Move for Senate inquiry into telco services after Telstra outage
Weekly webnews
In the news this week: Move for Senate inquiry into telco services after Telstra outage, Optus to cut 400 jobs amid intensifying competition and NBN rips up 100Mbps fixed-wireless plans.
Telstra's operations and those of other telcos as well will come under scrutiny if a move by a Centre Alliance senator for an inquiry into telecommunications security and stability gets up. [iTWire]
Singtel Optus is making 400 jobs redundant in the coming months amid intensifying competition in the telecommunications industry and widespread pressure on costs. [The Age]
Optus is set to close all of Virgin Mobile’s retail stores by the end of June this year, with the telco providing more details on its planned closure and integration of the subsidiary brand. [itnews]
The Federal Court has ordered Optus to pay a penalty of $1.5 million for misleading customers about its National Broadband Network transition process. [ABC News]
Australia's Department of Communications has revealed that one telco is using diesel generators to provide power for base stations under the federal government's mobile blackspots program, while another is storing its backup batteries "out in the environment" rather than in a shed where they belong. [ZDNet]
Scammers fleeced an average of nearly $6500 from Indigenous Australians in 2017, a 14% increase on 2016, with total losses to scams around $1.7 million – with the most losses incurred by Indigenous victims of dating and romance scams. [iTWire]
TPG Telecom's aggressive entry into the intensely competitive Australian mobile market is set to shake the ground underneath Telstra, Optus and Vodafone Hutchison Australia. [AFR]
The Australian Labor Party has pledged to make NBN Co, the company rolling out the national broadband network, more accountable to consumers if it gets back into power at the next federal election. [iTWire]
The NSW government will invest $12 million in facial matching services in next month’s state budget.The funding will fall to the NSW Police Force for participation in the national facial biometrics matching scheme, which federal, state and territory governments agreed to establish last October. [itnews]
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The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network's representation of residential and other consumers' interests in relation to telecommunications issues is made possible by funding provided by the Commonwealth of Australia under section 593 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. This funding is recovered from charges on telecommunications carriers.
WebNews #434
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