The government yesterday laid down AU$8 million for the next year to fill mobile phone black spots on sections of highway as well as selected towns in WA and NT.
The federal government is to conduct a full review of the security of public and private sector information and communications networks.
The Federal government has released guidelines for the Australian Broadband Guarantee (ABG) it says will make the program more effective.
It's not at all quiet on the fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) network front, as telcos lodge their submissions on regulatory issues for the AU$4.7 billion national broadband network (NBN) and the Liberal party throws a spanner in the works by starting an inquiry into the government's handling of the network tender.
Telstra is unlikely to win the right to build the proposed national high-speed broadband network if it insists on wholly owning it and demands an annual return of 18 per cent, an analyst says.
Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy has ordered an inquiry into international mobile roaming charges, following attempts by the EU to regulate prices for cross-country calls.
Opposition Communications spokesperson, Bruce Billson, has misfired in an attack on the Federal government over the use of the AU$2.4 billion Communications Fund to back the national fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) network.
Broadband providers Internode and iiNet have hit out against the Federal government's ISP-level content filtering initiative — a scheme that could cripple Australia's high-speed internet access, according to one exec.
In an about turn from previous avowals not to wholesale ADSL2+ internet at a number of exchanges, Telstra is now looking to resell the high-speed service.
The Federal government has issued a reminder notice to stakeholders in the national fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) network, as the deadline for submissions on the project nears.
Ahead of the election, with promises for nationwide broadband networks and digital revolutions in schools, the ICT industry could hope the government was on their side. But now the glamour of a sparkling new government has worn off, how ICT-friendly is the Rudd government really?
At NICTA's recent Techfest conference, researchers from National ICT Australia (NICTA) get to show off the projects they have been working on all year, including facial recognition tech designed to help catch criminals as well as better algorithms and sensors for traffic control.
An analysis by representatives of Australia's two largest IT industry groups shows that neither political party in the federal election has come up with a comprehensive policy around technology.
With only weeks to go to the election, how are the main parties shaping up on their tech promises?
If the world's homes are to enjoy the same high speed connectivity as its offices, the current thinking goes, then fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) will soon become necessary. However, not all Internet economies were created equal.
The Australian Labor Party's ICT shadow minister wants a national fibre broadband network and enough skilled people to exploit it.
The federal government today confirmed plans to make only minor tweaks to telecomms regulations to accommodate Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and forecast only low mass-market takeup of the next-generation telephony technology for the next two-three years.
Sometimes, a well-placed and well-timed letter can make all the difference. Other times, it can make no difference at all — and even hurt your case. This week's missive by the Competitive Carriers' Coalition, I would suggest, falls into the latter category.
Hillary Clinton's nine lives are not yet depleted and, despite allegations that her stubborn refusal to concede defeat earlier has fragmented her party, she fought her battle to the very end. By placing bets several ways, that battle may just turn into gold for her down the track. Has Optus taken a leaf out of Hillary's book?
Might I suggest that the government, which so far has handled the issue with kid gloves, take a chance for once and reach over and just pull the digital TV plug?
For no particular reason that I can discern, a 1979 Kenny Rogers song popped into my head as I was considering the ever more complex morass that is the national broadband network tender — which Senator Stephen Conroy defended in his CeBIT keynote speech.
Say what you will about Senator Stephen Conroy, but he is clearly not a man afraid of confrontation. Well, he'd better not be, because by killing off the OPEL WiMax project he has just set himself up for a battle with Telstra of Biblical proportions — or a big meal of crow washed down with a $4.7 billion gift to SingTel Optus.
Post-election adrenaline surging through his veins, one of the first acts performed by new Communications Minister Stephen Conroy was to disband the expert panel that his predecessor Helen Coonan had appointed last June to evaluate tenders for fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) construction.
A guy I know runs a tiling business, which as far as I can see involves his drinking lots of coffee, making lots of phone calls, and making sure that around a dozen different tilers do the actual hard work. As long as they're busy, he's making money. If he finds enough new business to keep them all going for two weeks, he can take off for Hawaii -- and still be making money.
Much has been made of Telstra's decision to finally stop holding Australia to ransom, and to actually turn on the ADSL2+ equipment it has installed in what is apparently over 900 of its exchanges around the country.
What a difference a decade makes.
South Australia's Yorke Peninsula with just 11,780 people spread across 5,834 square kilometres, is known more for its rugged natural beauty than its technological prowess. But now that Internode has brought broadband to the entire peninsula, the area has become a very important part of Australia's telegeography.
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Adobe Systems has announced it's partnering with search giants Google and Yahoo to increase the quality of sea… Watch it now
In the second part of his interview, Defence CIO Greg Farr talks about outsourcing, the skills crisis and reveals his most urgent IT priority.
HP & Intel Business Technology Power Center
I'm a celebrity, don't back me up
Lies, damned lies and telco stupidity 
Dear carriers: More walking, less talking
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