Another week, another boatload of NBN stories seeking refuge in Gizmodo’s pages. Let’s show our humanitarian side and let them stay, hey?
• NBNCo has confirmed that they are planning on keeping staff in their network operation centres, allowing ISPs to deal directly with NBNCo should any challenges with the network arrive. According to ITNews, the decision was almost universally well received.
• Vivid Wireless, the Perth based Wimax operator, apparently sees itself as an NBN reseller when the network is up and running properly. They told The Register that the fixed connection would supplement their wireless business…
• The Queensland opposition feels that putting power cables underground would be a better use of the money being spent on the NBN after the devastation of Cyclone Yasi. Putting power cables underground makes a lot of sense, especially in cyclone ravaged areas – but isn’t power a state funding issue?
• That EIU report, which got both NBN lovers and haters up in a tizz, was easily the biggest NBN story of the week. Ultimately, the report was hugely flawed, with the subjective notion that only private funded wireless networks were any good. Yet despite the criticism, Australia still ranked 9th in the world with the most progressive broadband plan. Go figure!
• Tasmania are still negotiating with NBNCo about exactly where fibre will be rolled out. Given they were the launch bed for the network, I sort of thought that was all sorted, but I guess not. Hopefully these negotiations won’t delay the rollout for the rest of the country.
• Simon Hackett, Internode’s top dog, came out this week saying that the 100Mbps take up of the NBN so far had surprised him – Internode apparently expected more people to take up slower speeds. I guess more of us want high speed games and movie downloads than even ISPs expected (yes, I’m stirring the pot).
• The Coalition has outlined its amendments to NBN bills, which will change the fact that the NBN is exempt from FOI requests. This is good news – the fact the government is trying to pass the NBN off without any critical analysis is a disgustingly cynical move.
• Telstra’s NBN deal is pretty much sorted, as they announced during their mid-year results. They just to need to rush through the paperwork…