GLENN’S SHOWNOTES
Apple to unveil iPhone 5 nex
t week
The company sent invitations to the media last for an event scheduled at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, on Wednesday September 12 (thursday 13th)
.Among the new features expected to be seen on the next generation iPhone include a taller, 4in screen, up from the 3.5in screen on the iPhone 4S, a two-tone design that uses an aluminium back panel rather than glass, a smaller dock port replacing the traditional iPhone dock connector, a bottom mounted headphone jack, and redesigned speaker grills.
The next generation iPhone is also widely expected to come with LTE 4G connectivity. However, it remains to be seen whether the phone will support the 1800MHz LTE network bands used by Telstra and Optus in Australia.
Optus yesterday launched its 4G network in Sydney, Perth and Newcastle with 4G services in Melbourne starting from September 15.
Last week, Telstra announced that it is currently expanding its 4G mobile network coverage, promising to cover 66 per cent of the Australian population by mid-2013.
The iPhone launch is to kick off at 3 a.m. EST.
iMore.com, the website that in July first claimed Apple would introduce a new iPhone on Sept. 12, said then that the company would begin selling the device Friday, Sept. 21.
ANZ Bank releases Android version of goMoney app
ANZ Bank has released an Android version of its free goMoney application, which enables customers to securely transfer funds between friends and businesses using their mobile phone details.
customers were more comfortable moving money using their mobiles having transferred more than $10 billion this year.
According to ANZ Bank data, the most popular times for goMoney usage were between 5:00pm and 7:00pm on weekdays, suggesting that the users were completing online transactions during the commute home after work.
The data also revealed that women were five times more likely than men to transfer money using Pay to Mobile for food purchases while men were five times more likely to use the app to pay for entertainment.
Bruce Willis suing Apple story all wrong
a story suggesting Bruce Willis was planning on suing Apple for the right to pass on his iTunes collection to his daughters. It would have been a worthy story, if only it was true.
who owns your digital stuff when you’re dead?
Manual examines how international law applies to cyberwarfare
https://www.ccdcoe.org/249.html
A cybersecurity think tank has published a manual studying how international law applies to conflicts in cyberspace, where the laws of conventional warfare are more difficult to apply.
The manual comes from experts working with the Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCDCOE), an institute based in Tallinn, Estonia, founded in 2008 that assists NATO with technical and legal issues associated with cyberwarfare-related issues.
The center’s 215-page study, called the Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare and published by Cambridge University Press, is intended as a reference for legal advisers for government agencies. It examines existing international law that allows countries to legally use force against other nations, as well as laws governing the conduct of armed conflict.
The Tallinn Manual was written by a group of experts from nations including Australia, Canada, the US, the Netherlands and the U.K. The manual is not NATO’s official doctrine but a compilation of views.
Galaxy S III 4G coming to Optus, then Telstra
\
The 4G version of the smartphone is almost identical to the regular, 3G version with the exception of LTE 1800MHz network capability, which allows it to work on the Optus and Telstra 4G networks in Australia. It also has 2GB of RAM compared to the 1GB RAM in the regular 3G model.
Tape technology in its death throes
Greg Wyman, StorageCraft’s Asia-Pacific vice president has predicted.
According to Wyman, a lot of small and medium businesses have stopped using tape technology over the past three to four years. Instead, they are using software to do disk-to-disk backup.
“[This enables them] to restore files in a matter of a couple of minutes, which you just cannot do with tape,” he said. “Over 50 per cent of our SMB customers have eliminated tape within their businesses today.
Wyman said that tape backups were becoming a huge pain for businesses to manage, particularly large organisations that are generating large amounts of data. Wyman used an example of an organisation that was being audited by the Australian Taxation Office and needed to extract financial data over seven years from older DLT tapes.
“You’d have to find a DLT tape drive because you were using DLT as your tape backup medium, then you’d have to build a Windows NT server and find software that runs the DLT tape drive,” said Wyman.
“Assuming [the user] can get all of that done, [they] would have to start the restore process and keep their fingers crossed that they can restore the operating system and the data, which is a huge pain.”
Instead, organisations should be using backup software to restore files faster and easier and offer true “recoverability of data”.
Wyman added that recovery-as-a-service offerings – where organisations pay a monthly fee to a third-party to provide data storage and backups – was gaining a lot of traction the market.
Microsoft will allow downgrades from Windows 8 to Windows 7, Vista
Microsoft will allow users of Windows 8 Pro to downgrade their new PCs to Windows 7 or even Vista, according to the operating system’s licensing agreement.
Not surprisingly, users may not downgrade to the still-used-but-slated-for-retirement Windows XP.
Downgrade rights — which let customers replace a newer version of Windows with an older edition without paying for two copies — are available only in Windows 8 Pro. That fits with previous practice: Only Windows 7 Professional, for instance, was allocated downgrade rights.
Computer makers will also be able to continue to sell Windows 7-powered PCs for up to two years after the debut of Windows 8 — in other words, until late Oct. 2014.
customers who later want to upgrade to Windows 8 must pay for the upgrade. That’s not the case with a PC purchased with Windows 8 Pro that has been downgraded to Windows 7 Professional (or Vista Business).
Do-it-yourself downgrades will be more complex with Windows 8, however, as users must first modify the PC’s BIOS to boot into what’s called “legacy mode.” By default, Windows 8 will use UEFI-mode (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) boot on new PCs to enable some new features, including Secure Boot.
Apple confirms entry into Canberra
Apple will cut the ribbon on two new centres in Garden City, Perth, as well as Canberra, at 10am Saturday 8th
The new stores will bring Apple’s Australian store count to 17
Nokia unveils Windows 8 Lumia phones at New York press event
The new phones, especially the flagship Lumia 920, offer some features that the Apple and Android juggernauts can’t match at the moment.
These include wireless charging where the phones can be juiced up just by laying them atop a wireless charging station and the flagship Lumia 920 has a sophisticated new camera, with image stabilisation claimed to better upmarket DSLRs.
While there is no firm release date for the phones in Australia other than by the end of the year, it is believed a number of carriers, including Telstra, are testing the phones with a view to selling them.
Nokia is also pushing the new Windows 8 as a positive differentiator. Like Windows Phone 7 the new version uses graphic tiles to represent apps and screen widgets with live content, such as constantly updating stock prices.
The new version however offers more flexibility in handling tiles, including smaller and larger tile sizes.
Fairfax tablet apps recognised
The iPad apps of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age shared the award for Best Mobile News Product at the 2012 Australian Mobile Awards.
Other winners included Surf Life Saving Australia for its iRisk app, mobile payments app Tap2Pay and the Animal Welfare League’s Found Pets app.
The Sydney Morning Herald app has had more than 360,000 downloads, and The Age more than 330,000 in the rapidly growing Australian tablet market.
Atari and Microsoft launch browser-based arcade
Part of Atari’s 40th anniversary celebrations shiny new versions of games including Missile Command, Lunar Lander, Pong, Centipede and Combat which operate in any web modern web browser.
The technology behind the games is a JavaScript library developed specifically for HTML5 gaming called CreateJS
the gaming service is supported by advertising, which pops up before each game is launched. If you’re particularly anti-advertising, there is an alternative: use Internet Explorer to play the games and, thanks to Atari’s partnership with Microsoft on the project, the adverts disappear.
ERIK’S SHOWNOTES
Microsoft and Nokia join forces in smartphone wars with the Lumia 
MICROSOFT and Nokia have joined to boost their arsenal in the smartphone wars with two powerful new Windows-powered devices aimed at battling Apple’s iPhone and rivals powered by Google’s Android system.
The new Nokia Lumia 820 and 920 are part of the Finnish-based company’s strategy of offering “an alternative to the faceless black and grey monoblocs that you see out there,” said Nokia president and chief executive Stephen Elop at a New York launch event.
“This is Lumia, the world’s most innovative smartphone,” Mr Elop said.
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer also appeared at the event, which offered no specifics on launch dates or prices in various markets.
“This is a very important milestone. It is unbelievable how far we have come in 18 months working with Nokia,” Mr Ballmer said.
Mr Ballmer added that the launch highlights “the broader context of where we’re going overall with Windows,” with the launch of the new Windows 8 platform and Windows Phone 8.
“This is a year for Windows,” he said. “Windows phones, Windows tablets, Windows PCs, we’ve reimagined Windows from the ground up.”
Offered in several bright colours such as yellow and lipstick red, the devices will run Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8, the operating system aimed at challenging market leaders Apple and Google.
Nokia smart devices team leader Jo Harlow said the Lumia 920, which will be the new flagship, “is the most innovative smartphone in the world.”
She said the phone has the most advanced camera of any smartphone, extended battery life and a display with “better than HD resolution.”
“The clarity is so incredible that video just pops right out of the screen,” she said.
The device also includes Nokia’s location platform, which allows users notably to point the phone at a location in a city and get information on local shops and restaurants.
Ms Harlow called this “the most intuitive way to explore the world around you.”
The new phone’s battery, she said, would be 30 per cent more efficient than its rivals and also incorporate wireless charging, with Nokia joining an effort to bring this technology to airports, coffee shops and other locations.
The event also unveiled a Lumia 820, which offers some of the same features at a lower price.
Nokia’s share price slumped more than 10 per cent, but analysts offered a generally favourable view of the phones.
“It’s definitely a step in the right direction,” said Ramon Llamas of the research firm IDC.
“They are addressing some of the pain points for smartphone users like blurry and shaky pictures.”
But Mr Llamas said it will be a tough market in the fourth quarter with Apple expected to launch a new iPhone, and others also introducing new devices.
“Lumia is not the only thing out there,” he said. “Some of the innovation they have is awesome but if they can’t get the message out properly it’s going to be novelty ware.”
Michael Gartenberg of Gartner offered a similar view.
“Clearly Nokia has created a product that no one is going to confuse with anything else,” he said.
“Now they have to execute and tell the story.”
Mr Gartenberg said the market is growing fast enough “to support multiple ecosystems” but that Nokia needs “to explain to consumers why different is better.”
Nokia, once the leader in mobile phones, has been losing market share as consumers move to smartphones powered by Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android operating system.
The Finnish company’s new strategy is phasing out its Symbian smartphones in favour of a partnership with Microsoft.
That alliance has produced a first line of Lumia smartphones, which Nokia is counting on to help it survive in a rapidly changing landscape.
The launch comes with Nokia losing ground and Microsoft holding only a modest share of the sizzling smartphone market.
According to Gartner, Android held a 64 per cent share of the smartphone market in the second quarter to 18.8 per cent for Apple. But analysts see Apple regaining traction with the launch of its new iPhone later this month.
Apple’s iPhone5 to launch ‘in a week’
IT’S on – After months of speculation, Apple appeared to confirm the date of its next iPhone launch as September 12 overnight in invitations loaded with hints.
Save-the-date cards for Apple’s San Francisco event were not only tagged “It’s almost here” but the date cast a shadow of the number five – a nod to its rumoured iPhone 5 name.
While Apple did not confirm the launch, Telsyte research director Foad Fadaghi said “pent-up demand” in Australia was reaching a fever pitch and Apple could no longer ignore demands from consumers or progress by its rivals.
Mr Fadaghi said the new Apple smartphone was likely to be much more than an “incremental upgrade” and would feature a larger screen, NFC technology for credit card payments, and 4G connectivity for significantly faster downloads.
“There is a range of technologies that Apple can’t ignore, one of them being mobile payment technology and the other being 4G,” he said. “They must ensure that they keep up with their competitors when it comes to 4G connectivity.th.th. it’s just as big outside the US as it is inside.”
Optus last week announced it would launch a 4G mobile network in cities including Sydney, Perth, Newcastle and Melbourne shortly, with Brisbane and Adelaide due to come on board in early 2013.
The launches will see Optus go some way to catching up to Telstra that currently offers 4G in all capital cities and some regional centres, delivering download speeds up to five times as fast as 3G.
Mr Fadaghi said the catch-up could be a sign that Apple’s new iPhone will offer 4G connectivity compatible with Australian networks.
Other strong rumours predict the new iPhone will feature a quad-core processor, making it more powerful than the current iPad, that the handset will be slimmer than the iPhone 4S and that it will feature new camera sensor from Sony for sharper photos.
Speculation is also rife that Apple will changing the charging port of the phone, moving away from the 30-pin adaptor long used for Apple gadgets, and that it will be called “the new iPhone” rather than the iPhone 5, in line with the most recent iPad launch.
Demand for the ‘iPhone 5’ is likely to be hot, with analysts convinced that many people in the market for handsets have put off purchases to wait for the latest offering from Apple.
“While our checks indicated consumers are delaying iPhone 4S purchases in anticipation of the iPhone 5, we anticipate an LTE iPhone 5 with a new hardware form factor will result in record iPhone sales,” Canaccord Genuity brokerage firm said in a note to investors.
Apple shares ended the official trading day at $674.97 and then inched up to $675.25 in after-market trades.
Samsung mobile phones remained the most popular in the US with 25.6 percent of the market, but third-place Apple gained ground to claim 16.3 percent as of the end of July, according to industry tracker comScore.
LG ranked second with 18.4 percent of the US mobile phone market.
Smartphones powered by Google’s Android software continued to dominate with 52.2 percent of the US market, but Apple’s iOS was the second most popular smartphone platform with 33.4 percent, comScore reported.
According to tech blog 9to5Mac, Apple will also be announcing at least two iterations of the iPod alongside the new iPhone, expected to come in multiple sizes and colours.
It is also expected to release it’s new operating system, iOS 6 which will contain Apple’s new maps function, having done away with Google Maps. The new operating system is also expected to contain voice activated personal assistant, Siri, for the iPad, Facebook integration and shared photo streams.
Apple is also expected to release a smaller version of the iPad – the iPad Mini – but it’s unlikely that will occur next week. The mini is expected to debut in October.
It seems the rumours will be proved or disproved next Wednesday from 3am Australian time.
Meanwhile, Microsoft, Google and Amazon.com are out to grab spotlights ahead of the Apple event with announcements of their own this week.
Nokia and US giant Microsoft are hosting a media event in New York on Wednesday, most likely to launch one or more smartphones using the Windows Phone 8 operating system.
Nokia on Tuesday unveiled a free music streaming service for US customers with its Lumia handsets, without ads, as the firm seeks to gain traction in the smartphone market.
Nokia, once the leader in mobile phones, has been losing market share as consumers move to smartphones powered by Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android operating system.
The Finnish company’s new strategy is phasing out its Symbian smartphones in favor of a partnership with Microsoft.
That alliance has produced a first line of Lumia smartphones, which Nokia is counting on to help it survive in a rapidly changing landscape.
Google-owned Motorola Mobility and US telecom titan Verizon Wireless will host their own New York City event on Wednesday, with analysts predicting they will introduce a beefed-up Razr smartphone powered by Android software.
A day later, Amazon.com is expected to debut a new version of its popular Kindle tablets at an event in Southern California.
Taiwan-based consumer electronics titan HTC is planning a September 19 event in New York City, at which it is expected to unveil slick new smartphones powered by Microsoft’s new Windows 8 mobile software platform.
Read more:http://www.news.com.au/technology/smartphones/apples-iphone5-to-launch-in-a-week/story-fn6vihic-1226465312017#ixzz25fYSQNs0
Apple has rivals scrambling for spotlight
September 4, 2012
BRIAN X. CHEN and NICK WINGFIELD
Back when Apple was an underdog, it had an easier time shrouding its product announcements in mystery and perhaps catching its competitors off guard. But now tech companies are watching every one of Apple’s moves — and scrambling to get out in front of them.
Several major tech companies are cramming product announcements into this week. Nokia and Motorola Mobility, former leaders in the mobile race who are now also-rans, have scheduled events for Wednesday (US time) at which they are likely to unveil new smartphones. And the next day, Amazon is expected to introduce new Kindle devices.
Sony and Samsung, among others, got a jump on things last week with announcements of new tablets and phones at a consumer electronics conference in Berlin.
But next week, the tech event calendar is largely blank — except for an Apple news conference expected on September 12 to launch the latest iPhone.
“It seems that the rumour of an Apple announcement is having an effect on competitors’ announcements, unless it’s an amazing coincidence,” said Michael Gartenberg, a technology analyst at Gartner.
“It does make you wonder if Apple has thrown the industry a little bit off balance and taken away a little bit of their confidence,” he said.
In past years it was common for technology companies to deliver product news at trade shows like the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Now some major companies have scaled back their presence at those conventions and followed Apple’s lead in running their own elaborate news conferences, hoping to grab the news media’s undivided attention.
Autumn product introductions are important to companies seeking to generate excitement ahead of the Christmas shopping season.
This year is particularly intense because, in addition to Apple’s anticipated news, Microsoft is releasing a new version of its flagship Windows operating system, as it does roughly every three years. Along with a wave of new traditional-looking personal computers, the introduction of Windows 8 will bring with it an array of tablet computers powered by the software, including Microsoft’s own Surface tablet, due for release on October 26.
And later this autumn, Apple is expected to unveil a smaller version of its iPad with a 19.94-centimetre screen.
“You’re getting all sorts of manoeuvring by companies around the time they have to have Christmas products out there,” said Michael Mace, who has a new startup called Zekira. “I’ve got to have everything in shops in mid-November. Do I get more attention if I announce before other guys or after? How long before? If I do it in September, does stuff look like it’s gotten old?”
With Apple’s record of success, the dates of its announcements are to be avoided — much as it is best to schedule around the debut of a blockbuster from a competing Hollywood studio. Products announced after Apple’s could be subject to uncomfortable comparisons or accusations of copying, if they are noticed at all.
“I would personally want to stay away from it unless I thought I had some killer product that I thought was going to be a devastating winner,” Mr Mace said.
Google, which owns Motorola Mobility, has already tried to upstage Apple. In June it scheduled an event about its mapping services just five days before Apple presented mapping software for the iPhone that will replace Google’s technology. But Google drew some criticism for not actually having much new to say.
This week is especially important for Nokia, whose newer Lumia mobile devices have had tepid sales despite an aggressive marketing campaign. Accompanied by its partner Microsoft, Nokia is expected to show smartphones with software that will let users swap files among phones.
Tero Kuittinen, an independent mobile analyst, said it was crucial for Nokia to get ahead of Apple in order to send the message that its smartphones look and behave very differently from the iPhone.
“The only possible vulnerability that Apple has is that the look and feel of its phones is starting to stagnate,” Mr Kuittinen said. “What Nokia’s hoping to do is shape the discussion and have consumers ask, ‘Do I really want to have yet another lookalike device?’ “
The New York Times
Read more:http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/apple-has-rivals-scrambling-for-spotlight-20120903-259qf.html#ixzz25fab2dTx
Google, Apple CEOs in secret patent talks: sources
Google chief executive Larry Page and Apple CEO Tim Cook have been conducting behind-the-scenes talks about a range of intellectual property matters, including the mobile patent disputes between the companies, people familiar with the matter said.
The two executives had a phone conversation last week, the sources said. Discussions involving lower-level officials of the two companies are also ongoing.
Page and Cook are expected to talk again in the coming weeks, though no firm date has been set, the sources said. One of the sources said that a meeting had been scheduled for this Friday in the US, but had been delayed for reasons that were unclear.
The two companies are keeping lines of communication open at a high level against the backdrop of Apple’s legal victory in a patent infringement case against Samsung, which uses Google’s Android software.
Last Friday, a jury awarded Apple $US1.05 billion in damages and set the stage for a possible ban on sales of some Samsung products in a case that has been widely viewed as a “proxy war” between Apple and Google.
One possible scenario under consideration could be a truce involving disputes over basic features and functions in Google’s Android mobile software, one source said. But it was unclear whether Page and Cook were discussing a broad settlement of the various disputes between the two companies, most of which involve the burgeoning mobile computing area, or are focused on a more limited set of issues.
Competition between Google and Apple has heated up in recent years with the shift from PCs to mobile devices. Google’s Android software, which Apple’s late founder Steve Jobs denounced as a “stolen product,” has become the world’s No.1 smartphone operating system. The popularity of the software has been in tandem with patent infringement lawsuits involving various hardware vendors who use it, including Samsung and HTC.
The latest complaint was filed by Motorola Mobility, now a unit of Google, against Apple at the US International Trade Commission claiming some features of Apple’s devices infringe on its patents. A previous lawsuit between the two in a Chicago court was thrown out by a federal judge, who said neither side could prove damages.
Apple in recent months has moved to lessen its reliance on Google’s products. Apple recently unveiled its own mobile mapping software, replacing the Google product used in the iPhone, and said it would no longer offer Google’s YouTube as a pre-loaded app in future versions of its iPhone.
Cook took the helm at Apple a year ago, and Page stepped into the top job at Google a few months before that.
The conversation between Page and Cook last week did not result in any formal agreement, but the two executives agreed to continue talking, according to one source.
Google’s Larry Page, who sat out several public speaking engagements earlier this summer because of an unspecified medical condition affecting his voice, has continued to run Google’s business.
Apple and Google declined to comment on any discussions.
Reuters
Read more:http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/business-it/google-apple-ceos-in-secret-patent-talks-sources-20120831-2546s.html#ixzz25fbRk9QH
Rumors of an Amazon smartphone grow louder
Internet retailer may offer a peek of the long-rumored device running an Android variant at tomorrow’s press event, according to a report.
Amazon is expected to announce new Kindles at the September 6 event in Santa Monica, Calif.
On the eve of Amazon’s expected unveiling of new Kindles comes word that we may get a peek at the Internet retail giant’s long-rumored smartphone.
The phone, which is reportedly still in development, could make its debut at a press event tomorrow, multiple sources tell The Verge. CNET has contacted Amazon for comment and will update this report when we learn more.
These are not the first rumblings we’ve heard of Amazon working on a smartphone of its own. The phone will reportedly run a variant of the Kindle Fire Android operating system and challenge the iPhone and Android-based phones.
Citigroup analysts suggested last November that the Seattle-based e-commerce giant was working with Foxconn to develop a smartphone slated for release in the fourth quarter of 2012. Amazon was rumored in July to already be testing such a device with a screen size of between four and five inches.
Amazon has been pretty tight-lipped over what will be discussed tomorrow, but several leaks — and the fact that it’s been nearly a year since the last hardware refresh — point to a range of new Kindle devices.
CNET reported last week that Amazon will debut two 7-inch Kindle Fires at the event, including a high-end model with a zippy processor, a camera, physical volume controls, an HDMI port, and larger storage than a second, more bare-bones version.
It seems likely that Amazon will also increase the resolution on the Kindle Fire’s display. It may even subsidize the cost of the device with an ad-supported version, as it has with a lower-cost Kindle e-reader.
And it seems all but certain that Amazon will update its Kindle e-ink readers as well, with a “Paperwhite” backlit model rumored. The press conference begins tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. PT. We’ll be kicking off our coverage a bit earlier (around 10 a.m. PT). Join us from the Barker Hangar — yep, the company has rented a hangar — as we cover the event live.
Telcos say data retention proposals ‘gloriously ill-defined’
“What they are suggesting is extreme,” said iiNet chief regulatory officer, Steve Dalby
The telecom industry has slammed data retention proposals by the government at an Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) conference today in Sydney. Officials from the
Communications Alliance, Telstra, Optus, iiNet and Vodafone all expressed misgivings when asked about a parliamentary inquiry into reforms in national security legislation.
One of the most contentious aspects of the proposals includes “tailored data retention periods for up to two years for parts of a data set”, with every Internet users’ entire Web history logged and stored for up to two years. The government has said the proposal is important for law enforcement.
The data retention proposal is “gloriously ill-defined in the discussion paper,” said Comms Alliance CEO John Stanton. “It talks about the potential desirability of maintaining a data set for a period of two years.
A data set can be an inch or a mile wide.” Depending on the breadth of data to be collected, there could be high costs for carriers to comply, he said, and there are privacy implications for customers.
Stanton also questioned the need to hold data for two years. European data suggests that law enforcement generally uses data that’s less than six months old, he said. There should also be “sensible restrictions on who can access the data,” he said.
The proposal is too broadly written, said Optus regulatory affairs vice president, David Epstein. “These are undoubtedly very, very costly proposals if implemented as described,” he said.
“Some of that data we simply don’t capture at the moment,” and a government mandate to do so would be costly, said Telstra group managing director of corporate affairs, Tony Warren.
“What they are suggesting is extreme,” said iiNet chief regulatory officer, Steve Dalby. “We’re not particularly keen as a private company … to be an entity of the state and do intelligence on their behalf,” he said. Dalby predicted the government will ultimately pare back on the amount of data to be collected.
Vodafone wants to help law enforcement but at the same time wants to protect customers’ privacy, said Vodafone general manager of public policy, Matthew Lobb.
“This is a complex issue,” Warren said. Customers want Telstra to protect their privacy, but at the same time protect their children and banking details, he said. “I think we have to have people opting in and put the customer in control of these things.”
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Coalition could revoke Optus and Telstra NBN agreements
Malcolm Turnbull has continued to push the benefits of a fibre-to-the-node network
Malcolm Turnbull, shadow minister for communications and broadband, has said he would overturn existing National Broadband Network (NBN) agreements if a Coalition government was in power.
While Turnbull restated his stance that he would keep NBN Co as a government-owned company to run the NBN, he said he would retain the HFC network in order to remove “barriers to competition” with the NBN.
“…we would seek to reverse the arrangement whereby Telstra and Optus are obliged not to use their HFC to compete with NBN Co on broadband data and voice, the extent to which that is possible obviously depends on negotiation,” he said.
This would involve changing million dollar agreements with Telstra and Optus around the telcos decommissioning their HFC networks and migrating customers to the NBN and would include reworking two key agreements in the NBN.
This includes an $11 billion agreement between Telstra and NBN Co, with Telstra to decommission its copper and HFC network and give access to NBN Co to its equipment, and an $800 million agreement between Optus and NBN Co for Optus to decommission its HFC network.
Instead, Turnbull would keep the HFC networks in operation. With Optus due to decommission its HFC network in 2014, the telco may not even begin the transition of customers to the NBN if the Coalition wins the next federal election, which could be held as early as August next year.
Turnbull said he would expect Telstra to co-operate with any changed agreements, with David Thodey, chief executive at Telstra, previously stating a change in government would not affect the company’s financial figures.
“If there’s a change of government, the current contracts give us a degree of protection — there’s the infrastructure services agreement, which is a 35-year contract, and depending how far we get, we get the payout on that or we get the revenues as they flow,” Thodey said.
Thodey also stated this year that a FTTN deployment would mean shareholders receive a quicker return.
Turnbull has been a staunch opponent to NBN Co, stating that while it is not ideal to continue to operate the company if the Coalition were in power, he said there seemed to be no other option.
“…it has been and is probably unsaleable in its present state of development and for the forseeable future,” he said.
The shadow minister also continued to push the benefits of a fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) network over fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) and has repeatedly said a FTTN network would be cheaper and faster to roll out.
“The experience in other markets (USA for example) is that FTTN networks enjoy comparable ARPUs to FTTP networks – the very high speeds (100 mbps plus) available on FTTP are not sought after by sufficient customers at sufficiently high premiums to justify the additional investment,” he said.
“That, at least, is the feedback I have had from telcos in the USA, UK, Canada and several other countries.”
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