Megaport wins access to TPG’s datacentres

5
Independent telco interconnection company Megaport appears to have emerged as the victor in a landmark legal decision about whether telcos such as TPG are compelled to allow independent operators to connect infrastructure to serve customers located in their datacentres.

ABC delayed Alberici’s pro-NBN article until after the election

31
The ABC delayed publishing an article by Lateline co-host Emma Alberici starkly critical of the Coalition's rival National Broadband Network policy until after the election, it has emerged, as questions continue to be raised about the public broadcaster's coverage of Australia's largest ever infrastructure project.

RIP telco luminary Alan Kellock

4
If you've been in Australia's telecommunications industry for a long time, you may recall the name Alan Kellock. There's not a lot of information about him online, but Peter Kellock, who appears to be his son, published an obituary of Kellock the senior through The Age newspaper recently. I don't want to go too far into Kellock's history, but suffice it to say that he was instrumental in setting up Telecom (now Telstra), as well as the international telephone system that we all enjoy today.

Turnbull insists MTM CBN not “old technology”

73
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has issued a statement insisting that the Coalition's new "Multi-Technology Mix" approach to its Coalition's Broadband Network (CBN) project is "NOT" "old technology", despite that several of its constituent parts -- the existing copper and HFC cable networks -- 15 years to many decades old.

ABC flagships ignore Coalition NBN controversy

62
Several of the ABC's flagship current affairs programs are largely ignoring the Coalition's radical reshaping of Labor's popular National Broadband Network project, analysis has revealed, as debate continues to swirl about the public broadcaster's coverage of an initiative which constitutes Australia's largest ever infrastructure project.

Fletcher contradicts Turnbull on NBN satellite sale

11
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his Parliamentary Secretary Paul Fletcher have, in the space of less than three months, given directly contradictory statements on whether the Federal Government may sell off NBN Co's nascent satellite infrastructure in the near future.

Telstra creates giant national … Wi-Fi network??

46
The nation's largest telco Telstra has flagged plans to utilise its own and customers' infrastructure to create a giant national Wi-Fi network around Australia, in a move that comes just two years after the company shut down its existing Wi-Fi network with about 1,000 hotspots and goes against the clear Australian preference for 3G/4G mobile broadband access.

NBN Co renews Service Stream greenfields deal

2
National construction firm Service Stream this morning revealed the National Broadband Network Company had renewed its contract to design and deploy NBN Co's fibre network to greenfield developments (usually housing estates), in a deal which could eventually be worth some $140 million.

Telstra hits 450Mbps speeds in 4G trial

23
Australia’s largest telco Telstra this week said it had achieved live network speeds of 450Mbps on its Next G mobile broadband network, using the LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation standard across a combination of the 1800MHz and 2600Mhz spectrum bands.

Budget 2014: What now for the NBN as taxpayer investment is capped?

23
NBN Co CEO Bill Morrow now faces some difficult decisions in deciding how best to allocate resources to meet the objective of providing high-speed broadband across Australia. Since the Coalition’s election in September last year the NBN has been subject to a number of reviews and a wholesale clean out of management. With many reviews, such as the cost-benefit analysis, yet to report, the strategic direction for NBN Co is uncertain making it difficult to comment on future developments with accuracy.

Optus lifts profits but loses customers … what is its long-term future?

8
The nation's number two telco Optus today reported a 15 percent jump in net profits for the year ended 31 March as cost-cutting initiatives take fat out of its operations, but the company is still facing a troubled future due to the fact that its overall revenues and customer numbers are still slumping.

Coalition MTM model a ‘$40bn fraud’, says Conroy in epic Senate rant

99
Stephen Conroy has accused the Coalition of perpetuating an "absolute fraud" on the Australian public through its drastic reworking of Labor's NBN project, with the former Communications Minister pointing out that the Coalition could not guarantee speeds on its planned infrastructure, and that no other country globally was buying back its incumbent telco's copper network.

4G networks to match NBN, claims Liberal MP

48
A Queensland Liberal MP who has been described as a “Malcolm Turnbull lieutenant” and a long-time critic of Labor’s popular National Broadband Network has made a number of inaccurate statements in Federal Parliament about the project, claiming it could be matched by 4G and 5G mobile networks without spending "some $90 billion of taxpayers' money".

Turnbull taints Budget with NBN cost lie

78
Malcolm Turnbull late yesterday used the Federal Budget announcements process to again erroneously claim that the Coalition's technically inferior version of Labor's National Broadband Network project would be $32 billion cheaper, despite the fact that the Communications Minister is aware this claim is not true.

NBN Co made FTTP architect Ferris redundant

64
NBN Co misled the Australian public about its treatment of Peter Ferris, it has emerged, with the company having made the highly experienced and respected network engineer who was responsible for the design of the company’s previous Fibre to the Premises network redundant rather than merely having demoted him, as it stated in April.

Telstra testing in-flight 4G broadband

9
The nation's largest telco Telstra has built new mobile towers covering the airplane route between Sydney and Melbourne and tested mobile broadband speeds up to 15Mbps to planes in the air, in a pilot program which could one day see the telco finally solve the long-running problem of in-flight Internet access in Australia.

Sky News kills NBN topic with Shadow Minister

52
A host on pay TV channel Sky News last week defended the new Coalition Government's unpopular radical overhaul of Labor's NBN project and subsequently shut down discussion of it during a live interview with Shadow Communications Minister Jason Clare, as controversy continues to swirl about the extent to which mainstream media is censoring coverage of the project.

Turnbull’s NBN mess ‘escaping public scrutiny’

62
Controversial commentator Van Badham has not been dismayed by having her NBN questions shut down live on Q&A last week by host Tony Jones and has penned a fiery piece slamming Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull's 'Multi-Technology Mix' vision and the poor media coverage of it.

Arch hypocrisy: Coalition continues NBN cost/benefit criticism

55
The Coalition has produced a controversial political pamphlet slamming, among other issues associated with "Labor's mess", the previous Government's move to go ahead with its National Broadband Network project without a cost/benefit analysis, just weeks after Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the Coalition would do the same.

NBN Co finds mild satellite delay, wireless shortfall

37
NBN Co has published an extensive report of the satellite and wireless aspects of its infrastructure rollout, finding that it will need to slightly delay its planned late 2015 satellite launch until early 2016 and that its current provisions for wireless broadband in outer metropolitan and regional areas is not quite adequate to serve its planned user base.

US cable giant Cox to deploy 1Gbps

15
The list of US telcos and cities which are expressing a strong desire to deploy gigabit broadband speeds just keeps on growing. First it was Google, which is currently looking to take its Fiber offering to a further 34 US cities. Only a few weeks ago it was AT&T, which is also looking to deploy gigabit fibre, in its case to some 100 cities. And of course, the City of Los Angeles also has a gigabit project it is seeking partners for. The latest news comes from the Tech Times, which reports that US cable giant Cox Communications is now getting on the gigabit bus.

Labor’s NBN is a natural monopoly, but the Coalition’s is not

52
The argument made by respected competition expert, academic and executive Fred Hilmer several weeks ago that the National Broadband Network is not a "natural monopoly" is somewhat convincing, but ultimately falls short by failing to acknowledge specific factors relevant to competition in the telecommunications sector.

“Fictitious”: Turnbull rejects every Senate NBN allegation

35
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has published an extensive, 33 page Coalition rebuttal of specific allegations raised by the Opposition in late March claiming that evidence shows NBN Co’s Strategic Review published last year is based on “flawed and unreliable” premises and was in fact designed by Turnbull to constitute a “pre-ordained political outcome”.

NBN Co to deceive users on FTTN/FTTB speeds

88
The National Broadband Network Company has issued a product specification document in which it openly considers the possibility of allowing customers on its planned Fibre to the Node or Basement (FTTN/B) infrastructure to order speeds between 50Mbps and 100Mbps which their connections could not actually deliver.

Ireland subsidises FttX to rural areas

8
If all you know about Ireland is sourced from St Patrick's Day festivities, then you might be surprised to learn that internationally the country is considered a centre for technology innovation, largely because its Government has continually invested in the industry through favourable taxation laws and investment. In the newest move to come from this island nation, broadband is the focus.

Turnbull repeats Triple J lie to Alan Jones

54
Malcolm Turnbull earlier this week made several statements on Alan Jones' breakfast show on 2GB radio which the Communications Minister is aware are false, repeating incorrect information he had previously broadcast on the ABC's Triple J several weeks ago and failing to correct incorrect information broadcast by Jones himself.

From 200 to 350: Optus sacks more

1
The nation's number two telco Optus today confirmed the size of a redundancy round first revealed yesterday, with the company now planning to offload around 350 staff over the next few weeks instead of the expected 200 which was reported earlier.

ABC denies any NBN censorship deal with Turnbull

48
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has denied it censored the National Broadband Network issue from being discussed on its flagship panel discussion program Q&A this week due to any arrangement with Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, stating that it merely ran out of time to air a question on the topic.

Optus in yet another major redundancy round

0
The nation's number two telco Optus has confirmed it has kicked off its third major redundancy round in just two years, with around 200 jobs reportedly at risk.

ABC actively censors NBN issue on Q&A

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The ABC's flagship panel discussion program Q&A last night appeared to actively censor the National Broadband Network issue from being discussed on an episode featuring Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull; ignoring a flood of questions from viewers prior to its filming, leaving the issue out of pre-show briefing documents and shutting down discussion on air.

Tassie NBN “shambolic”, “farcical”, says TacICT

31
Tasmania's peak industry body of the information, communications and technology sector, TasICT, has published a strongly worded submission to the Federal Government slamming both sides of politics for the "shambolic" and "farcical" progress of NBN Co's network rollout in the state, stating that the project has become a "political tool".

NBN questions needed for Q&A

34
I thought I would do a quick post noting that Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull will be appearing on the ABC's Q&A program tonight. If you have questions that you would like to see the Earl of Wentworth respond to, on any issue, but especially the hot button topic of broadband policy, then I recommend you submit those questions as soon as possible online here.

iiNet to splurge $350m on content, media

19
Over-the-top plays have not always gone well for Australia's telcos and Internet service providers. While the sector's big players -- Telstra, Optus, TPG, iiNet and Vodafone -- have proved themselves able at selling telecommunications services, in most cases they have also found it hard to make money from content or services sold over the top of their telco packages. But this doesn't appear to daunt iiNet, which tells the Financial Review this week that it has a war chest for just this purpose.

Neither AT&T nor Turnbull are telling the whole truth

23
The local debate over AT&T's plans to deploy gigabit fibre to 100 US cities starkly demonstrates that neither giant telcos nor the politicians regulating them can be trusted to give Australians 100 percent of the truth about how next-generation broadband infrastructure rollouts are being or should be deployed.

AT&T to deploy Gigabit fibre to 100 US cities

26
US telco giant AT&T overnight revealed it would deploy Fibre to the Premises infrastructure in 100 major US cities in the United States, delivering gigabit broadband speeds in a model which directly contradicts statements by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull that the telco is focusing on the Coalition's preferred Fibre to the Node model.

NBN Co demotes master FTTP architect

32
NBN Co has removed network planning responsibilities from Peter Ferris, the highly experienced and respected network engineer who was responsible for the design of the company's previous Fibre to the Premises network, allocating the role to an executive who is qualified for the role but has not directly worked in the telecommunications sector since 2007.

‘Super-sized’ broadband survey targets MyBroadband

21
A community project dubbed '#MyBroadbandvReality' which aims to deliver a real-world examination of Australian broadband speeds through crowdsourced submissions has launched a massively expanded broadband survey and is taking submissions from Australians until the end of April.

NBN Co considers third satellite

8
NBN Co is reportedly considering launching a third satellite in an effort to provide better broadband access to the small percentage of Australians in remote areas.

Turnbull lies on NBN to Triple J listeners

169
Malcolm Turnbull yesterday made several statements on the ABC's Triple J radio station regarding financial projections for Labor's National Broadband Network project which the Communications Minister is aware are false, with the former investment banker inaccurately conflating investment capital and government expenses for the project as well as exaggerating financial figures.

CBN FTTN test shows speeds of 105Mbps

98
The National Broadband Network Company today revealed it had successfully conducted early trials of the Fibre to the Node (FTTN) rollout model mandated by the Coalition Federal Government, with the trials delivering "raw" download speeds of 105Mbps over a distance of 100m from a local test 'node'.

“Labor mindset”: Turnbull denies cost/benefit hypocrisy

37
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has denied there is any hypocrisy in the Coalition Government not waiting for the same kind of cost/benefit analysis to be conducted into its broadband policy that it demanded from the previous Labor administration, accusing his critics of being 'stuck in a Labor mindset'.

One.Tel saga finally concluded

6
Wow. Are we still writing about One.Tel? Apparently so. One.Tel, of course, was a hugely hyped Australian telco which eventually went bust in spectacular fashion, and become the subject of many lawsuits. The final one is about to be concluded, according to The Australian newspaper.

NBN Co’s Telstra bill may be $98 billion

16
Ever received one of those giant telephone bills from Telstra with a massive amount of extra fees which you never expected? Spare a thought for the National Broadband Network Company. Industry newsletter Communications Day has gotten its hands on a report compiled by investment bank Goldman Sachs which, for the first time, fully projects the amount NBN Co could be paying Telstra over the next half-decade for access to infrastructure such as pits and pipes.

NBN Co to kill TPG rollout while Minister dithers

57
The National Broadband Network Company has decided to take action into its own hands to deal with TPG's plans to deploy competitive broadband infrastructure in Australia's cities, revealing plans this morning to accelerate its own rollout to compete with TPG ahead of any expected decision on the issue by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

What’s actually important for the NBN: Upload speeds

52
Shadow Assistant Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has published an opinionated article arguing strongly that upload speeds represent one of the key aspects of Australia's current and future broadband needs and that this issue has been almost completely overlooked under the Coalition's "dog's breakfast" Multi-Technology Mix model for NBN Co's rollout.

Seven months later, Turnbull still won’t talk TPG

26
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who has direct responsibility for setting and administering telecommunications law and regulation in Australia, has again refused to clarify whether national broadband company TPG is breaking the law by deploying its own Fibre to the Basement infrastructure in competition with NBN Co, seven months after the move was first revealed.

Gary McLaren’s last email to the NBN troops

13
Yesterday the National Broadband Network Company revealed it had made its long-time and respected chief technology officer Gary McLaren and several other senior executives redundant. This email was sent by McLaren to staff at NBN Co.

NBN Co turfs CTO, CFO, head of commercial

12
Incoming National Broadband Network Company chief executive Bill Morrow has turfed at least three key executives at the company after just one week on the job, with long-time and respected NBN Co head of corporate and commercial Kevin Brown, chief financial officer Robin Payne and chief technology officer Gary McLaren (pictured in order above) to leave NBN Co pronto.

I don’t know how to cover the NBN anymore

354
Australia's National Broadband Network project is now in uncharted territory. Beyond a joke, beyond a politicised mess, and even beyond farce, the incredibly inconsistent handling of the project by Liberal Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has led it far outside the bounds of rational discourse or intelligent consideration.

The NBN must have a cost/benefit analysis (October 2010 re-print)

10
This article by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull first appeared on Delimiter in October 2010, shortly after Turnbull was appointed Shadow Communications Minister. Delimiter re-prints this article today for the edification of readers, in light of the news that Turnbull has approved NBN Co to go ahead with the controversial ‘Multi-Technology Mix’ option for its broadband rollout, despite the fact that the cost/benefit analysis being conducted into the project will not be completed until the middle of 2014.

Hypocrisy: Turnbull approves MTM NBN without cost/benefit analysis

101
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has ordered the National Broadband Network Company to go ahead with the controversial 'Multi-Technology Mix' option for its broadband rollout, despite the fact that the cost/benefit analysis being conducted into the project will not be completed until the middle of 2014.

The NBN FTTdp option in detail

39
If you’ve been following Australia’s national broadband debate for some time, you’re probably familiar with most of the “fibre to the” terms. Fibre to the Premises is what Labor wanted to do with its National Broadband Network policy, Fibre to the Node is the watered down Coalition alternative and Fibre to the Basement is what most of the telcos want to build to apartment buildings. But what about Fibre to the Drop Point (FTTdp)? The concept, which would see fibre extended to the lead-in pit in front of Australian premises but the existing copper reused from that point on, has been explored in an extensive article published by the journal of the Telecommunications Society of Australia.

Victoria splurges $40m on train wireless

23
The Victorian Government this morning announced it would spend some $40 million setting up free Wi-Fi services and fixing mobile broadband blackspots on the Seymour line servicing Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Seymour and Traralgon.

Telstra/NBN FTTB trial hits 90Mbps

17
Wondering how NBN Co’s Fibre to the Basement trials in the Melbourne suburbs of Carlton, Parkville and Brunswick are going? Well, we already know that they’re likely to garner some pretty high speeds. Similar commercial deployments in Sydney have delivered speeds of up to 100Mbps, after all, and NBN Co’s own testing in laboratory conditions in late 2013 showed similar results. The first actual speed tests have been disclosed by Telstra at the CommsDay Summit in Sydney this morning.

We’re running out of wireless spectrum … so what can we do?

28
Australia is in a prime position to address the challenges and develop world-leading applications for ubiquitous wireless connectivity. The pedigree of our wireless laboratories and researchers in all parts of the country is second to none.

Further evidence Turnbull’s MyBroadband tracker overestimates speeds

38
The Australian Labor Party has published what it claims is further evidence that the MyBroadband broadband availability site launched by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull in February is significantly inaccurate, with average broadband speeds in the Federal electorate of Perth universally below the data produced by the site.

Why broadband is too important to be left to the private sector

7
Vox Media in the US has recently published a fascinating interview with Susan Crawford, former Special Assistant to President Obama on Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy. In it, Crawford expresses a view very similar to that taken by the Australian Labor Party — that the development of broadband is too important to be left to the profit-focused private sector.

Turnbull brings back Australian Broadband Guarantee

24
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has reinstituted a direct consumer subsidy scheme very similar to the Australian Broadband Guarantee program initiated under the Howard administration, in a move which will directly fund some 9,000 premises to access satellite services from commercial providers that are not NBN Co.

Unlimited 100Mbps for $89.99: TPG equals top NBN plan

47
TPG has launched a new plan on the National Broadband Network fibre infrastructure which appears to match the existing best option on the market from rival Exetel, with the national broadband provider also now offering an unlimited option at speeds of 100Mbps for just $89.99 per month.

Turnbull, NBN Co won’t discuss Strategic Review

25
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull and NBN Co have declined to formally respond to specific and ongoing allegations raised by the Opposition and other commentators that evidence shows NBN Co’s Strategic Review published last year is based on “flawed and unreliable” premises that undercut the Coalition's case for radically overhauling Labor's NBN project.

Successful telco regulation means a light touch

45
The demand this week by academic Michael de Percy for Australia's politicians to cease their chaotic struggle over the nation's telecommunications sector and let it get on with its own business shouldn't be seen as controversial. The best regulation in any sector takes a 'light touch' approach and this troubled industry is no exception to that rule.

Vodafone should buy iiNet before TPG can

28
The exit of Michael Malone from the company he founded 20 years ago has re-opened long-running speculation that top-tier broadband player iiNet could be acquired, and it's a valid idea. But the telco most suited to buying the powerhouse from Perth is not hostile rival TPG; it's ailing mobile telco Vodafone, which still has plenty of cash up its sleeves.

Coalition to adopt UK broadband platform

39
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has confirmed plans to implement the same underlying broadband infrastructure platform in Australia which has already been used for some time in the UK, with the two nations' incumbent telcos Telstra and BT to collaborate on the exchange over the next several years.

The politics of unshackling the NBN from politics

63
A long-term industry has been shackled to three-year political terms for far too long. The only way to unshackle NBN from politics is to get government out of the marketplace where it exists. Of course, the legacy of sunk costs will make this difficult. But by the time we stop bickering about the latest lot of reports, it will be time to deal with the next communications technology problem.

Turnbull, NBN Co invited to respond to Strategic Review criticism

22
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull and NBN Co have been invited to formally respond to specific allegations raised by the Opposition yesterday that evidence shows NBN Co's Strategic Review published last year is based on "flawed and unreliable” premises and was in fact designed by Turnbull to constitute a “pre-ordained political outcome”.

NBN Review designed for “pre-ordained political outcome”

17
Senior figures in the Federal Labor Party have teamed up to deliver a broad swathe of evidence that they believe shows NBN Co's Strategic Review is based on "flawed and unreliable" premises and was in fact designed by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull to constitute a "pre-ordained political outcome".

NBN Co mandates satellite “fair use” policy

27
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday announced the National Broadband Network Company had instituted a "fair use" policy and deployed additional capacity to allow its interim satellite service to function more effectively, amid reports users were seeing the broadband service on the platform slow to a crawl.

“Destructive forces” unravelling NBN, says Budde

58
"Destructive forces" at work in a "highly polarised political environment" are starting to "unravel" Labor's National Broadband Network project, veteran analyst Paul Budde said yesterday, with the new Coalition Government having boxed itself into a corner on the issue and end users set to suffer from a nightmarish situation akin to a "Pandora's Box" of problems.

Screw you, Turnbull: TPG starts FTTB deployment

62
National broadband company TPG today revealed it had started deploying its planned Fibre to the Basement rollout in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, in a move which directly challenges a statement by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull that the legality of such deployments would be examined by a panel within the next six months.

Has Labor already given up on its NBN?

69
The new Coalition Government appears dead set on drastically winding back, modifying, selling off or otherwise destroying Labor's comprehensive National Broadband Network vision. But the party which started the project in the first place appears to have already given up fighting this demolition job, with the exception of dogmatic former Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.

Turnbull slams Twitter’s NBN “craziness”

81
Malcolm Turnbull has accused users of social networking site Twitter of misrepresenting his position on the Coalition's broadband policy during a stoush with a small business operator unable to get broadband in a rural area, with the Communications Minister claiming the episode could be a case study "of the volatile and sometimes distorting character of social media".

Impolite Turnbull tweet sparks NBN backlash

83
A flippant response by Malcolm Turnbull to broadband problems being suffered by a high-flying small business owner and executive has backfired on the Communications Minister, with a plethora of responses being published on the social networking site slamming the new Coalition Government's controversial revision of Labor's popular National Broadband Network policy.

Vodafone turns on 4G in Tasmania

5
Vodafone has switched on its 4G (LTE) network in Tasmania, following successful live trials in recent weeks in West Moonah, Cambridge, New Norfolk, Warrane and Hobart Airport, and has confirmed plans to expand its coverage across the state in the coming months.

End of an era: Godfather Malone quits iiNet

14
The long-time chief executive of top-tier national broadband provider iiNet, Michael Malone, this morning revealed plans to completely resign from the company he founded twenty years ago in his garage, in a move that will signal the end of an era for Australia's broadband industry.

Quelle surprise! Cisco supports a HFC cable NBN

20
Call me cynical, call me a jaded old journalist who’s seen too much in his short life, call me suspicious, but I have to say I wasn’t precisely surprised to see the news that US-based networking equipment giant Cisco Systems is spruiking the benefits of a National Broadband Network project based on HFC cable technology. After all, Cisco does have a sizable business selling HFC cable equipment, especially in the US, the global home of HFC cable.

NewSat offers to buy NBN Co satellites

21
Pure play satellite company NewSat has made an offer to the buy the National Broadband Network Company's two satellites before they are even launched, as speculation continues to swirl around the potential privatisation of chunks of NBN Co's infrastructure under the new Coalition Federal Government.

TPG, iiNet, ACCC support competitive FTTB rollouts

99
National broadband companies TPG and iiNet, as well as the competition regulator, have published extensive submissions to the Federal Government supporting the right for commercial telcos to deploy their own Fibre to the Basement (FTTB) infrastructure throughout Australia in competition with the Coalition's Broadband Network (CBN) project, rejecting the idea that such planned investments should be blocked or otherwise regulated to support NBN Co's finances.

The great NBN sell-off has already begun

85
NBN Co, we hardly knew ye. Make no mistake: Tony Abbott's new Coalition Government does not want to own a national broadband monopoly. The process of selling NBN Co to the private sector has already begun, and will be accelerated over the next several years.

NBN Co updates rollout maps with new premises

31
The National Broadband Network Company has updated its dynamic rollout map with details of thousands of new premises where construction contracts have been signed, giving Australians a great deal more certainty about whether their premise will be included in the company's next round of Fibre to the Premises broadband deployment.

Switkowski in 2009: Fibre to make copper “obsolescent”

36
NBN Co executive chairman Ziggy Switkowski appears to have radically changed his views on the different merits of fibre and copper broadband technologies over the past few years, it has emerged, with a video interview having surfaced over the past few days showing the executive praising Labor's all-fibre NBN strategy and adding that it would make copper infrastructure "obsolescent".

Reversal: Switkowski admits Tassie NBN contracts specified FTTP

32
NBN Co executive chairman Ziggy Switkowski has been forced to retract a statement he made earlier this month regarding the company's network rollout contracts in Tasmania, admitting yesterday that the contracts did specify Labor's preferred Fibre to the Premises network model was to be used in the state.

NBN technology choice doesn’t matter, says Switkowski

37
NBN Co executive chairman Ziggy Switkowski has declared that the specific technology chosen by the company in its network rollout "does not matter", as long as that technology can deliver the "speeds" that Australians need today and that it can be upgraded as demand required, in a controversial statement which appears to fly against conventional wisdom in the telecommunications sector.

Five ways NZ is smarter than Australia on broadband

40
In Australia, poking fun at our New Zealand cousins has become more than just a hobby over the years; these days it enjoys the status of a national sport. However, when it becomes to broadband, the situation has been turned on its head: New Zealand is doing everything right that we are doing wrong. Here's five ways the Kiwis are smarter than us in this critical area.

Melbourne CBD to get free Wi-Fi

20
The Victorian Government and the City of Melbourne today announced plans to source a provider from the private sector to provide free Wi-Fi access in the city's central business district, despite the fact that Australia's existing mobile broadband networks are already providing reliable wireless access, and despite the fact that similar projects have failed in other states.

‘Severe impact’: Rival FTTB plans worry NBN Co

17
If the Coalition had stuck with Labor's largely Fibre to the Premises NBN policy, of course, all this wouldn't be an issue. Talk about unintended consequences. Setting regulatory frameworks can often be like this; you need to think through several steps ahead, especially when it comes to a long-term project such as building a national broadband network.

ISPs, consumers sign up for NBN Co’s FTTB pilot

14
The National Broadband Network Company has signed up four of Australia's major Internet service providers for its trial of Fibre to the Basement (FTTB) technology in its rollout, with ordinary consumers to be given a chance to test the technology and provide feedback on their experiences.

NZ Govt rejects Turnbull’s HFC cable approach

30
The New Zealand Government has reportedly explicitly rejected a proposal by Vodafone NZ which would have seen the country take a similar approach to the re-use of existing HFC cable assets in its own national broadband network rollout as the new Coalition Government is proposing to take in Australia.

Coalition front bench “technically illiterate”, says Ludlam

19
Greens Communications Spokesperson Scott Ludlam has described the Coalition's new front bench as "technically illiterate", in a wide-ranging speech in the Senate last week kicking off his campaign to be re-elected in the upcoming Senate by-election in Western Australia and attacking Prime Minister Tony Abbott over various tech-related issues, from Internet piracy to the National Broadband Network.

Why no consumer voices for Turnbull’s ministerial council?

16
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull's new Ministerial Advisory Council last week features representatives from virtually every major Australian telecommunications company of any note. But the group most important to the future of the Australian telco sector -- consumers -- appear not to have been invited.

“Witch hunt”? Turnbull opens Labor NBN policy review

68
Malcolm Turnbull has appointed seasoned executive and public figure Bill Scales to conduct what the Communications Minister today described as an "independent audit" of the policy development process which led to the previous Government's National Broadband Network project, in an effort which is already being described as a "witch hunt" against Labor.

Will hidden taxes and competitive pressures make the NBN unsustainable?

48
Is the National Broadband Network sustainable? I do not mean this in a technical sense. While I am wary of the government using taxpayers' money to ‘pick winners’ in technology, there are many people better placed than I am to crystal ball gaze into the best technology for the internet. Rather is the NBN economically sustainable?

Tasmania’s NBN tangle is a shocking mess

22
The ongoing stoush over how the Coalition's Broadband Network should be deployed in Tasmania shows Australia's broadband tangle at its worst: Construction contractors who don't deliver, overly optimistic promises and estimates, and politicians playing petty power games with a highly important national infrastructure project. No matter which way you look at it, it's a shocking mess.

Turnbull’s MTM CBN should not be a monopoly

60
The only way for Labor's all-fibre National Broadband Network to sensibly function was for it to be a legislated infrastructure monopoly. But the Coalition's watered-down, multi-technology alternative is a very different kettle of fish, and consumers will clearly benefit if rival telcos such as Telstra, Optus and TPG are allowed to overbuild portions of the network.

Telstra wants its foreign ownership rules reviewed

11
In the wake of the news that the Federal Government will try to weaken some areas of Qantas' foreign ownership rules in an effort to provide the airline with a level playing field with Virgin, Telstra chief executive David Thodey has called for the same debate to be held with respect to Telstra.

MyBroadband stoush: Turnbull attacks “foolish” IT academic

39
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has taken a pick axe to an article published by electrical and computer engineering academic Mark Gregory, claiming that the RMIT senior lecturer's criticism of the Government's new MyBroadband broadband tracker site constitutes a "confused and illogical" attack, and that Gregory had misunderstood the site's rating scale.

Optus pumps 2.3Gbps total through 4G towers

5
Optus last week announced it had achieved what it described as "a massive world first", generating a total of 2.3 gigabits per second (Gbps) site throughput on one of its custom-built mobile phone towers.

A voice in mainstream media on NBN

11
Senior Victorian IT professional George Fong encourages fellow technologists to get involved in commenting on the National Broadband Network, after the success of a segment he was involved with on 3AW last week.

Turnbull forces all Dept staff to re-apply for jobs

21
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has ordered all 550 staff at his Department of Communications to re-apply for their jobs, according to the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), as part of a sizable cull that could see up to 125 jobs cut from the department.

Real speeds 25 percent slower than Turnbull MyBroadband tracker

32
The final analysis of a crowdsourced comparison of real-world broadband speeds has shown that the MyBroadband broadband availability site launched by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull last month is significantly inaccurate, with most Australians receiving speeds more than 25 percent slower than those listed.

Now Telstra threatens to do its own FTTB

49
The nation's largest telco Telstra has become the latest private sector player to threaten to deploy its own Fibre to the Basement solution in apartment blocks around Australia, in a move designed to both head off rivals and capitalise on delays suffered in Labor's National Broadband Network project.

NBN bitchslap: IT hero schools ignorant radio host

102
A senior IT professional specialising in regional telecommunications in Victoria yesterday afternoon delivered an extraordinarily erudite and pointed education to a 3AW radio host who had gone on an extended and inaccurate rant live on air, rebutting claims that the National Broadband Network project would cost $233 billion but deliver speeds no different to ADSL broadband.

Reality check: Tasmanian overhead FTTP trials have already been done

20
As the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union argues today in an extremely valid point, there's no real need for more overhead FTTP trials in Tasmania -- those have already been done. I'd like to hear an answer from the Minister as to why we need more trials of overhead FTTP infrastructure in the Apple isle, when so much work along these lines has already been done.

Turnbull’s MyBroadband tracker overestimates broadband speeds

64
A crowdsourced comparison of real-world broadband speeds has appeared to show that the MyBroadband broadband availability site launched by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull last week is significantly inaccurate, with speeds being almost universally below the data produced by the site.

Abbott’s Tassie CBN fumble “embarassing”, says Labor

36
Labor's communications spokespeople have labelled Prime Minister Tony Abbott's failure to directly answer repeated questions about the rollout of the Coalition's Broadband Network in Tasmania an "embarassing spectacle", as the issue continues to be a major issue for the upcoming state election in March.

Ludlam a hot bachelor with “magnificent” hair

14
If you've been following the technology portfolio in politics for a while now, you'll know that we're pretty much spoilt for choice when it comes to the physical attractiveness of our representatives. Certain women of your writer's acquaintance have been heard to refer to Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull as "the Silver Fox", for instance, while Senator Kate Lundy has always been a favourite amongst the gentlemen. But now there's a new entrant onto the scene: Greens Communications Spokesperson Scott Ludlam.

Australia has fastest 4G speeds in world

9
Impressed by the 4G speeds offered by your provider, whether it's Telstra, Optus or Vodafone? You should be. According to a new study of 4G/LTE mobile speeds around the world, Australia has the fastest average speeds in the world.

Abbott dodges repeated Tassie FTTP questions

30
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has repeatedly declined to directly address questions about whether the Coalition deceived Tasmanian voters with respect to its support for an all-fibre broadband rollout in the state, in a tense press conference over the weekend in which journalists couldn't stop asking about the topic.

Pressured Turnbull agrees to aerial FTTP trials in Tasmania

52
Under siege from all sides of politics over the Federal Coalition's reluctance to pursue a full Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) broadband rollout in Tasmania, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has spoken to NBN Co about the possibility of conducting FTTP trials in the state that would test Labor's plan to deploy fibre on aerial electricity poles.

NBN commences real-world FTTN, FTTB trials

2
The National Broadband Network Company today confirmed it would shortly kick off real-world trials in several locations in major Australian cities of the Fibre to the Node and Fibre to the Basement technologies which the Coalition plans to use as key parts of its own Broadband Network project, which is seeing Labor's all-fibre NBN vision heavily modified.

Revamped Telstra plans bundle yearly handset upgrade

14
The nation's largest telco Telstra has launched two new ranges of mobile phone plans, in addition to offering customers the option to pay $10 a month extra for the ability to trade in their smartphone once a year for a new model.

Turnbull insists Coalition’s NBN still “national”

72
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has hit out at critics of the Coalition's broadband policy, describing them as "ignorant" and insisting that the project still constitutes a "National" Broadband Network, despite the fact that the new Government is taking a multi-technology approach to the broadband rollout described by one senior analyst as a "dog's breakfast".

Court rules Optus coverage ads misleading

4
There you have it, folks -- in black and white. A court has decided that Telstra's network covers a geographic area nearly two and a half times greater in land mass than that of Optus. That's a figure we'll be pulling up regularly in future as Optus makes claims about its coverage.

Sensis to cut 800 staff

3
Telstra's advertising and directories business Sensis has revealed plans to cut about 800 jobs Australia-wide, in a move that one of the telco's main unions has immediately stated will "irreparably harm local economies and erode the nation’s skills base".

Google Fiber takes 1Gbps to 34 new US cities

14
US technology giant Google has announced that it will work with a further 34 cities in the US on deploying its high-speed Fibre to the Premises broadband infrastructure, in a move that further solidifies the long-term case for the FTTP deployment model globally.

Giddings offers NBN Co free access to power poles

11
Tasmanian Labor Premier Lara Giddings has offered the National Broadband Network Company free access to the overhead power poles of state-owned energy utility Aurora to incentivise a full rollout of Fibre to the Premises broadband in the state, as part of a package of technology policy promises associated with the State Election.

Union issues ‘please explain’ on 400 Sensis job cuts

1
Well, it didn’t take long. Just one month (one month!) after Telstra agreed to sell 70 percent of its ailing directories and advertising business Sensis to US-based private equity firm Platinum Equity, up to 400 jobs are reportedly set to be cut at the division.

Liberals admit: Turnbull CBN plan could lose Tasmanian election

24
Tasmanian Liberal Leader Will Hodgman has made the extraordinary admission that the Federal Coalition's unpopular broadband policy could cost the party the upcoming Tasmanian State Election, in the latest in a series of ongoing signs that the policy is not going down well in the island state.

Google Fiber will go to 10Gbps

12
Search giant Google has revealed it is planning to upgrade its residential-grade Google Fiber broadband network in the United States to 10Gbps; news that comes as Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has stated that it is "difficult, if not impossible" to find uses for a broadband service with speeds up to 1Gbps -- ten times less.

Cashed-up Telstra abandoning Aussie workforce, says union

15
One of Telstra's main unions has heavily criticised the company for a reported plan to send as many as 1,000 jobs offshore in yet another round of offshoring at the telco, stating that Telstra isn't treating its Australian workforce fairly in the context of its ongoing profit growth.

Tassie FTTN decision Visionstream’s fault, says Turnbull

29
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has explicitly blamed construction contractor Visionstream for the Federal Government's decision not to fully deploy the Fibre to the Premises model for the Coalition's Broadband Network in Tasmania, claiming the company was not able to deliver the infrastructure at the cost it agreed to.

Tasmanian Liberal Leader demands FTTP NBN

41
Tasmanian Liberal Leader Will Hodgman has reportedly spoken directly to Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull arguing "strongly" that Tasmania needs a full rollout of Fibre to the Premises broadband technology, as opposed to the partial FTTP and partial Fibre to the Node rollout outlined by NBN Co executive chairman Ziggy Switkowski this week.

Clare tables NBN petition in Parliament

27
Shadow Minister for Communications Jason Clare yesterday presented to Federal Parliament the signatures of 272,000 Australians who want the new Coalition Government to build Labor’s all-fibre version of the National Broadband Network instead of the technically inferior version which is currently being proposed.

Telstra kills mobile market; Optus, Vodafone wilt

10
The nation's largest telco Telstra has continued its incredibly strong drive to take back a huge slice of Australia's mobile market, adding 739,000 customers in a period in which both Optus and Vodafone appeared to go slightly backwards.

The NBN’s new kingpin plan: Exetel offers unlimited 100Mbps for $89.99

31
National broadband provider Exetel has unveiled a raft of new ADSL and Fibre-based broadband packages that appear to be extremely competitive compared with rival options on the market, including a headline option which offers early customers on the National Broadband Network unlimited downloads and 100Mbps speeds for $89.99 a month.

Telstra to offshore another 1,000, says AFR

0
Thought Telstra was finished with its wide-ranging outsourcing and offshoring initiatives? Not by half, if a report in the Financial Review newspaper this morning is to be believed.

Switkowski confirms FTTN for Tasmania

30
NBN Co executive chairman has confirmed the Coalition's Broadband Network model will see a Fibre to the Node deployment through at least part of Tasmania, in a move that the Opposition has branded as yet another example of "Liberal lies".

Vodafone launches 4G network in ACT

0
Vodafone yesterday officially launched its high-speed 4G network in the ACT, as the first stage of what it described as its "comprehensive LTE rollout in Canberra".

Another NBN Co head of construction resigns

6
The National Broadband Network Company has confirmed that it has lost its third head of construction in three years, with the company's executive general manager of construction Richard Thorpe having resigned and set to leave the company shortly.

NBN enjoys massive public support despite “overwhelmingly negative” print coverage

36
A new comprehensive study of public attitudes towards Labor's National Broadband Network project has found the initiative still enjoys very high levels of widespread public support from ordinary Australians, despite what the study described as an "overwhelmingly negative" approach to the project by print media such as newspapers.

Turnbull Blue Book access application fails

26
An attempt by technology media outlet Delimiter to retrieve the 'Blue Book' incoming ministerial briefing of Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull under Freedom of Information laws has failed, with the Federal Government as a whole appearing to standardise around interpreting its rights as blocking such documents wholesale.

“The NBN is dead,” says Jason Clare

56
Shadow Communications Minister Jason Clare yesterday said he believed Labor's National Broadband Network project was "dead" and that all that was left was "a bunch of different technologies rolling out in different parts of the country", despite the fact that most Australians still want the project to go ahead.

‘I have never misstated facts,’ says Turnbull

103
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has told radio listeners in Brisbane that he has never personally been guilty of deliberately misstating facts, despite the fact that a number of the Liberal MP's statements over the past several years with respect to national broadband policy have been highly contested by commentators.

Turnbull sends TPG share price into tailspin

40
A statement made yesterday by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull which appeared to have undercut the stability of Australia's telecommunications regulatory environment has had a dramatic impact on the share price of national broadband provider TPG, with the company's stock taking a steep dive yesterday.

Turnbull destabilises broadband regulatory environment

28
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has made a public statement which appears to have significantly undercut the stability of Australia's telecommunications regulatory environment, winding back the potential for telcos such as TPG and Optus to invest in their own broadband infrastructure ahead of the rollout of the Coalition's Broadband Network.

NBN Co director Milne has Netcomm conflict of interest

12
New NBN Co board director Justin Milne has a second significant conflict of interest which he does not appear to have resolved, it has emerged, as questions continue to swirl around the appointment process for NBN Co's new board and executive team under the Coalition.

Optus to operate CBN satellites

4
NBN Co announced over the weekend that it had signed a deal with Optus which will see the SingTel subsidiary provide tracking, telemetry and control services regarding NBN Co's two satellites planned to be launched in 2015.

BT hikes FTTP on demand prices

36
UK wholesale telco BT Openreach has substantially increased the prices it is charging customers for extending fibre broadband from local neighbourhood 'nodes' all the way to premises, in a move which calls into question the Coalition Federal Government's plan to use the service in its Coalition Broadband Network plan.

Greens want to “maximise” FTTP, says Ludlam

15
Greens Communications Spokesperson Scott Ludlam has accused the Coalition Government of 'pulling the plug' on Labor's National Broadband Network project and leaving Australians "stranded" on legacy copper infrastructure. In comparison, Ludlam said, the Greens were focused on "maximising the amount of optic fiber laid directly to premises".

Optus kicks off 2600MHz 4G trials

4
The nation's number two telco Optus this morning revealed it had kicked off trials of 4G mobile services using the 2600MHz frequency, as the nation's three major telcos continue to battle for mindshare in the next generation of mobile broadband services.

Voda Win: Vodafone’s back, baby

0
You might have noticed that there's a decidedly positive tenor to the announcements which ailing mobile telco Vodafone Australia has been making recently. The company's leadership in 4G mobile broadband speeds, its appointment of a qualified executive from Europe to replace outgoing leader Bill Morrow, and this morning, the news that it has a million customers on its 4G network.

“Policy vacuum”: iiNet slams politicians’ NBN ‘fail’

30
Australia's third-largest broadband player iiNet has opened a broadside on the nation's political class over the "policy vacuum" the ISP says exists in telecommunications policy, agreeing with veteran analyst Paul Budde that further discussion is needed around the actual uses of upgraded broadband infrastructure and less discussion of entry level broadband speeds.

Think big, Hackett tells Australians on eve of Internode departure

18
Internode founder Simon Hackett has exhorted Australians to think about their legacy and how they can "leave a good result behind", in a heartfelt speech given on the eve of his departure from the Internet service provider he founded and arrival as a board director at the National Broadband Network Company.

Is NBN Co’s FTTP ramp-up “pure fantasy”?

18
We've been hearing the same mantra from NBN Co for some years now with regards to its Fibre to the Premises network rollout. Initially moving, as Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull likes to describe it, "at the pace of an arthritic snail", NBN Co executives have long been fond of claiming that the company's rollout would speed up as time went on, in a "ramp-up" phenomenon. However, over at iTNews, journalist Ry Crozier has crunched the numbers and determined that the claim is just that -- a claim -- with no actual evidence of such a ramp-up in sight.

58% of Australians oppose privatising NBN

27
A new survey taken by respected analysis house Essential has shown that a total of 58 percent of Australians oppose privatising the National Broadband Network Company, around the same level as those opposing government-owned media groups the ABC and SBS.

“Incredible” NBN debate stuck in “yesterday’s logic”, says Budde

17
Respected telecommunications analyst Paul Budde has called for a more constructive debate about Australia's future broadband needs, arguing that the current national conversation over the issue of the National Broadband Network is stuck using "yesterday's logic" as it fails to plan for the needs of a future only five to ten years away.

Telstra tests 700MHz 4g on “advanced HTC smartphone”

0
The nation's biggest telco Telstra late last week revealed it had started testing the use of the 700MHz spectrum in its 4G mobile network, using equipment from Ericsson and "an advanced smartphone from HTC that will launch later this year".

Vodafone wallops Telstra, Optus in 4G speeds

7
A new series of independent tests has shown the 4G network of ailing mobile telco Vodafone can easily beat the rival networks of Telstra and Optus, at least in capital cities such as Sydney and Melbourne, with the telco claiming the results show it is the best option for streaming content and general Internet surfing.

Vodafone replaces Morrow with Romanian exec

0
Ailing national mobile telco Vodafone today revealed it would bring in Inaki Berroeta, chief executive of Vodafone Romania to replace its outgoing local leader Bill Morrow, who is set to take the reins of the National Broadband Network Company from March.

Coalition “conned” Tasmania on the CBN, says Premier

49
Labor Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings has accused the Coalition Federal Government of having "conned the Tasmanian public" with respect to its plans for the Coalition's Broadband Network project in the state, having failed to commit to a full Fibre to the Premises rollout despite the State Government's willingness to work with Canberra on the issue.

Unlimited 76Mbps for $38: BT’s awesome FTTN prices

94
British telco BT has temporarily drastically cut the price of accessing its Fibre to the Node-style network, delivering speeds and data quotes unheard of in Australia, in another demonstration of the national consequences of the failure of the Australian Government's telecommunications policies over the past decade.

BT, Alcatel-Lucent show 1.4Tbps fibre speeds

5
British telco BT and French networking equipment supplier Alcatel-Lucent have teamed up for a trial which has demonstrated speeds of up to 1.4Tbps over BT's core fibre network, in what is believed to be the fastest data speeds ever achieved using commercial-grade hardware in a real-world telco environment.

NBN Strategic Review misrepresents HFC adoption

26
Those of you who’ve actually read the National Broadband Network Company’s Strategic Review document will be aware that, as I wrote in late December (Delimiter 2.0 link), it’s actually surprisingly favourable to use cases involving ubiquitous fibre broadband being deployed around Australia. Although it’s the Coalition’s preferred HFC/Fibre to the Node-focused ‘Multi-Technology Mix’ approach which has gotten all the airplay, in actual fact the document itself is quite positive to the use of Fibre itself. Telco commentator David Braue reminds us of this fact in a well-written piece for ZDNet.

Crowdsourced NBN think tank launches Senate submission

20
A loose-knit collective of Australian technologists has formed what it has dubbed an online crowdsourced think tank focused around the National Broadband Network project and has started putting together a submission to the NBN Senate Select Committee which will argue for a network built on the best available 'fit for purpose' technology - not on political ideology.

TPG’s PIPE Networks anti-competitive? Who would have thought?

15
If you didn’t laugh, you’d have to cry. Your writer has watched with great amusement over the past week as Megaport chief executive Bevan Slattery has been bitterly complaining about the fact that TPG Telecom has blocked certain types of third-party access to PIPE Networks’ datacentres. You can find Slattery’s problems outlined here on the blog of Megaport, which aims to build an interconnection fabric between various carriers and cloud computing providers.

Does the MTM CBN model place “wholesale-only” at risk?

12
Australian telecommunications analyst Paul Budde has penned an extensive blog post discussing the need for the Coalition's Broadband Network (CBN) to remain on a 'wholesale-only' basis, despite the fact that the network's architecture is set to radically change due to the 'Multi-Technology Mix' model proposed by NBN Co.

Most ISPs sign NBN Co wholesale contract

13
The National Broadband Network Company this morning revealed some 27 wholesale customers -- generally retail Internet service providers, including major market players Telstra and Optus -- had signed its permanent Wholesale Broadband Agreement that will shape the way they work with the company. However, at least one major ISP -- iiNet, has reportedly refused to sign.

Turnbull Facebook Q+A backfires with NBN rage

105
An attempt by Malcolm Turnbull to leverage a visit to Facebook's headquarters in the US to communicate with Australians about the future of the digital economy via social media has backfired, with the Communications Minister's official Facebook filling up with hundreds of comments slamming the Coalition's inferior broadband policy.

Telstra and NBN Co haven’t started talks yet

13
Telstra yesterday confirmed it had not yet kicked off renewed negotiations with NBN Co over access to its HFC cable and copper networks, as concerns continue to grow that the Coalition's Broadband Network Project, which has several components highly dependent on the talks succeeding, is likely to be significantly delayed.

Telstra sells most of Sensis to private equity

4
The nation's biggest telco Telstra this morning revealed it would sell 70 percent of its ailing directories and advertising business Sensis to US-based private equity firm Platinum Equity, with the sale to net the telco $454 million.

MTM broadband plan a “dog’s breakfast”, says Budde

82
Respected telecommunications analyst Paul Budde has heavily criticised the Coalition's new preferred broadband deployment model, describing its "Multi-Technology Mix" approach as "a dog's breakfast" of different technologies, which could turn out to be a "logistical nightmare" to deliver in practice.

2014 will be a great year for the NBN … pity it’s the last

0
By all accounts, 2014 is shaping up as a pretty good year for the actual National Broadband Network rollout. As I write on Delimiter 2.0 today (paywalled), the project has a solid amount of Fibre to the Premises construction work set to deliver this year, and there are other reasons to be optimistic about how the next 12 months will pan out. But from 2015, it's all downhill.

Turnbull’s broadband brochureware falls short of election promise

48
The new Coalition Government has failed to successfully deliver what it had promised before the election would be a key report on the overall status of broadband infrastructure in Australia, instead releasing just before Christmas an extremely brief report of only several pages which does little to illuminate the situation.

iiNet made CTO Lindsay redundant

40
iiNet made its outgoing Adelaide-based chief technology officer John Lindsay redundant, it has emerged, as the company appears to be increasingly centralising the technical management of its infrastructure to its head office in Perth.

Abandoning the “National” Broadband Network label

84
It is no longer appropriate in 2014 for Australians to refer to the Coalition's radically watered down version of Labor's pet telecommunications initiative as the "National" Broadband Network project, given the fact that it will leave the long-term future of up to a third of Australians' broadband services in doubt.

Internode CTO quits iiNet after two years

76
Long-time Internode chief technology officer John Lindsay has resigned from a similar position at the company's owner iiNet, just two years after iiNet bought the South Australian ISP.

NBN Strategic Review shows FTTP still very viable

41
If you believe NBN Co executive chairman Ziggy Switkowski and Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, the NBN Strategic Review released last week is all about re-using HFC cable, implementing Fibre to the Node and minimising the use of Fibre to the Premises. However, a close reading of the document shows that it also finds that Labor’s original FTTP vision can still be delivered very affordably and in a timely manner.

Greens, Labor, slam Coalition’s NBN “train wreck”

90
The Greens and the Australian Labor Party have taken a pick axe to the Coalition's plans for the NBN following Senate hearings on the project this week, variously describing the current state of the Coalition's vision as "a dog's breakfast", a "train wreck" and "broadband limbo".

“Way of the future”: Turnbull confirms “optimised” NBN rollout model

137
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull today confirmed the Federal Government would follow NBN Co's recommendation in adopting an "optimised" model for deploying the National Broadband Network "sooner, cheaper and more affordably", in a move that will see the company roll out the "maximum" amount of existing network infrastructure.

HFC the “steam train” of broadband, says Budde

15
Australian telecommunications analyst Paul Budde has published a strongly worded blog post arguing that the HFC cable networks focused on by the Coalition in its rival NBN policy are akin to steam trains in the 1930's through the 1960's -- they'll still around for decades, but don't represent the future of their industry.

Turnbull appoints Liberal supporter Ergas to NBN panel

31
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has appointed Henry Ergas, an open Liberal supporter and one of the most strident critics of Labor's National Broadband Network policy, to a panel of experts which will conduct a cost/benefit analysis of broadband review regulation associated with the NBN.

“Simply wrong”: Hackett attacks NBN HFC critics

189
Internode founder and NBN Co board director Simon Hackett has strongly defended the company's proposal to cancel the rollout of fibre broadband to around a third of Australian premises and re-use existing HFC cable networks owned by Telstra and Optus instead, stating that some of those criticising the plan have gotten it "simply wrong".

Turnbull’s first 100 days have been a disaster

35
I think it's safe to say at this point that Turnbull has not gotten his first 100 days in power right; in fact, he's gotten them disastrously wrong, making little or even backwards progress on a range of fronts. It will be interesting to see if he can rectify his political and functioning mistakes in the next 100 days.

Please accept my apologies: I was wrong about Malcolm Turnbull

189
I am here today to formally apologise. I was wrong to have faith in Malcolm Turnbull and the Coalition on this issue. You were all right. Turnbull does indeed appear to be attempting to "demolish" the NBN.

NBN Co cancels FTTN rollout for HFC areas

234
NBN Co's Strategic Review has found that it will not be possible to deliver the Coalition's stated policy goal of delivering broadband speeds of 25Mbps to all Australians by the end of 2016 or at the projected cost, and has recommended that up to a third of Australian premises theoretically already covered by HFC cable networks effectively receive no upgrade at all under a drastically revised deployment scheme.

Vodafone’s Morrow new NBN Co CEO: AFR

11
Wondering who the new National Broadband Network chief executive will be? So are we, and reportedly we're going to find out very shortly.

Turnbull requests Labor’s secret NBN docs

49
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has written to Opposition Leader Bill Shorten requesting the Labor leader release cabinet documents from the previous Labor administration relating to the National Broadband Network, despite the fact that Turnbull himself is holding back similar material from the Coalition's period in power.

Labor forces NBN Co back to Senate

40
The Opposition has forced senior executives from the National Broadband Network back to take questions from a Senate committee for the third time in a month, as debate grows about whether and to what extent such constant hearings represent obstruction of the company's work.

Telstra 4G trials hit 300Mbps

5
Just how fast can 4G mobile broadband go? Very fast, according to Telstra, which has been conducting trials of LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation technology.

“Captain of the Titanic”: Turnbull mocks Quigley’s NBN tenure

141
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has mocked the tenure of outgoing NBN Co chief Mike Quigley in leading the National Broadband Network Company, comparing the respected executive to the "Captain of the Titanic" in what Turnbull claimed was an inability to get the job done with respect to the NBN.

NBN Co still has 1Gbps on way

9
It’s now been three and a half years since then-Communications Minister Stephen Conroy promised Australians that NBN Co would eventually deliver 1Gbps broadband speeds through the Labor’s all-singing, all-dancing, all-fibre National Broadband Network, and eight months since NBN Co promised it would be here by the end of 2013. Well, the rollout of the NBN may have made very little progress in that time, but the 1Gbps speeds are still coming.

Delimiter appeals Turnbull Blue Book censorship

9
Delimiter has appealed a move by the Department of Communications to block the release of new Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s ‘Blue Book’ incoming ministerial briefing under Freedom of Information laws.

Final closure: TPG buys AAPT for $450m

0
In a move which will finally put paid to Telecom New Zealand's lengthy and frustrated failed adventure into Australia, second-tier telco TPG this morning revealed it would buy its ailing Australian division AAPT for $450 million.

NBN FTTN analysis “devastating” for Coalition

183
A "devastating" leaked internal NBN analysis partially published over the past week "pulls apart" the Coalition's Fibre to the Node plan for the National Broadband, the Opposition said this week, as pressure grows on Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull over the issue.

NBN Co internal FTTN analysis: Turnbull refuses to retract inaccurate claim

59
Malcolm Turnbull has flatly ignored a request to retract a highly inaccurate claim the Communications Minister made on national television last week in an attempt to discredit an important internal NBN Co analysis casting doubt on viability of the Coalition's NBN policy.

Defying the Senate: Turnbull to release NBN Review by end of 2013

18
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has signalled he will defy a Senate order to publish by next Monday the full Strategic Review which will guide the future of the NBN project, stating instead that he expects the document to be released by the end of 2013.

Senate to force Turnbull to publish NBN Review

10
Labor and the Greens are likely to team up in the Senate today to force Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull to publish next Monday the full Strategic Review which will guide the future of the National Broadband Network project.

Get on with FTTN job, Quigley tells NBN Co

218
NBN Co founding chief executive Mike Quigley has advised the company's new management to get on with the job of fulfilling the Coalition's Fibre to the Node vision for the project and not to politicise it further, in his first public appearance since retiring several months ago.

Senate circus shows politics has no place in NBN

19
As Stephen Conroy interrogated the incoming NBN Co chief Ziggy Switkowski in last week’s Senate hearing into the network’s rollout, it became increasingly clear that politics is getting in the way of good policy.

Foxtel to launch broadband by late 2014

6
Pay TV giant Foxtel today announced it would launch broadband internet and fixed-line telephony services bundled with its television product, with a target date of "late 2014" and no pricing yet announced.

Labor demands Turnbull release NBN Strategic Review

24
The Opposition has demanded the Federal Government release the Strategic Review report which NBN Co has conducted into its operations and possible future plans. However, the report has not yet been delivered to the Government, even in draft form.

Much ado about nothing: SMH FTTN ‘revelations’ spur NBN circus

5
The Sydney Morning Herald has published internal NBN Co information purporting to heavily criticise the Coalition's rival FTTN model for the National Broadband Network. However, the information may not reflect the current state of play with the network or the Coalition's plans.

NBN Senate Committee politicised from start

47
The Senate's move to force senior executives from the National Broadband Network Company to appear before its new NBN committee starkly demonstrates the extreme degree of politicisation which the NBN project as a whole is subject to.

Shorten won’t release Lazard NBN report

44
The Opposition has confirmed it will not consent to key Labor cabinet documents related to the National Broadband Network being publicly released, in comments which let Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull off the hook from doing the same.

iiNet “in safe hands” without Malone, says Hackett

7
Departing board director Simon Hackett and other iiNet senior figures have rubbished the idea that the temporary loss of long-time chief executive officer and other senior figures such as Hackett himself from the ISP could lead to innovation dying at the ISP.

Pro-NBN National Day of Action is tomorrow

57
Supporters of Labor's all-fibre vision for the National Broadband Network project have organised a national day of action for Tuesday 26 November, which will see thousands of Australians physically present Members of Parliament with copies of a 270,000-strong petition on the issue.

‘No apology, no explanation’: Residents want FTTP back, says Labor

214
The Opposition today claimed it was being inundated by "countless" complaints by Australians alarmed after the new Coalition Government 'wiped them off the NBN rollout map' with "no apology and no real explanation".

‘I’ll show you mine if you’ll show me yours’: Turnbull to open Blue Book...

15
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has stated that he will seek to publicly release his 'Blue Book' incoming ministerial briefing if the Opposition will consent to release a number of NBN-related documents which were considered as part of the previous Labor administration's cabinet.

Turnbull reportedly hires Henry Ergas for NBN cost/benefit analysis

25
If you were seeking to hire independent experts to conduct a cost/benefit analysis on an important piece of national infrastructure, you would probably seek to hire, well, experts who were independent, right? Experts who hadn't previously formed a fixed view on what would be the best way to deploy that infrastructure? Wrong, at least if you're Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Tasmanians have copper cut off before NBN connected

16
You would think ... you would really think, that there would be no possible way that NBN Co, Telstra and retail ISPs like Eftel could so badly coordinate the changeover process from Telstra's copper network to NBN Co's fibre network that any resident could be left without telecommunications access. You would think.

iiNet’s Malone takes 3-6 month sabbatical

2
iiNet chief executive Michael Malone has signalled plans to take a break of between three to six months from the business he founded in his garage some 20 years ago, with iiNet's chief financial officer David Buckingham to step in as acting chief executive in his absense.

No need for 100Mbps NBN, Switkowski tells Senate

227
New NBN Co executive chairman Ziggy Switkowski has questioned the need for ordinary households in Australia to have access to 100Mbps broadband speeds, telling a Senate Estimates session this week that a "whole lot of assumptions" needed to be pushed to their limits to demonstrate how such speeds would be used.

NBN Co invites ISPs to retail FTTB trial

6
The National Broadband Network Company has invited retail ISPs to participate in a trial of the Fibre to the Basement network infrastructure model, as the Coalition’s plan to reshape Labor’s previously Fibre to the Premises-based NBN vision kicks into gear.

iiNet stops selling NBN satellite plans

19
National broadband provider iiNet has withdrawn its National Broadband Network satellite plans from sale, as the rapid up-take of customers on the service has resulted in a lack of available network capacity for new sign-ups.

Fact check: 500k houses were not cut from NBN

125
Fact-checking website PolitiFact Australia has flatly rejected a claim by the Australian Labor Party that the Coalition has "cut" some 500,000 houses from the National Broadband Network project, finding that the Coalition had only changed the metrics by which the rollout was measured, not the rollout itself.

Delimiter to appeal Turnbull Blue Book censorship

20
Technology media outlet Delimiter today confirmed it would appeal a move by the Department of Communications to block the release of new Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull's 'Blue Book' incoming ministerial briefing under Freedom of Information laws.

Malcolm’s Blacktown visit: Silly tweets, a ridiculous video and technical inaccuracies

10
Malcolm Turnbull's site visit to a National Broadband Network location in Blacktown was primarily notable for the Communications Minister's silly tweets, his "ridiculous" video and technical inaccuracies in his comments, according to Shadow Assisting Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, who is also an MP for the area.

Political brawl erupts over NBN sub-committee

72
Federal Parliament hasn't even been back in session for a week, but a political brawl has already erupted between the largest three parties over whether and how new parliamentary sub-committees will be established to provide oversight of the National Broadband Network project, in yet another sign that the initiative has become increasingly politicised.

Turnbull YouTube promo backfires: Minister faces NBN ‘fraudband’ bile

31
A video attempt by Malcolm Turnbull to reassure the public that the Coalition is proceeding apace with Labor's National Broadband Network project has backfired, with most viewers giving the promo the 'thumbs down' and others filling the Communications Minister's YouTube channel with bile accusing him of destroying Labor's vision wholesale.

How does fibre over powerlines stack up against other potential NBN technologies?

37
Tasmania’s assertive push to keep up deployment of optical fibre, and make it cost effective by using overhead rollout, makes a lot of sense. In urban areas, no other technology has a feasible lifetime beyond 2025, and many of the existing broadband technologies are already obsolete with no hope of evolution. It will work for the vast majority of urban areas.

‘It’s complicated’, but Vodafone losses are still accelerating

13
The rate of customer losses being suffered by Vodafone Australia has accelerated again over the three months to the end of September this year, with the company reporting overnight that it lost some 584,000 Australian customers that quarter. However, the troubled company's situation is a little more complex than it looks from the outside.

Milne will sell shares, Hackett won’t

27
NBN Co's three new non-executive directors all have potential conflicts of interest between their financial investments in prior employers or their current responsibilities and their new posts on NBN Co's board. But a significant gulf has emerged between the way the different executives are tackling the issue.

Turnbull appoints Simon Hackett, others to NBN board

186
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull today announced that he had appointed three senior executives, including Simon Hackett, Internode founder and doyen of Australia's broadband industry, to be non-executive directors sitting on the board of the National Broadband Network Company.

Turnbull NBN site visit lacks media presence

35
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has created a promotional video stemming from an official site visit to a NBN rollout zone in the Sydney suburb of Blacktown in what appears to be an attempt to reassure Australians that Labor's National Broadband Network project is proceeding apace, but without inviting the media to pose questions at the event.

Dept agrees: ‘Public interest’ in Turnbull Blue Book

7
Malcolm Turnbull's Department of Communications has halved its processing charges for releasing the new Minister's 'Blue Book' incoming briefing under Freedom of Information laws, citing the fact that release of the document would be consistent with the objects of the FoI Act and would resonate strongly with the public, although the final fate of the FoI request is not yet clear.

Another view of Greg Adcock’s appointment

1
If you were reading Delimiter and Delimiter 2.0 yesterday, you may have seen that we took a fairly strong view on the departure of NBN Co chief operating officer Ralph Steffens and the appointment of Telstra’s NBN lead executive Greg Adcock in his place. However, in the interest of balance, and with particular reference to our new formal Code of Ethics published last night, we believe it’s worth alerting readers to another side of this story.

NBN Co replaces respected COO with Turnbull Telstra contact

149
NBN Co today announced that its chief operating officer Ralph Steffens, one of the company's most qualified and experienced international fibre rollout experts, would be replaced with a Telstra executive who appears to have little direct last mile construction experience but does have a pre-election connection with Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Bedevilled by politicians: Tasmania’s 12-year FTTP failure

0
You may not realise it unless you’re a Taswegian, but Labor’s National Broadband Network policy is not the first time residents of the state have been promised a Fibre to the Premises rollout by politicians. Nor is it the second time. In fact, the current NBN promises with regard to Tasmania are the end result of at least 12 years of political pledges made to residents in businesses in the state that they would get better broadband.

Back to the drawing board: Tasmania re-heats eight-year-old tasCOLT plans

9
The Tasmanian State Government has dusted off plans up to eight year old to string optical fibre cables over power poles in a bid to speed up the deployment of National Broadband Network infrastructure in the state.

Gigabit for 3.5m residents: Los Angeles wants FTTP

57
The City of Los Angeles has reportedly revealed plans to embark on a massive Fibre to the Premises city-wide deployment of fibre broadband, in a model that may deliver gigabit broadband speeds to the city's 3.5 million residents and all businesses and vault it into the next-generation of technology enablement.

Huawei: Did the Coalition just play us all?

0
Is it really believable that Tony Abbott's formerly highly disciplined front bench spontaneously started debating the Huawei issue through the media, despite the fact that the Prime Minister has notoriously drawn all the strings of the media close to his chest? Or is there something more at work here -- a coordinated effort, designed to meet multiple, complex aims simultaneously?

Turnbull’s Dept seeks slab of new consultants

13
Malcolm Turnbull's Department of Communications has gone to market seeking a huge tranche of new consulting advice, on issues ranging from NBN Co's renewed deal with Telstra to the composition and future of Australia's ICT industry at large and for assistance regarding every technology category the department has any involvement in.

Optus launches $135, 100Mbps unlimited NBN

13
Australia's number two telco Optus has launched a range of new broadband and telephone packages across its ADSL, HFC and NBN networks that offer customers unlimited data download and mostly unlimited telephone calls, including a top of the line package that offers NBN customers unlimited quota at 100Mbps speeds for $135 a month.

Visionstream the problem in Tasmania, says Turnbull

60
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has published a statement implying that much of the problems with the National Broadband Network rollout in Tasmania could be pegged to NBN contractor Visionstream, stating that the company has done little work in the state since July and is asking for its rates to be substantially enlarged to complete the work.

Turnbull approves 150k more FTTP premises

25
The National Broadband Network Company has confirmed that Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has approved a further 150,000 premises to receive a full Fibre to the Premises network deployment, on top of the 300,000 premises where construction firms have already received deployment instructions.

An inside investigation into the Teoh family

4
Ever wondered who actually runs top-tier Australian telco TPG? So have we. Your writer has been reporting on Australia's telecommunications industry for almost a decade now and I've never met or spoken to reclusive TPG chief executive David Teoh, despite the fact that the executive runs one of Australia's largest telcos and has a habit of buying others.

1,375 votes lost in Western Australia: Ludlam recount stalled in bureaucracy

25
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has revealed it lost 1,375 votes during the recent Federal Election and will need to investigate the situation further before it can advise whether Greens Communications Spokesperson Scott Ludlam will keep his Senate seat or be replaced by the Palmer United Party.

Clare bemoans Coalition’s 500k NBN “victims”

57
Shadow Communications Minister Jason Clare has issued a statement claiming that half a million homes and businesses have become the first “victims” of the Coalition’s revised NBN policy and that the new Coalition Government is not sticking to its promise of honouring existing NBN fibre contracts.

Australia’s biggest ‘China threat’ is not Huawei, but itself

18
What we should really learn from the Huawei ban is that the biggest threat to Australia’s future development is not Chinese firms such as Huawei, but Australia’s own poverty in high-tech capability, and in understanding China.

“Misinformation”: Turnbull slams Digital Tasmania

36
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has launched a broadside directly against Tasmanian technology activist group Digital Tasmania, accusing the group of instigating a “misinformation campaign” regarding the rollout of the NBN’s infrastructure in the state.

The farce gets deeper: Now Telstra sues NBN Co

13
Telstra has commenced legal action against NBN Co due to a disagreement between the two telcos over when consumer price index adjustments should kick in that will affect NBN Co’s payments to Telstra under the pair’s $11 billion deal to cooperate on transferring customers to the NBN infrastructure and giving NBN Co access to Telstra’s ducts.

Govt maintains Huawei ban for now

11
Attorney-General George Brandis and Huawei have issued statements stating that no decision has been made by the new Coalition Government with relation to the Chinese vendor’s ability to tender for National Broadband Network contracts, contradicting a report by the Financial Review newspaper on the issue.

FTTP NBN “wacko”, claims Mad Monk PM

183
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has described the previous Labor Federal Government’s attempt to extend fibre broadband to most Australian homes and businesses as “wacko”, despite the fact that Labor’s Fibre to the Premises model is seen as the long-term future of most fixed telecommunications networks globally.

Regulator clears Alan Jones of NBN falsehoods

34
Australia’s broadcast media regulator has cleared Alan Jones of any wrongdoing in a controversial broadcast in October 2012 in which the radio shockjock claimed the National Broadband Network was a “white elephant” and a “disaster” and that the future of telecommunications was “clearly wireless”, with the regulator giving Jones a pass because his statements were classified as "opinion" and not as "fact".

Primus, Dodo owner M2 sacks 100

0
M2 Group has revealed plans to make about 100 staff redundant as it finishes digesting recent major Internet service provider acquisitions such as Dodo, Primus and Eftel, stating that the positions are not necessary in the newly merged business.

NBN Co awash with review consultants

29
The National Broadband Network Company revealed late last week that it would appoint three consulting firms to assist with its Strategic Review process, despite the fact that Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull had stipulated it was his intention that the review be conducted by NBN Co itself.

Vodafone claims 3G network as fast as Telstra

9
Vodafone Australia chief executive Bill Morrow claimed this week that the telco’s 3G mobile network was as fast as that of Telstra and significantly faster than that of Optus, in yet another sign of the company’s confidence that its technical capabilities are catching up with that of its competitors.

A few tips for Labor’s new Comms Ministers

0
So you’re a new Labor Shadow Minister in the Communications Portfolio, and you’re considering how best to push Labor’s all-fibre NBN policy and stick it to Liberal Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Or perhaps you’re a techno-savvy Labor backbencher who wants to get in on the action. What angle should you be taking to take on the Viscount of Vaucluse?

NBN Co kicks off FTTB, FTTN trials

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The National Broadband Network Company has revealed plans to commence trials of the Fibre to the Basement and Fibre to the Node network infrastructure models, including use of the vectoring standard, as the Coalition’s plan to reshape Labor’s previously Fibre to the Premises-based NBN vision kicks into gear.

‘Malcolm, you’re not listening’: Pro-fibre NBN ad unveiled

143
The group of pro-fibre National Broadband Network activists planning to publish advertisements in the local newspaper of Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull have revealed the creative they will use to target the Liberal MP, headlining their ads with the admonition: “Malcolm, perhaps you haven’t heard us clearly.”

Conflict of interest: Milne’s $1.5m in Telstra shares

17
If you had spent a decade in a high-profile role at Telstra that netted you $1.5 million worth of shares in the telco, would you consider it a good idea to sell those shares before taking a similarly high-profile role at NBN Co, which is engaged in billion-dollar negotiations with Telstra that could significantly affect Telstra's share price?

Switkowski makes ex-Labor NBN exec redundant

19
Ziggy Switkowski has made the position of a senior NBN Co executive with a Labor political history redundant and allocated his responsibilities to a former Telstra executive with close links to Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, in one of the NBN Co executive chairman’s first moves since taking the company’s reins.

Turnbull clams up on NBN ‘jobs for the boys’

140
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday actively avoided taking questions from the media about whether it was unethical to appoint several ex-Telstra executives with personal connections to the Liberal MP but little experience with network infrastructure rollouts to help NBN Co undertake the Strategic Review into its future broadband model.

AAPT is up for sale … yet again

9
The Financial Review reports today that Telecom New Zealand is once again trying to offload its AAPT asset (when is it not?)

FttX chaos: NBN Co won’t be able to price everything the same

97
If the Coalition orders NBN Co to pursue a heterogenuous National Broadband Network rollout which features different rollout styles from Fibre to the Premises, to the Node and to the Basement, the company will face a fundamentally new challenge: How to fairly set wholesale prices on technologies which are fundamentally different?

Turnbull stacks NBN Review with Telstra cronies

0
You can find my thoughts on Justin Milne and other recent NBN appointments under the new Coalition Federal Government in a piece published on Delimiter 2.0 this morning that I titled 'Stacking the deck: NBN Review filled with Turnbull cronies'.

Michelle Rowland vs “Minister for dial-up” Turnbull: The Grudge Match continues

0
It's all well and good that cool head Jason Clare has been appointed Shadow Minister for Communications, but we think the real story is the appointment of Member for Greenway Michelle Rowland as his assistant Minister. Rowland has had a habit over the past several years of taking down Malcolm Turnbull in the portfolio, or, as the MP has liked to describe Turnbull, "the Shadow Minister for dial-up".

Jason Clare appointed Shadow Comms Minister; Michelle Rowland to assist

53
Former Home Affairs and Justice Minister Jason Clare, a politician with no previous known history in the Communications portfolio, has been appointed Shadow Communications Minister, with experienced former telco lawyer Michelle Rowland to assist him in opposing sitting Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Strategic Review: NBN Co needs consultant help

99
The National Broadband Network Company this morning issued a request for proposals for consultancy services from the private sector to support its Strategic Review into the future of the NBN under the new Coalition Government.

Coalition NBN plans lack detail, says iiNet

59
National broadband provider iiNet has published an extensive list of questions it still has regarding the Coalition's plans to alter Labor's National Broadband Network strategy, noting that details ranging from points of interconnect to who would build the network are still unknown, a month after the Federal Election.

Reversal: Telstra no longer keen on Windows Live

7
It seems like only yesterday that Telstra first confirmed it was interested in dumping the email, blogging, photos and online storage platforms used by customers of its BigPond division and migrating customers to Microsoft’s Windows Live platform. However, it hasn't precisely been an easy transition for the two companies.

Rumours place Rowland as Turnbull’s Shadow

15
Rumours flying around the telecommunications industry have named second-term MP and former corporate lawyer Michelle Rowland as having picked up the role of Shadow Communications Minister in Bill Shorten's new Labor Shadow Cabinet, leaving more high-profile candidates such as Kate Lundy and Ed Husic out of the running.

Dodo offers off-peak ‘unlimited’ 100Mbps NBN plans

12
National broadband provider Dodo has finally entered the race to connect customers to the Federal Government's National Broadband Network infrastructure, launching a host of new NBN plans today at four speed tiers and with the option to add unlimited off-peak data for just $15 extra per month.

Telstra now has 10,000 offshore staff

2
Wondering how many staff the nation’s biggest telco Telstra has located overseas, following its decision over the past several years to end its previous moratorium on offshore support? Wonder no more, for, through the magic of journalism, the Sydney Morning Herald has discovered the full extent of the big T’s offshoring efforts.

NBN construction model failed, says Conroy

94
Ex-Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has acknowledged that the private contractor model which NBN Co attempted to use in its national fibre rollout has failed due to the inability of the company's partners to deliver on their commitments, in an admission which again raises the possibility of Telstra being brought back in to assist with the rollout.

Talent forgotten: Lundy, Husic left off front bench

12
The Federal Labor Party has left two of its most qualified and experienced candidates for the post of Shadow Communications Minister off the front bench representing its Shadow Cabinet team, as speculation firms that former Communications Minister Stephen Conroy may return to the portfolio in Opposition.

Latest figures show terminally slow NBN rollout

80
NBN Co's latest set of quarterly rollout figures show the company's rollout progress remains extremely slow across Australia in general and has actually gone backward slightly in the state of Tasmania, as evidence continues to pile up that the company is not capable of delivering on Labor's Fibre to the Premises-based NBN vision in a timely manner.

Oops: Pro-NBN ad campaign raises $40k

20
A crowdfunding campaign which aimed to raise $15,000 to place pro-FTTP NBN ads Malcolm Turnbull’s local newspaper has massively blown its original target in a matter of days, with almost $40,000 being pledged to the cause so far.

100Mbps FTTN viable for most, finds study

164
A highly respected Australian telecommunications consulting firm has reportedly claimed that most Australians would be able to get the full 100Mbps speeds possible under the Coalition’s alternative fibre to the node vision, due to the fact that most premises will be a suitable distance from local neighbourhood ‘nodes’.

Targeting Turnbull: $15k raised for pro-NBN ads

28
A crowdfunding campaign has raised $15,000 in a matter of days to place ads supporting an all-fibre National Broadband Network policy in a local newspaper in the electorate of Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, as evidence continues to grow of mass popular support for Labor's previous Fibre to the Premises policy.

Why NBN Co should finish Tassie FTTP rollout

0
If you've been reading Australia's technology media recently, you will not have been able to escape the fact that quite a few people in Tasmania are more than a little bit unhappy about the fact that they may not get the Fibre to the Premises-based National Broadband Network they were promised. Well, as I argue on Delimiter 2.0 this afternoon, the FTTP-based NBN rollout should proceed as planned, due to the specific situation in the state.

No, Minister: The Tasmanian NBN rollout has not stopped

19
Amidst the ramping up of the new Australian government, and with reviews of just about everything under the sun underway, we see yet more incorrect statements from incoming federal Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull in regards to the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN).

Greens back public input in NBN review

21
The Australian Greens have backed calls for the Government to allow public input into the upcoming strategic review of the future of the National Broadband Network, as pressure intensifies upon Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull to support the previous Labor administration’s all-fibre NBN policy.

Tassie NBN rollout “dead in the water”: Turnbull

23
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has described the National Broadband Network rollout in Tasmania as being "dead in the water", with no progress in the state having been made "for month", in the context of calls from activists in the state for the Fibre to the Premises rollout promised under Labor to be completed.

800 pound gorilla: Telstra throws its 4G weight around

12
The nation's largest telco Telstra this morning revealed it had more than 3.2 million devices operating on its 4G mobile network and that its 4G coverage was slated to reach 85 percent of the population by Christmas, in a move which will further solidify the company's 4G lead over its rivals.

Ziggy has no rollout experience, says Albo

66
Shadow Communications Minister Anthony Albanese has criticised the Government's appointment of former Telstra and Optus chief executive Ziggy Switkowski to lead NBN Co, pointing out that the executive has not led major network construction work and that his tenure at both telcos was controversial.

NBN Board: Turnbull not taking his own advice

0
If you've been following the ongoing speculation around who, precisely, new Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull is planning to appoint to his refreshed NBN Co board, you will be aware that the Member for Wentworth has been beating a constant drum about NBN Co's board needing more talent with direct experience rolling out telecommunications networks. The only problem is, Turnbull doesn't appear to be taking his own advice.

Full text: Quigley’s farewell email to NBN staff

15
Retiring NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley sent the following email to all NBN Co staff this afternoon, following the appointment of Ziggy Switkowski as NBN Co's executive chairman.

Ziggy Switkowski appointed NBN Co exec chair

45
As expected, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull this afternoon confirmed former Telstra and Optus chief executive Ziggy Switkowski had been appointed as executive chairman of NBN Co, with most of the company's board departing and NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley to leave the company.

Turnbull’s Blue Book FoI funded: Thank you and next steps

23
The attempt to crowdfund a Freedom of Information campaign for the massive, 545 page 'Blue Book' departmental briefing received by new Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull last month is now fully funded and going ahead. This article is to thank readers for their support and to outline the next steps for the project.

Petition: Get Simon Hackett onto NBN Co’s board

25
Want to see Simon Hackett appointed to the board of the National Broadband Network Company? So do we. That's why we encourage you to sign a new petition setup to encourage Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull to consider the Internode founder and all-round broadband guru as a candidate.

Greens’ Ludlam loses WA Senate seat

40
Technology-focused Greens politician Scott Ludlam has formally lost his Senate seat in Western Australia, the Australian Electoral Commission confirmed today, in a move which will be interpreted as a substantial blow to the digital rights movement in Australia.

Turnbull’s Blue Book: Help us crowdfund the new Minister’s briefing

54
Want to read the massive, 545 page departmental briefing document which Malcolm Turnbull received when he was sworn in as Communications Minister several weeks ago? We do too, but we'll need your help; so we've launched a $2,000 Pozible campaign to crowdfund access to it under Freedom of Information laws.

Tassie NBN rollout “in limbo”, claim activists

16
The Digital Tasmania lobby group has accused the Federal Government of leaving the Tasmanian rollout of the National Broadband Network "in limbo" by refusing to confirm whether the state would receive a predominantly fibre to the premises-based NBN deployment in last week's new NBN rollout orders.

National incompetence: UK broadband massively improves while Australia dithers

63
UK telco regulator Ofcom has released a report showing that the country's average fixed-line broadband speed has dramatically improved by 11Mbps over the past five years, a period in which Australians have seen virtually no improvement due to a failure of the nation's politicians and telcos to agree on a unified upgrade path.

This is what happens with vertically integrated monopolies

26
If you were under any illusions about Telstra's nature as a vertically integrated telecommunications monopoly being wholly intact in Australia, just case your eye over what's happening with the ongoing attempts by Foxtel to launch its own broadband service in Australia.

Rethinking the NBN: Hackett’s just getting started

140
Internode founder Simon Hackett has declared that the innovative ideas he has put forward over the past several years with respect to reforming the NBN are "just the tip of the iceberg" in terms of potential improvements and cost reductions to the project, as debate continues about its future under the new Coalition Government.

Leak shows Coalition’s NBN costings are wrong

169
A leaked draft copy of NBN Co's latest corporate plan has provided further confirmation debunking the Coalition's claim that Labor's all-fibre version of the NBN could cost as much as $94 billion, as evidence continues to stack up that deploying fibre to the premises is not as expensive in Australia as previously thought.

Telstra cuts 1,100 ops jobs

15
Is Telstra ever not cutting jobs in one division or another? The company seems to go through a purge every few six months or so, at least in my decade-long tenure as a technology journalist. The latest cuts were announced this week.

Why Simon Hackett should be on the NBN board

52
There's no doubt about it: Internode founder Simon Hackett is a perfect candidate to sit on NBN Co's board, and what's more, he has the time these days to make a solid contribution.

EFA wants public input in NBN review

32
Australia's premiere digital rights lobbying group Electronic Frontiers Australia has called for the Government to allow public input into the upcoming strategic review of the future of the National Broadband Network, as pressure intensifies upon Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull to support the previous Labor administration's all-fibre NBN policy.

Turnbull’s ‘agnostic’ approach could restore faith in the NBN

30
My frank assessment is that we will probably see a lot more fibre being delivered than we were expecting under the new government. DSL technologies on copper will be exploited where these can deliver a better connection than existing arrangements, even if it means these customers wait longer for their inevitable fibre connection.

Credibility blown: NBN Co wildly revises targets again

62
The National Broadband Network Company has revised its fibre to the premises rollout forecasts dramatically down for the third time in six months, with the company now projecting that only 729,000 premises will be passed by its fibre by the end of June 2014, a little over half of what it was projecting in August 2012.

Policy reversal: Turnbull now ‘thoroughly’ open to FTTP

93
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull appears to have drastically modified the Coalition's policy stance on the National Broadband Network just weeks after the Federal Election, declaring the Coalition was not wedded to its fibre to the node model and was "thoroughly open-minded" about the technology to be used in the network.

Reality check: Turnbull’s not “trashing” the NBN

115
The level of hysteria over the past 24 hours over Malcolm Turnbull's entirely predictable decision to refresh NBN Co's board has been laughably absurd, and starkly demonstrates the lack of understanding the media has about the National Broadband Network in general. Take a chill pill, people: The Coalition is not "trashing" the NBN or "setting it up to fail". The sky is not falling.

Telstra starts VDSL vectoring FTTN trial

33
The nation's largest telco Telstra has reportedly kicked off a trial of the Coalition's preferred fibre to the node, VDSL and vectoring technologies in an effort to show what they are capable of on its copper network, as the Coalition's plan to dial down Labor's more ambitious fibre to the premises NBN rollout gets into gear.

NBN Co’s whole board resigns: Report

31
The entire board of Labor's ill-fated National Broadband Network has reportedly resigned, a victim of the poisoned relationship which had sprung up over the past year between the project's management and new Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

A deep investigation into Telstra’s copper

25
Over at the ABC, technology + games editor Nick Ross (he of the 11,000 word articles on the subject and of the Media Watch coverage) has continued his deep investigation into the dynamics of the National Broadband Network under the Coalition, with a pair of articles published this week into the question of whether Telstra’s copper network can actually be used for fibre to the node, as the Coalition is planning to use it.

Memo to Minister Turnbull: NBN dissent is “democracy”

34
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull needs to stop engaging in attacks on those who support a Fibre to the Premises model for the NBN and commit to an open and transparent review process for the network, according to telecommunications blogger and IT technician James Archer.

You’re wrong, critics tell Turnbull: Australia voted for NBN

143
An analysis of Senate voting patterns put together by supporters of Labor's all-fibre NBN policy has shown parties supporting the fibre to the premises model received more support in the Federal Election than the Coalition's alternative, calling into question Malcolm Turnbull's claim to have a mandate to change the NBN rollout to fibre to the node.

Optus extends TD-LTE network to other cities

1
Optus last week revealed that it had switched on its TD-LTE '4G Plus' mobile broadband in a further four capital cities: Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.

Screw the NBN, says TPG: We’ll do our own FTTB

234
National broadband company TPG has flagged plans to deploy so-called fibre to the basement infrastructure to some 500,000 apartments in major Australian capital cities, in a move which will compete directly with the new Coalition Government's plans to conduct similar rollouts under the National Broadband Network scheme.

Fletcher to assist Turnbull with NBN

15
As expected, Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott has named Malcolm Turnbull as incoming Communications Minister in his new cabinet, additionally appointing Liberal MP and former Optus executive Paul Fletcher as a parliamentary secretary to assist the Member for Wentworth in dealing with the communications portfolio.

‘You’re a disgrace’: Turnbull slams lecturer’s accurate NBN analysis

132
Communications Minister-elect Malcolm Turnbull has savagely attacked a University of Queensland lecturer for a seemingly innocuous article analysing rising online dissent towards the Coalition's NBN policy, inaccurately labelling the academic's article as "false" and "misleading", and claiming that it was "a disgrace".

NBN petition and the backlash: When does democracy speak?

103
Malcolm Turnbull may believe that democracy has spoken; but now is the time for democracy to shout back.

How NBN spite has damaged the Turnbull brand: Get a free Delimiter 2.0 article

0
It’s been several months now since we launched Delimiter 2.0 with a subscription model. Since it’s been a while, we thought it might be a good time to give those who have yet to subscribe a taste of what they’re missing. This morning we disabled the paywall on one specific article, entitled: Conduct unbecoming: How NBN spite has damaged the Turnbull brand.

People power: NBN dissent raises its head

27
With the election over, there is a growing body of evidence that more mainstream dissent against the Coalition's inferior fibre to the node-based policy is growing fast. There's suddenly a new public enemy #1, when it comes to broadband. And his name is Malcolm Turnbull.

Back off, Turnbull tells FTTP petitioners: You’ve had your “democracy”

140
Malcolm Turnbull has sternly rejected an online petition which has so far garnered more than 200,000 signatures calling for the Coalition to support Labor's all-fibre NBN policy, with the Communications Minister-elect claiming it wouldn't be "democracy" for the new Coalition Government to reverse the rival NBN policy it took to the election.

NBN should be top Abbott priority: Poll

61
An online poll taken by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation this week has shown Australians overwhelmingly believe focusing on the National Broadband Network should be Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott's highest priority in his first 100 days in office, eclipsing issues such as education, the carbon tax, border protection and the environment.

Why Ziggy Switkowski shouldn’t be appointed to run NBN Co

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Over the past several days there’s been a plethora of articles speculating that Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull is about to appoint former Telstra and Optus chief executive Ziggy Switkowski to run NBN Co as the company’s executive chairman. However, as I write on Delimiter 2.0 this morning, this would be a terrible idea and an incredible hypocritical move for Turnbull.

Telstra P2P throttling “unacceptable”: Pirate Party

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Pirate Party Australia has labelled as "unacceptable" Telstra's plans to trial a system whereby certain Internet services, such as BitTorrent file downloading, would be de-prioritised on its network, stating that the implementation of 'net neutrality" was "essential" for the future of Australian broadband.