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Telstra denies IPTV shift

Ellis review results hold staff in suspense

Telstra has strongly rejected claims that the company will move away from the IPTV market, in a response to The Register's report last Monday that it was reviewing its IPTV strategy and considering moving its 300,000 T-Box customers to Foxtel.…

16 May 2012 | 6:34 am

Telstra to hand T-box customers to Foxtel

Exec exodus continues as speculation downloads

Telstra is expected to shut down its aggressive IPTV ambitions and hand over its 300,000 plus T-Box customers to Foxtel, once the merger of Foxtel and Austar is completed, sources close to the deal have told The Register.…

14 May 2012 | 7:17 am

UK court rules Nokia infringed patent, Finns party on anyway

Loses 'priority call' appeal in battle against IPCom

A top UK court has ruled that Nokia's old 3G handsets infringed a telecoms patent owned by technology warehouse IPCom, which wants a ban on every mobile made by the Finns.…

11 May 2012 | 3:03 pm

BT has fibred-up 10m UK premises

BT has announced that it has now extended its fibre network to cover 10 million premises across the UK. The firm notes that it had set the target of achieving that milestone by the end of the year, so it’s … Continue reading

BT has fibred-up 10m UK premises is taken from: Techwatch: Technology News Also see the Techwatch digital TV and satellite forums here: Techwatch forums

11 May 2012 | 8:37 am

NBN Co keeps Aus unemployment down

Corning opens new digs and is hiring

Corning Cable Systems has unveiled a new manufacturing plant in Victoria which will create 400 new jobs as a result of securing a key National Broadband Network Co contract.…

11 May 2012 | 5:31 am

Tonga gets hitched to Southern Cross

Alca-Lu lays the cable for island nation broadband boost

A new US$18 million undersea cable project connecting the Kingdom of Tonga and Fiji to Australia and the US is under construction following the awarding of the contract to Alcatel-Lucent.…

11 May 2012 | 4:33 am

Optus to appeal TV Now decision

Give us cloud PVRs or give us freedom … from innovation and choice, pleads telco

Optus has decided to take the fight over its personal video recorder as a service to the High Court, after lower courts recently decreed the service breaches copyright.…

10 May 2012 | 4:54 am

Telstra brings configurable QoS to IP networks

Automated, elastic, policy-driven network controls coming real soon now

Telstra has added user-configurable quality of service to its NextIP network and has even reached out to its Trademark lawyers to give it a flashy name: Application Assured Networking.…

10 May 2012 | 2:53 am

Kiwi ISP offers geo-block workaround

No more “second-grade-third-world-digital-boat-people people”

A newly-launched New Zealand ISP, FYX, promises to try and avoid geo-blocking regimes that restrict access to certain content to residents of a select group of nations.…

10 May 2012 | 1:28 am

Telefonica touts new free VoIP app to cut off rival Skype

Telco bets future of mobile on TU Me

Telefonica, owner of the O2 brand, has launched VoIP service TU Me across all its territories, and for all punters with an iPhone, as the telco bets on the future direction of mobile use.…

9 May 2012 | 2:32 pm

BT outage kills phone lines in Eastbourne and Brighton

Sussex hospital, businesses, schools cut off

BT phone lines were down for 20,000 customers in Brighton and Eastbourne this morning, cutting phone contact to businesses and homes and even preventing a patient from getting through to the Royal Sussex County Hospital.…

9 May 2012 | 12:24 pm

Indian callers could see bills DOUBLE after spectrum auction chaos

Operators in dire warning as government mulls proposals

Mobile phone bills in India could double if the government agrees to new regulatory proposals for upcoming 2G spectrum auctions, the country’s major operators have warned.…

7 May 2012 | 7:48 am

China shoots for 800 million web users by 2015

Half a BILLION is not enough, apparently

The Chinese government is hoping to close the country’s digital divide further by bringing a whopping 800 million of its citizens online by 2015, according to its latest pronouncement.…

7 May 2012 | 2:32 am

Evil plot to control souls via Wi-Fi thwarted

Ruckus 'apologises' for faith-based video

US Wi-Fi vendor Ruckus Wireless has "apologised" for an evangelical ad campaign, branded ‘Believe’, in which a God-fearing preacher promises "WiFi you can put your faith in" and "the chance to connect to a greater power."…

7 May 2012 | 12:46 am

BSkyB boss: 'I don't work for Rupert Murdoch, remember'

He's just some guy

The boss of BSkyB isn't Rupert Murdoch despite what many might think. Today the UK broadcaster and telco reminded the world of that fact as it attempted to distance itself from the 81-year-old media mogul, who has been labelled by MPs as being "not fit" to run a multinational outfit.…

3 May 2012 | 8:38 am

Optus hangs up on 750 staff

Creates new division for customer care, with less

Optus is slashing 750 positions over the next few months as part of a significant business restructure.…

3 May 2012 | 12:08 am

Fujitsu inks £50m deal to lay 'gigabit' cable for telco CityFibre

Privately-funded FTTP for Blighty's cities

Fujitsu has inked an engineering deal worth £50m with CityFibre Holdings to roll out cabling on behalf of the telco.…

1 May 2012 | 1:18 pm

UK broadband speed drops to 4.9Mbps

According to the latest State of the Internet report from Akamai, UK broadband speeds actually fell in the fourth quarter of 2011. The UK dropped from an average of 5.1Mbps to 4.9Mbps, only a slight slippage, but something of an … Continue reading

UK broadband speed drops to 4.9Mbps is taken from: Techwatch: Technology News Also see the Techwatch digital TV and satellite forums here: Techwatch forums

1 May 2012 | 10:07 am

Internode pollinates on iiNet DSLAM gear

Rolls out services wide with parental support

iiNet-owned ISP Internode is leveraging its parent’s infrastructure investment and offering ADSL2 services across an additional 240 exchanges through Australia. The residential service, Easy Broadband, will now be carried across the iiNet network which more than doubles the number of exchanges that can deliver Internode Easy Broadband services from 208 to 450.…

1 May 2012 | 4:18 am

Optus’ free broadband: the details

Has there been a bigger naked DSL rollout in Oz?

Optus’ new “free broadband” offers are a little more complex than the “free” headline would have you believe.…

30 Apr 2012 | 3:36 am

No sex please, we're Telstra

No more NSFW vids on BigPond

Telstra has decided not to promote access to “adult oriented content” on BigPond's video download service.…

27 Apr 2012 | 7:24 am

BT invites telcos to sign up to FTTP trials

Ultrafast broadband among product scrutiny tests ahead of full launch

BT has kicked off a trial and pilot scheme to which rival ISPs can sign up. It will run until mid-June this year.…

24 Apr 2012 | 2:39 pm

Microsoft lobs out first Skype for Windows Phone

Now does straight-up video calls

Microsoft has delivered the first version of Skype for Windows Phone.…

23 Apr 2012 | 12:18 pm

John Lewis touts own-brand broadband

ISP for the middle classes

The British middle classes' favourite high street retailer, John Lewis, is renowned for its customer service.…

21 Apr 2012 | 1:19 pm

Just NINE per cent of Asia Pac operators have commercial 4G

Must try harder...

Asia Pacific mobile operators have caught up their rivals in North America and Europe but only nine per cent have commercial 4G LTE networks up and running, according to new research from analyst ABI Research.…

20 Apr 2012 | 7:45 am

NBNCo shoots down Turnbull's satellite argument

Quotes ITU to prove all's well

Refutes Turnbull's assertion of unusual risk NBNCo has moved to extinguish Malcolm Turnbull's argument, raised at a Public Hearing of the Joint Committee into the National Broadband Network, that its decision to commission satellites before securing an orbit for them represents an unconventional and risky practice.…

19 Apr 2012 | 4:22 am

BT wants to poke fingers in EVERY broadband cash pie

Minister grilled as telco bids for all eight cabling gigs

Broadband minister Ed Vaizey confirmed to MPs yesterday that BT was bidding for all eight cabling projects currently in procurement.…

17 Apr 2012 | 12:21 pm

Telstra to launch MOG streaming music service

Launch timed to beat Spotify?

Telstra has announced it will soon launch the MOG streaming music service on antipodean shores.…

17 Apr 2012 | 1:44 am

SATELLITE SMACKDOWN: Turnbull vs. Quigley

We replay their NBN Joint Committee brawl

At about 3:30 PM yesterday, during a Public Hearing of the Joint Committee on the National Broadband Network, several NBNCo staffers suddenly became quite agitated.…

16 Apr 2012 | 10:59 pm

BT blows fibre into 'multiple biz units' for first time

Hopes FTTP tech will help grow Acorn House

BT's biz wing has completed what it claimed to be the first fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) install to multiple buildings in the UK.…

16 Apr 2012 | 12:23 pm

Balsillie planned to bust open BlackBerry network before leaving

Board rejected scheme to focus on new handsets

Ousted RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie spent his last few months at the helm developing a radical strategy to transform the fortunes of the trouble Canadian company by opening up its network to provide basic data plans to non-smartphone users.…

13 Apr 2012 | 9:16 pm

Softphones strangled by smartphone battery life

PC startup times also an issue, says ShoreTel

Softphones aren’t making inroads onto smartphones or the desktop because the former lacks battery life and the latter take too long to start up, according to Jamie Romanin, ShoreTel’s Regional Director for Australasia.…

12 Apr 2012 | 8:20 am

BT fattens fibre customer pipes for free - with a contract extension

Requires commitment before coming across

BT broadband customers who subscribe to the company's Infinity 2 package will see their fibre download speeds nearly double from tomorrow, the national telco has promised.…

11 Apr 2012 | 4:42 pm

BT Infinity doubles speed tomorrow

Here’s some good news for those of you lucky enough to be hooked up to fibre of the BT variety. The company has announced that as of tomorrow, both BT Infinity 1 and 2 customers will benefit from increased speeds, … Continue reading

BT Infinity doubles speed tomorrow is taken from: Techwatch: Technology News Also see the Techwatch digital TV and satellite forums here: Techwatch forums

11 Apr 2012 | 11:35 am

Android spanking iOS in world's BIGGEST mobile market

Google OS wins up to 70 per cent of China's mobile market

Android is absolutely creaming iOS in the world’s biggest mobile phone market, according to new stats from Beijing-based Analysys International, which estimate the Google platform now accounts for nearly 70 per cent of Chinese smartphones.…

11 Apr 2012 | 7:37 am

AT&T to allow unlocking of out-of-contract iPhones

Paid up? Then you're good to go on Easter Sunday

Beginning this Sunday, AT&T will let some customers unlock their iPhones, thus allowing them to use another carrier's service – provided, of course, that the carrier's network is compatible with the newly unlocked iPhone.…

6 Apr 2012 | 11:00 pm

Ofcom calls for end to 0800 charges on mobiles

Freephone should be free, not 21p a minute

Brits calling freephone numbers for government helplines should be able to make those calls for free from their mobiles as well, Ofcom has said.…

5 Apr 2012 | 11:02 am

BT slurps from first govt broadband cash pot in Lancs deal

Fights off absolutely no one

The first round of the government's public broadband funding has been awarded to Lancashire County Council, after the local authority agreed to a £62.5m project with national telco BT.…

4 Apr 2012 | 8:32 am

Virgin Media tightens throttle on hardcore hogs

Bust the limit, lose half your downlink speed

Virgin Media has introduced new throttling "trigger levels" for customers who make heavy use of its network.…

3 Apr 2012 | 1:02 pm

Vodafone deputy chairman to quit amid CWW rows – report

Sir John Buchanan legging it to ARM

Vodafone's deputy chairman Sir John Buchanan is reportedly exiting the company after taking up a chairmanship post at Cambridge-based semiconductor firm ARM.…

2 Apr 2012 | 2:19 pm

Verizon plans bandwidth-gobbling mobile video service

'Now, about that $3.6bn spectrum deal...'

Verizon plans to launch a mobile-video service by the end of this year, a move that would put even more traffic onto its already overburdened network.…

30 Mar 2012 | 8:55 pm

China's budget handset makers facing mass cull

Lenovo, ZTE and Huawei have the low end in their sights

China’s mobile phone market is set for a massive shake-up as hundreds of so-called 'white box' handset makers based in the country go bankrupt as a result of increasing competition at the low end of the market from established, big name domestic players such as Huawei, ZTE and Lenovo.…

30 Mar 2012 | 6:53 am

PM launches Oz network three-year 3.5m premises rollout

Don't mention Huawei

The first large-scale rollout of Australia’s National Broadband Network has been announced, with the government and NBN Co announcing that 3.5 million premises (including homes, businesses, schools and hospitals) are to receive their connections by 2015.…

29 Mar 2012 | 4:36 am

Telstra sparks up Reach cable

More capacity for anticipated demand

Telstra International has deployed a 40 Gbps DTN solution for the Reach optical subsea network in Asia, using Infinera gear.…

27 Mar 2012 | 12:13 am

Leighton rolls out map of Tassie for NBN Co

AUD$300m tender and 800 local jobs created

Leighton Contractors has taken out the AUD$300 million tender for the NBN Co rollout in Tasmania, covering around 200,000 homes.…

26 Mar 2012 | 11:48 pm

Russia trashes wounded comms satellite

Rescue plans ignored

Despite being the subject of numerous rescue plans, Russia's failed Express-AM4 satellite has been nudged into the atmosphere for a fiery end.…

26 Mar 2012 | 5:45 am

Samsung joins Telstra's 4G handset party

GALAXY S II 4G joins the range

Telstra now has two 4G-capable handsets competing for your telephonic pleasure and may have signalled the expansion or enhancement of its 4G network..…

26 Mar 2012 | 3:51 am

Primus getsB2B approval on NBN

First RSP certified

NBN Co has given Primus Australia the green light to be the network’s first retail service provider with B2B interoperability certification.…

26 Mar 2012 | 12:06 am

Proposed Oz mobile 'tower ban’ stalls

House committee rejects bill

Independent federal parliamentarian Andrew Wilkie has lost his bid to regulate the placement and expansion of “low impact” mobile phone facilities, with a House of Representatives committee unanimously rejecting his bill.…

25 Mar 2012 | 11:15 pm

AT&T profiting from Nigerian scammers, DoJ charges

Lawsuit alleges abuse costing taxpayers 'millions'

AT&T can't catch a break from the US government. First the feds squashed Big Phone's proposed merger with Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA, and now the Department of Justice has slapped a suit on the company for alleged improper billing for services intended for use by the deaf and hard of hearing.…

23 Mar 2012 | 11:58 pm

The Weekly Round-Up: Is it a bird, is it a plane..?

Plus, why the Brits are nation of digital shopkeepers - and digital hoarders...

(silicon.com - Networks)

23 Mar 2012 | 4:15 pm

TalkTalk is most complained about ISP

Once again, TalkTalk has topped the list of internet service providers when it comes to Ofcom’s measuring of complaint levels. The report for the final quarter of 2011 showed that TalkTalk was the most moaned about ISP, with a level … Continue reading

TalkTalk is most complained about ISP is taken from: Techwatch: Technology News Also see the Techwatch digital TV and satellite forums here: Techwatch forums

23 Mar 2012 | 2:14 pm

China takes Android and iOS activations crown

Smart device growth surging in People's Republic

China has passed yet another mobile milestone, beating the US to top spot in iOS and Android activations for the first time and surging to become the world’s fastest growing market for mobile applications, according to new stats from mobile analytics firm Flurry.…

23 Mar 2012 | 4:00 am

Verizon spectrum deal savaged in Senate hearing

Wall Street versus 'We, the People'

Critics of Verizon's proposed spectrum-acquisition deal have told a congressional hearing that if the deal is approved, the effect will be disasterous for competition, consumers, rural communities, and of course, today's favorite political football: jobs.…

22 Mar 2012 | 8:10 pm

TalkTalk is yet again the most griped about telco in Blighty

ISP still on Ofcom's naughty step

TalkTalk, for the fifth consecutive quarter, is the most whinged about telco in the UK, Ofcom confirmed today.…

22 Mar 2012 | 11:44 am

Budget makes ultrafast broadband rollout pledge

At least 80Mpbs broadband promised

(silicon.com - Networks)

22 Mar 2012 | 10:55 am

Industry groups aim for easier wi-fi to 3G roaming

Smartphone and tablets putting pressure on networks

(silicon.com - Networks)

22 Mar 2012 | 10:40 am

BT reveals next 73 fibre broadband towns

Finish line for mega-rollout in sight

(silicon.com - Networks)

21 Mar 2012 | 12:40 pm

Virgin to offer free wi-fi on the Tube

Virgin Media is to provide free wi-fi to the public on the London underground this summer, at least for an initial period while the Olympics is in town. Boris Johnson confirmed the scheme yesterday, noting that some 120 Tube stations … Continue reading

Virgin to offer free wi-fi on the Tube is taken from: Techwatch: Technology News Also see the Techwatch digital TV and satellite forums here: Techwatch forums

15 Mar 2012 | 9:48 am

TalkTalk doubles up FTTC to 80Mbps

TalkTalk has announced that it will follow BT’s lead in doubling the speed of its fibre-to-the-cabinet service (FTTC). FTTC currently offers speeds of 40Mbps, but last year BT announced that it was going to double that with an infrastructure upgrade … Continue reading

TalkTalk doubles up FTTC to 80Mbps is taken from: Techwatch: Technology News Also see the Techwatch digital TV and satellite forums here: Techwatch forums

13 Mar 2012 | 2:11 pm

TalkTalk readies 80Mbps broadband service

Upload speeds of up to 20Mbps, too

(silicon.com - Networks)

13 Mar 2012 | 12:57 pm

Virgin Media readies broadband speed doubling project

Is your town on the list?

(silicon.com - Networks)

2 Mar 2012 | 2:21 pm

Virgin begins broadband speed doubling

Virgin Media has announced that the company has begun its planned extensive program of broadband speed upgrades. This was first announced back in January, with many customers getting doubled up speeds thanks to a £110 million investment. The upgrade program … Continue reading

Virgin begins broadband speed doubling is taken from: Techwatch: Technology News Also see the Techwatch digital TV and satellite forums here: Techwatch forums

2 Mar 2012 | 7:39 am

Britain's broadband blackspots revealed

News in brief: One in ten neighbourhoods gets speeds of below 3MBps

(silicon.com - Networks)

24 Feb 2012 | 5:24 pm

A third of UK has slow broadband

With all the talk of progressing super-fast fibre roll outs from BT and Virgin, along with rising average broadband speeds, you’d be forgiven for thinking Britain’s broadband garden is looking rosier by the minute. Indeed Ofcom figures from the start … Continue reading

A third of UK has slow broadband is taken from: Techwatch: Technology News Also see the Techwatch digital TV and satellite forums here: Techwatch forums

24 Feb 2012 | 7:52 am

Tesco “unlimited” broadband for £2.50

Tesco has launched a new offer for an “unlimited” broadband package bundled with a phone line rental. While the broadband package is charged at £2.50 per month, the phone line rental is £13.75 to make a monthly total of £16.25 … Continue reading

Tesco “unlimited” broadband for £2.50 is taken from: Techwatch: Technology News Also see the Techwatch digital TV and satellite forums here: Techwatch forums

14 Feb 2012 | 7:51 am

Ofcom to make switching ISP easier

Ofcom has published its latest proposal relating to telecoms, with the body advocating a process designed to make it easier to change your telecoms and/or broadband provider. And also to put an end to some of the industry’s less salubrious … Continue reading

Ofcom to make switching ISP easier is taken from: Techwatch: Technology News Also see the Techwatch digital TV and satellite forums here: Techwatch forums

10 Feb 2012 | 8:46 am

SOPA: Cheat Sheet

Not soap - something that could undermine the fundamental interconnectedness of the internet...

(silicon.com - Networks)

20 Jan 2012 | 3:43 pm

Tablets, internet TVs push BBC iPlayer to almost 2 billion views

Viewers discovering new ways of watching the box...

(silicon.com - Networks)

16 Jan 2012 | 4:40 pm

Time to tighten up on sysadmins? Ten tips for safer IT management

Systems administrators are human and make mistakes...

(silicon.com - CIO Insights)

13 Jan 2012 | 4:37 pm