are not the answer to encourage Australian startups
Using the tax system in an attempt to foster innovation may not be the sensible policy choice.
NBN CEO won’t talk South Brisbane, TransACT
The chief executive of the NBN company has flatly refused to comment on contentious situations with relation to the company's rollout in the South Brisbane and Canberra areas, where it appears to be overbuilding existing open access high-speed broadband infrastructure.
Truth: NBN results show Labor’s plan is still working
The NBN company's latest set of financial results released yesterday confirm a truth which has become almost taboo to mention in public: Labor's original strategy for the National Broadband Network is working very well -- in fact, it still represents almost all the NBN company has done in its existence so far.
Internet Australia raises concerns over ‘hidden consequences’ of TPP
Internet Australia, an organisation that represents Internet users, has called for "widespread debate" on all the provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, especially those that could have “hidden consequences”.
Fifield invites Australians to comment: Who has the better NBN?
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has invited the Australian public to comment on whether it has more confidence in Labor's near universal Fibre to the Premises version of the National Broadband Network, or the Coalition's Multi-Technology Mix, in a fraught parliamentary session yesterday in which tempers again became heated over the NBN topic.
Delimiter files FOI request for Data Retention agency ‘scope creep’ requests
Technology media outlet Delimiter today filed a Freedom of Information request for letters from public sector departments and agencies who are seeking to be added to the list of agencies authorised to access retained metadata under the Government's controversial Data Retention legislation.
CIA cufflinks in the PM’s office? Turnbull hires Data Retention guru
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has reportedly brought in one of the chief architects of the controversial Data Retention legislation -- an advisor who was known to have worn CIA cufflinks into the Senate Chamber -- to act as one of his key security advisors.
Bell Canada plans 10Gbps speeds for ‘easier to maintain’ FTTP
Canadian telco Bell Canada has revealed it is planning to extend its Fibre to the Premises network to some 2.2 million premises by the end of 2015, hyping the technology as being far easier to maintain than Fibre to the Node and also being capable of delivering 10Gbps speeds to customers by 2017.
50Mbps good enough for ‘ten years’, says NBN’s Morrow
The chief executive of the NBN company, Bill Morrow, has stated in several comments over the past month that the 50Mbps base speeds which the company is aiming for across much of its network will be good enough "for the forseeable future" -- ten years after the NBN is initially built.
Turnbull to restore some NICTA/Data61 funding a year after it was chopped
According to Financial Review correspondent Phillip Coorey — currently travelling with now Prime Minister Turnbull on an extensive overseas trip stopping off at Germany — Turnbull is set to reinstate at least some of the funding chopped from NICTA.
Atlassian loses out to CommBank in Australian Technology Park bid
The Commonwealth Bank has beaten off its main rival to acquire and redevelop the Australian Technology Park (ATP), following a successful bid by a Mirvac Group-led consortium.
Now all of Australia’s racing ministers are demanding metadata access
Australia's state racing ministers have reportedly agreed to form a unified front to demand that Attorney-General George Brandis give state racing regulatory agencies access to metadata under Australia's new data retention laws, following existing demands from the agency oversee the Melbourne Cup in Victoria.
NSW Police illegally hacks Facebook page
In a court case last week, it emerged that the NSW Police Force has had a ... less than legal relationship with the Facebook account of an individual who had been making fun of police officers online by posting extremely poorly doctored images of police Photoshopped with other images.
Fifield asks again: Which NBN policy do Australians have more confidence in?
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has again invited Australians to comment on whether they would prefer the Coalition or Labor versions of the National Broadband Network, defending the Coalition's Multi-Technology Mix from criticism by Labor and conservative commentator Andrew Bolt.
Now banking data retention legislation is being developed
It's not enough, it seems, for Australia's law enforcement agencies to have unwarranted access to our telecommunications metadata. Now they're going after metadata held by banks and other financial services companies as well.
Telstra confirms South Brisbane NBN negotiations on ice
Telstra has reportedly confirmed it has stopped actively negotiating with the NBN company to sell off its fibre network in the South Brisbane exchange area, as a lack of action by both companies on the issue continues to leave customers in the area paying exorbitant prices for poorer services compared with NBN regions.
Bill Ferris appointed chair of Innovation Australia
The founder of Australia's first venture capital company, Bill Ferris, AC, has been appointed Chair of Innovation Australia.
Australia recommits to Open Government Partnership
The Australian Government says it has restarted the process of joining the Open Government Partnership (OGP) – a global initiative that aims to get commitments from governments to increase transparency, empower citizens, reduce corruption, and use new technologies to strengthen governance.
Up to 45 agencies are seeking data retention powers
As many as 45 separate departments and agencies around Australia have petitioned the Attorney-General's Department to gain unwarranted access to Australians' metadata under the Government's Data Retention scheme, Delimiter can reveal.
Fifield praises Coalition’s “spectacular” NBN turnaround
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield yesterday praised the Coalition Government he is part of for what he described as its "spectacular" turnaround in the progress of Labor's National Broadband Network project, labelling the project's founder Stephen Conroy as its greatest "threat".
Federal Parliament is in furious agreement about how wonderful tech startups are
The House of Representatives erupted in an unusual display of bipartisanship yesterday, with both Liberal and Labor MP waxing lyrical about the virtues of technology startups and how the tech startup community must be further supported in order to secure Australia's future as an innovative nation.
Delimiter files FOI request for ICON sale scoping study
Technology media outlet Delimiter today filed a Freedom of Information request for the 'scoping study' which has been carried out into the potential sale of the Federal Government's Intra Government Communications Network (ICON), a fibre network which connects public service buildings throughout Canberra.
Turnbull backs away from encryption reform
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull appears to have rejected the need to reform laws on telecommunications encryption technology in the wake of the Paris terror attacks, telling the Parliament today that human factors were more important than ever in the context of a different technological landscape.
Politicians to attend Parliament House innovation ‘boot camp’
Federal MPs and senators will learn about coding and novel uses of technology at an innovation 'boot camp' today in Parliament House organised by tech giant Intel, along with students from five Canberra schools.
Bronwyn Bishop to chair new House of Reps tech Committee
The Federal House of Representatives has reformed its internal committee dealing with matters pertaining to telecommunications, setting up a new structure which has seen tech-savvy Liberal MP Jane Prentice replaced as chair with veteran MP Bronwyn Bishop.
50Mbps “only a milestone” as Germany targets “gigabit society”
Germany's top technology minister Alexander Dobrindt and the heads of its telcos have reportedly described 50Mbps broadband speeds as only a "milestone" on the country's broadband roadmap, which will ultimately culminate in a "gigabit society".
Internet filter scope creep: Govt may censor offshore gambling sites
The Federal Government is considering extending its covert Internet filtering scheme to block offshore gambling websites, in a 'scope creep' move that has the telecommunications industry up in arms about the dangers of secretive Internet censorship.
Minister Fifield appears ignorant of NBN Optus HFC disaster
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has publicly reaffirmed his confidence in the fitness of Optus' HFC cable network for use as part of the National Broadband Network, in comments which appear to show that he has no knowledge of deep concerns by the NBN company itself that the network is unusable.
“Political hacks”: Conroy says NBN board responsible for Optus HFC disaster
Former Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has accused the board of the NBN company of being "incompetent political hacks" who abrogated their responsibility in allowing the purchase of unfit networks such as Optus' HFC cable infrastructure in an ill-fated attempt to ensure the Coalition's Multi-Technology Mix model could be delivered.
‘We’re fixing Labor’s NBN mess,’ says Turnbull
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has avoided directly answering the question of whether he still stands behind the NBN company's existing cost estimates with respect to its use of HFC cable and copper technologies, instead claiming that the Coalition Government was cleaning up the NBN "mess" which he said Labor had created.
Fifield misleads Senate on Labor’s NBN policy history
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield appears to have this afternoon inadvertently misled the Senate regarding the history of the Labor Party's National Broadband Network policy, falsely alleging that the party had not considered re-using existing network infrastructure during the development of the policy.
Lucy Turnbull backs scheme to turn kids into entrepreneurs
Lucy Turnbull AO, wife of the Prime Minister, has become patron of an organisation called DICE Kids, which aims to turn Australia's kids into entrepreneurs.
Government to retain ownership of Canberra’s ICON network
The Federal Government has announced it will not sell off the Intra Government Communications Network (ICON) – a fibre network connecting public service buildings throughout Canberra.
Victoria launches new body to give startups a boost
The Victorian Government has unveiled a new body called LaunchVic that is aimed to accelerate startups, drive new ideas and create jobs in the state.
ACCAN CEO wins Charles Todd Medal for championing consumers
Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) CEO Teresa Corbin has won this year's Charles Todd Medal for her efforts representing consumer interests throughout her almost 20 year career in the telecoms industry.
Further changes announced to controversial telecoms security bill
The government has announced a further round of consultation on changes to new legislation that will require telecoms providers to provide greater safeguards for their networks and to permit greater powers of oversight for government agencies.
Labor targets Turnbull’s NBN record with election mailout
The Opposition has directly targeted the record of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on the National Broadband Network project, in what appears to be the first of a new wave of mailouts to voters designed to influence its electoral results, mimicking its approach during the last Federal Election in mid-2013.
Critics “mistaken”, says NBN Co: We’re not going to “scrap” Optus HFC
The NBN company today said those who believed it was going to "scrap" Optus' HFC cable network were "mistaken", and that leaked documents published last week showing the network was not fit for use as part of the National Broadband Network were only a "hypothetical exercise".
The AFR turns on Turnbull’s MTM over $800m Optus HFC issue
Could the mainstream media tide be turning against Turnbull when it comes to the NBN? Andrew Bolt has already expressed his reservations. It will be interesting to see if the AFR continues in this line of criticism of the Prime Minister over his handling of Australia’s largest ever infrastructure project.
Budde says he warned Turnbull about Optus HFC cable issue
Veteran telecommunications analyst Paul Budde late last week said he publicly warned Malcolm Turnbull that the HFC cable network which the NBN company bought from Optus for $800 million was not suitable for use as part of the National Broadband Network, but that the Prime Minister had ignored the analysis, surrounding himself instead with "yes men".
Teenage hacker evaded police and left Australia under own passport, now appears on national...
Last week the ABC's flagship current affairs program 7:30 covered the somewhat extraordinary story of Dylan Wheeler, an Australian teenager. According to the program, Wheeler has not only been charged by Australian police on hacking offences, but he has also been highlighted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation for his activities. None of this, however, appears to have stopped Wheeler from leaving Australia on his own passport or subsequently appearing on national television.
Delimiter needs you: Help convince Conroy to open up about tech policy
In which I request the help of Delimiter's readership in convincing former Communications Minister Stephen Conroy to speak to me about technology policy.
Delimiter files FOI request for Govt ICT Audit
Technology media outlet Delimiter has filed a Freedom of Information request seeking to retrieve the unreleased comprehensive ICT Audit which the Federal Government presented to Finance Minister Mathias Cormann in January this year.
Devil’s Advocate: What if the MTM NBN actually turns out to be great?
I've spent most of the past three years on Malcolm Turnbull's Multi-Technology Mess, and it's actually been kind of great. Will the complaints about the MTM die away as it's rolled out Australia-wide?
Industry group lists digital policies to boost Australia’s economic prospects
The Australian Industry (Ai) Group has released a report outlining seven priority policies that it believes are essential to strengthen pro-digital reforms and lift Australia's prospects in the digital economy.
ACT NBN rollout highly unfair, says Labor MP
Federal Labor Gai Brodtmann has strongly criticised the NBN company in Federal Parliament this week for its internal decision-making processes in relation to the Australian Capital Territory, which are seeing the company ignore broadband-starved areas in favour of overbuilding existing high-speed broadband networks.
ACCC letting NBN descend into retail “market failure”, says Macquarie
Top-tier business telco Macquarie Telecom has accused the ACCC of having little idea of what is going on in the competitive NBN market, in the wake of comments made by the competition regulator that it was not planning re-examine its controversial decision to set the number of points of interconnect with the NBN at 121.
StartupAUS report: Australian big business must collaborate with startup community
StartupAUS, a group that advocates for Australia's startups, has published a report highlighting the importance of the relationship between big business and startups in cultivating a "vibrant and energetic" environment for innovation.
Microsoft report: Australia can learn from innovation hotspot Massachusetts
Microsoft has released its latest Joined-Up Innovation report, which highlights the key lessons learned from a fact-finding expedition to see how the US state of Massachusetts is rapidly becoming a notable hotspot for innovation.
What will the National Broadband Network really cost?
It’s worth looking more closely at cost difference between FTTP and FTTN to see if the claimed A$84 billion to A$56 billion maximum cost comparison stacks up, and see where Labor’s new half-way solution sits.
Foxtel to launch first Internet piracy blocking attempt in early 2016
National pay TV operator Foxtel has reportedly confirmed plans to launch an attempt early in the near year to have a specific website allegedly hosting pirated film and TV content blocked, in what is expected to be the first test of new legislation designed to tackle Internet piracy.
Ruddock committee finds data retention may breach journalists’ rights
The Federal Parliament's human rights committee chaired by Liberal MP Philip Ruddock has found that the mechanisms in the recent data retention legislation for protecting journalists and their sources may be inadequate and may breach human rights covenants.
Disaster in the making? Govt embarks on mammoth IT shared services scheme
The Federal Government has issued a landmark discussion paper seeking industry and other stakeholder opinions on how it can best implement a strategic shared services scheme to serve the needs of its departments and agencies, despite the fact that this very same model has abjectly failed several Australian State Governments over the past half-decade and been abandoned.
Government responds to ACS report on gender inequality in ICT
Responding to a report from the ACS, Assistant Minister for Science Karen Andrews has said the government recognises the importance of bringing more women into the ICT workforce to ensure the country remains competitive.
Ed Husic calls for regulation following banks’ ‘boycott’ of Apple Pay
Ed Husic MP has said that Australian consumers are being denied payment choices over the banks' apparent "boycott" of Apple Pay and called for "technology neutral" regulation to avoid consumers suffering from the possibly "anti-competitive" actions of some financial institutions.
It’s just a “draft” document, NBN says on $641m FTTN blowout
The NBN company has attempted to cast doubt on the veracity of leaked internal documents showing that the cost of remediating Telstra's copper network has blown out by a factor of ten times to $641 million, pointing out that the document in question was a "draft" and "not endorsed" by its executive team.
Fifield rejects concerns about $641m NBN FTTN blowout
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield this afternoon refused to substantially answer questions in the Senate about leaked internal NBN documents showing that the cost of remediating Telstra's copper network has blown out by a factor of ten times to $641 million, instead attacking Labor for its performance with respect to the project.
Truth: The MTM NBN business case is unravelling by the day
Senator Mitch Fifield has only been Communications Minister a matter of months. And yet, if his performance in the Senate this afternoon is any indication, he has already gotten to the point of attacking anyone who dares to even question the Government's controversial Multi-Technology Mix NBN model.
Government to further deregulate telecoms sector
The government has announced further measures aimed to cut red tape and costs to benefit both the communications sector and the general public.
Government closes in on legislation over serious data breaches
The government has released an exposure draft of a bill that will define what it considers a 'serious' data breach and place notification requirements on some businesses or organisations should they suffer from such an attack.
Labor proposes measures to boost Australian startups
The Labor opposition has announced a tranche of proposals to drive innovation across Australia – a move that is likely aimed to take the wind out of the government's sails with a big innovation announcement due on Monday.
Crowd-funding legislation reaches parliament
New laws aimed to provide a framework for crowd-sourced equity funding (CSEF) have been introduced into Parliament.
Senate passes bill to block tax avoidance by multinationals
The Senate has passed new legislation aimed to ensure tax is paid by major international companies that operate in Australia but book profits offshore.
Xenophon wants Senate inquiry into cyber attacks following BoM breach
Independent Senator for South Australia, Nick Xenophon, has called for an urgent inquiry into cyber security following recent revelations that the Bureau of Meteorology’s systems have been breached, along with those of other government agencies.
AFR claims on NBN sale just plain “wrong”, says Fifield
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield today flatly rejected claims by the Financial Review newspaper that the Government was in talks to sell the bulk of the National Broadband Network to Telstra for as little as $20 billion, stating: "There are no plans to sell NBN".
National Innovation and Science Agenda: Turnbull releases $1bn massive list of new policies
news Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull this morning released a huge list of new policy initiatives relating to technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, as part of...
Truth: Turnbull’s innovation policy is the Hail Mary, slam dunk moment Australian technologists have...
Truly, the wind has changed in Canberra. It will be exhilarating to see just how far an unleashed Australian technology sector can go.
NBN controversy mars Turnbull’s innovation launch
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was this morning forced to answer questions about the Coalition's controversial National Broadband Network policy, in the context that his much-hyped Innovation and Science Agenda released today barely mentions the foundational infrastructure it will rely on.
Our Prime Minister may have been factually inaccurate on 7:30 on NBN copper costs
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull appears to have made a statement on national television which may have been factually inaccurate regarding the National Broadband Network, claiming on 7:30 tonight that the cost of remediating Telstra's copper network was not ten times the amount originally estimated, despite evidence to the contrary.
Planned NBN cyber security centre will bring new jobs to Melbourne
The Victorian Government has announced that a new cyber security centre to be built as part of the National Broadband Network (NBN) infrastructure will help create 700 new high-skilled jobs in Melbourne over the next four years.
Labor: Turnbull’s Innovation Statement ‘does not go far enough’
Labor has criticised the government's $1 billion Innovation Statement, saying that "it does not go far enough".
Carr: CSIRO still worse off than before election
An opposition minister has said that the CSIRO is still worse off than it was before the last election – despite funding announced in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's Innovation Statement on 7 December.
Jason Clare says Turnbull ‘lied’ on copper NBN costs
The Opposition has accused Malcolm Turnbull of telling a "lie" with respect to the cost of upgrading Telstra's copper network to support Fibre to the Node technology on the National Broadband Network, at the time when the Prime Minister was the Shadow Communications Minister.
Truth: The NBN is the Achilles heel of Turnbull’s Innovation policy
A rude black crack ran through yesterday's brightness that Turnbull cannot have failed to notice. Try as he might, the Earl of Wentworth just could not and cannot escape from the shocking mess that he has made of the National Broadband Network.
Labor releases national open data policy to fuel digital innovation
The Opposition has released a plan for data reform that it said will "fuel digital innovation and productivity growth across Australia".
Turnbull will abandon FTTN copper for FTTdp, says Clare
Malcolm Turnbull's Coalition Government will "ditch" its plans to deploy Fibre to the Node infrastructure over Telstra's copper network prior to the 2016 Election and instead focus on deploying fibre to the 'distribution point' or driveway of premises on the National Broadband Network, the Opposition said yesterday.
Devil’s Advocate: Is the political innovation obsession a giant waste of money?
Eventually we'll look on this madness the same way as we did the first technology bubble: Unsustainable hype. It'll be a great party while it lasts, fuelled by billions of dollars in taxpayer money. But eventually it'll all come crashing down.
Blackspot programme reopens to further boost mobile coverage
A second round of the Mobile Black Spot Programme (MBSP) has opened to help boost the consistency of mobile coverage across Australia.
Truth: Yes, the Coalition will try to sell off the NBN
The truth about an eventual sale of the NBN is that, for a Coalition Government, it is truly only a matter of timing and political position. It is not a matter of if: Only a matter of when.
Turnbull knows the MTM NBN won’t cut it, says Budde
Malcolm Turnbull deliberately kept the Coalition's Multi-Technology Mix from being mentioned in this week's National Innovation and Science Agenda because the Prime Minister knows the model won't meet Australia's innovation needs, veteran telecommunications analyst Paul Budde said this week.
Parliament announces yet another inquiry into Australian innovation
The Australian Parliament’s Trade and Investment Growth Committee has announced a new innovation inquiry, despite a similar and rather delayed inquiry being due to report just next week.
Disruptive tech companies killing off workers’ rights, says union
The 'disruptive economy' being brought about by companies such as Uber is "driving down" workers’ rights, the Transport Workers Union has warned.
NBN rejects claims it puts medical alarm services at risk
The National Broadband Network has rejected as "inaccurate" claims that its next-generation infrastructure rollout is placing medical alarm services at risk.
Turnbull announces digital boost for farming industry
The Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced three new initiatives lead by the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) that are aimed to bring agriculture fully into the digital age.
NBN Co shifts 40k premises to fixed wireless to free up satellite capacity
The NBN company today revealed it planned to deploy its fixed wireless network to an additional 40,000 premises previously slated to receive satellite broadband, as part of an effort to free up capacity on the satellite network to meet its aim of a 150GB monthly download quota.
Poor form: Fifield ignores direct questions about $641m NBN FTTN blowout, FTTP costs
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has refused to answer a direct question from a journalist about why the cost of remediating Telstra's copper network has blown out by a factor of ten times to $641 million, saying that leaked internal NBN documents showing the figures had been "inappropriately obtained".
Labor issues detailed evidence for Turnbull’s MTM delays, cost blowouts
The Opposition has published a detailed and referenced comparison table which appears to conclusively show that Malcolm Turnbull's version of the National Broadband Network project is behind on almost every measure by its own measurements, as well as having blown out in costs substantially.
“No evidence” Aussie banks boycotting Apple Pay, claims RBA Governor
Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens has claimed in a letter to a Labor MP that he has not seen "any evidence" that Australia's major banks are actively boycotting the Apple Pay mobile payments service, despite the fact that only American Express has signed up to the service in Australia.
Great example of how politics can destroy necessary IT projects
To my mind, this situation reflects the perfect example of politics interfering with sensible IT project delivery.
Fifield ignores evidence in angry NBN response
news Mitch Fifield has released a sharply worded response to detailed evidence showing Malcolm Turnbull's version of the NBN has fallen behind on its...
Victoria partners with Oxford Uni on new cyber-security centre
The Victorian Government has inked a deal that will see Oxford University’s Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre (GCSCC) establish its first ever international office in Melbourne.
FTTN rollout hits 50,000 homes in record time
The NBN company today revealed its Fibre to the Node infrastructure was ready to be used at some 50,000 homes, a milestone that it reached just 51 days after formally launching the infrastructure in September.
Truth: The NBN’s two satellites will be nowhere near enough
The NBN company's radical overhaul of its satellite plans this week represents a very clear signal that even the 135Gbps of capacity that its two new birds will provide will not go anywhere near close enough to meeting the rapidly growing demand from rural and remote areas for high-speed broadband.
Government releases privacy impact assessment for face-matching scheme
The government has released a preliminary Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for the National Facial Biometric Matching Capability – a face-matching scheme that is aimed to help government agencies combat identity crime, organised crime and terrorism.
Greens take aim at Government’s national facial recognition database
The Australian Greens have raised privacy concerns over the government's plans to introduce a national facial recognition scheme next year.
Telstra fixes first blackspots under government program
Telstra has made the first improvements to regions with poor mobile coverage as part of the government's Mobile Black Spot Programme.
WA taxi reforms to ‘level playing field’ with firms like Uber
The Western Australian Government has announced plans to transform the state's highly regulated taxi industry to increase flexibility, safety and affordability in the face of disruptive competition such as Uber.
NBN Co to pay Telstra to fix its own copper network
The NBN company today announced it had signed or was working on deals with Telstra and Optus that would see the pair continue to fix, maintain and operate the legacy copper and HFC cable networks which they have already sold to the NBN company.
Labor claims Turnbull’s innovation package may encourage tax rorts
Labor has claimed that the government's recently announced package of innovation measures is "rushed" and could have weaknesses that would lead to abuse of the taxation system.
ACMA proposes changes to spectrum rules to open up Internet of Things
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is proposing changes to spectrum rules in order to allow Internet of Things (IoT) devices to 'talk' to each other.
DTO seeks top execs to lead gov.au, Digital Marketplace
The Digital Transformation Office (DTO) is seeking a top level executive to lead the new Digital Marketplace announced in the government's Innovation and Science Agenda just two weeks ago. A head is also being sought for the transformation of the gov.au web platform that is aimed to make it quicker and easier to access government services online.
Mobile blackspot nominations deadline extended
The government has announced that the deadline for public nominations for Round 2 of the Mobile Black Spot Programme has been extended from 31 December 2015 to 15 January 2016.
Government issues draft amendments to Copyright Act
The government has announced proposed changes that are designed to simplify and modernise Australia's copyright laws.
Govt admits staff lost IT equipment valued at over $100k
Government employees have cost the taxpayer may thousands of dollars-worth in lost or stolen IT equipment, it has been revealed.
Electronic Frontiers Australia outlines 2016 priorities
Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) has spelled out its priorities for the coming year, addressing a host of areas including data retention, intelligence gathering and copyright issues.
DTO immigration project passes first test
A new booking service being developed by the Digital Transformation Office (DTO) and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection for people about to take their citizenship test has passed its first assessment.
NBN goes to market for FTTdp hardware
The NBN company has gone to market to purchase 'Fibre to the Distribution Point' (FTTdp) hardware that will allow it to deploy fibre further out into its growing Fibre to the Node network, as speculation increases that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will formalise a widespread FTTdp rollout ahead of this year's Federal Election.
Detailed analysis of NBN Co’s finances shows FTTP better value than FTTN
A researcher from Monash University has published a detailed analysis of the NBN company's costs which appears to show that Labor's technically superior Fibre to the Premises model represents better financial value than the Coalition's preferred Fibre to the Node technology only a scant few years after FTTP was deployed.
Delimiter files FOI application for Fifield’s Blue Book briefing
Technology media outlet Delimiter has filed a Freedom of Information request for the 'Blue Book' incoming ministerial briefing provided to new Communications Minister Mitch Fifield, following recent decisions which have seen similar documents released by a number of other Federal Government departments.
eHealth NSW hiring for yet another CIO
New South Wales' peak electronic health agency NSW eHealth has yet again advertised for a new chief information and chief executive officer, as the latest swing in a revolving door of senior executives.
NBN FTTN kills off ADSL for metro customer, to be replaced with satellite
The NBN company has confirmed plans to terminate the ADSL connection of a customer living in metropolitan Adelaide and replace it with a high-latency satellite connection, due to the installation of Fibre to the Node services to neighbours in the same street.
NBN rejects analysis: FTTP rollout to take “significantly longer”
The NBN company has called into question the validity of a detailed value analysis by a Monash University researcher, stating that a full Fibre to the Premises rollout would take significantly longer to achieve in Australia than its current Multi-Technology Mix model.
DTO reveals progress on digital transformation projects
The Digital Transformation Office has revealed the state of progress on a number of Digital Delivery Hubs that were set up in October 2015.
NBN Co rejects FOI request for basic FTTN modem details
The NBN company has flatly rejected a seemingly innocuous Freedom of Information request which sought to establish the specifications which Australians would need to meet in order to connect their end user hardware to its Fibre to the Node and Basement networks.
Government launches ad campaign to support Innovation Agenda
The government says it is launching a public information and community engagement campaign to support the National Innovation and Science Agenda and help boost Australia’s economy.
Govt outlines guidelines for data retention grants
The government has initiated a grants program that will provide up to $128.4 million to assist the telecommunications industry with the upfront costs of meeting their data retention obligations.
Fifield redacts large chunks of NBN info in ‘Blue Book’ release
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield today released a version of the 'Blue Book' incoming ministerial briefing he received from his department when he became Communications Minister, with the sections relating to the National Broadband Network having been heavily redacted.
Qld eHealth agency reportedly stands down CIO after just one month
In mid-December 2015, the Department promoted the fact that it had appointed a new chief executive and chief information officer of eHealth Queensland -- the agency within the Department which is responsible for resolving the state's ongoing eHealth mess. Less than one month later, the executive has reportedly been stood down as part of an internal investigation.
Fixed Wireless NBN turns out worse than ADSL for some
It was supposed to be next-generation infrastructure which would make their old broadband connection obsolete. But for some connected to the NBN company's Fixed Wireless infrastructure, the performance of the platform is leading them to question whether their old ADSL broadband was actually a better option.
DHS issues due to ‘chronic’ IT underfunding, says union
Computer malfunctions and other issues at the Department of Human Services are due to "chronic and prolonged underfunding" according to the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU).
NBN kicks off FTTN roll out in new areas of Tasmania
The NBN has commenced construction work in Tasmania that will use fibre to the node (FTTN) technology to connect several new communities.
Turnbull appoints new Communications Department secretary
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has appointed a new Secretary of the Department of Communications and the Arts.
Immigration Dept creates innovation division to drive digital transformation
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) has formed an innovation division to help accelerate the pace of its digital transformation.
Private telcos ‘most cost effective’ for public safety mobile broadband
Private telecommunications firms are the most cost-effective option for delivering mobile broadband to public safety agencies, according to a Productivity Commission report.
Govt again refuses to release Attorney-General’s metadata
The Federal Government has again refused to release the telecommunications metadata of Attorney-General George Brandis, stating that to do so would require "substantial consultation with IT experts" and that it would prevent the Liberal Senator from doing his job.
Telstra says it has 50 percent NBN market share, wants more
Telstra this week said it had already taken a 50 percent market share of National Broadband Network customers and wanted to push to achieve even more, in news set to call into question controversial NBN decisions made by the Government and the ACCC meant to advance broadband competition.
DHS issues show Turnbull’s innovation talk just ‘spam’, says Labor
Labor has criticised the Turnbull government over recent IT and other issues at the Department of Human Services (DHS), saying they reveal that the Prime Minster's talk of Innovation is just "spam".
Government finally opens G-NAF address dataset
The government has inked a deal with PSMA Ltd to release the firm's geo-coded National Address File (G-NAF) and its Administrative Boundaries datasets.
Truth: Simon Hackett proven right on “insane” NBN pricing, POIs
History has proven Simon Hackett right: The pricing and Points of Interconnect models set up by the NBN company and the ACCC have helped destroy broadband competition in Australia and are actively helping Telstra re-establish its odious monopoly in an NBN world.
ABC tech editor claims broadcaster “gagged” his NBN coverage
The ABC's outgoing technology editor today claimed he had been "gagged" by the broadcaster from publishing further articles about the National Broadband Network, after several initial articles heavily criticised the Coalition's Multi-Technology Mix model.
Tech MPs Ed Husic + Wyatt Roy are engaged in a bipartisan beard conspiracy
In their day jobs, Assistant Minister for Innovation Wyatt Roy and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Digital Innovation and Startups Ed Husic are supposed to be at each's necks, as they cover the same innovation portfolio from opposing sides of politics. But in practice the pair -- two of the most tech-focused MPs in Federal Parliament -- appear to be sometimes thinking along the same lines.
Xenophon announces plan to save Dick Smith gift card holders
Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has announced a possible solution for Dick Smith gift card holders following the electronics retailer's collapse.
Copper rapidly losing ground to fibre in global broadband figures
IT market intelligence provider Point Topic has released new figures revealing that the numbers of people using fixed broadband globally climbed in the third quarter of 2015, with the numbers using copper-based technologies to connect taking a sharp downturn and fibre rapidly on the way up.
Governments undermining encryption will do more harm than good
Western governments, notably the UK and the US, are pushing the software industry to open “backdoors” into our encrypted communications.
Innovation in Govt must be a tool: Not the end goal
Innovation and transformations do not, by themselves, improve government. They are simply techniques and can be implemented both well and badly, depending on the people, culture and environment they are employed within.
‘Appalling treatment’: Vic IT minister to take Ross’s cause to ABC MD
Victoria's Innovation Minister has described the ABC's treatment of its former technology editor Nick Ross as "appalling" and has expressed a desire to meet with the journalist and take his case directly to the managing director of the broadcaster.
Whinge: Telstra wants to stop NBN Co helping smaller ISPs at all
The nation's biggest telco Telstra has told the Federal Government that the NBN company must not be allowed to assist smaller ISPs to better compete for customers on the National Broadband Network, despite the fact that Telstra itself already has a 50 percent NBN market share.
61 agencies apply for metadata access
61 separate departments and agencies around Australia have petitioned the Attorney-General's Department to gain unwarranted access to Australians' metadata under the Government's Data Retention scheme, including minor organisations such as Bankstown City Council and the National Measurement Institute.
Govt creates new digital agency to fix e-health issues
The government is seeking a CEO to head the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) – a newly created body set up to revamp the underachieving My Health Record initiative.
ACMA seeks consumer representatives for advisory forum
The Australian Communications and Media Authority is seeking to appoint up to seven consumer representatives to the Consumer Consultative Forum.
Truth: The Govt’s data retention project has already spun out of control
The ridiculous number of agencies which have applied for unwarranted metadata access clearly shows that the data retention policy enacted by the Coalition and Labor was founded on a preposterous lie: That access would be limited. The truth is that scope creep was built into the policy's DNA.
Labor avoids all comment on that bothersome massive metadata expansion
Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has not responded to a request for basic information on whether Labor will support adding any of the 61 agencies who have applied to the bipartisan data retention scheme which passed Parliament in 2015.
Winning DataStart entry uses data to maximise healthcare efficiency
The winner of the DataStart incubator program has been named as CohortIQ – a startup that aims to use government and private data to maximise hospital and public health service efficiency.
Telecoms industry raises concerns over latest TSSR draft
A coalition of industry groups has raised concerns over new national security legislation for the telco sector – the draft Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015.
Sharing economy an opportunity for NSW, says Govt paper
The NSW Government has released a position paper suggesting that the burgeoning collaborative or sharing economy offers opportunities for the state.
Communications Minister grows glorious beard over Christmas
If there was ever any doubt about the manliness of Communications Minister Mitch Fifield, let that doubt be dispelled right now. This morning it was revealed that the Liberal Senator grew what Delimiter can only describe as a glorious beard over Christmas.
How to fix NBN Fixed Wireless: Install a roof antenna extension
Having trouble with your NBN Fixed Wireless connection? The solution may be simple: Install a 'mast' on the roof of your premises that will boost your antenna higher than nearby trees. It sounds stupid, but it's done the trick for some -- and it may fix your connection too.
Telstra may be deploying brand new greenfields copper
The Department of Communications has published statistics which appear to show that incumbent telco Telstra has deployed brand new copper to hundreds of new development premises around Australia, as a direct result of the Turnbull Government's new greenfields NBN policy.