 |
This week
IN THE NEWS: ACMA finds Telstra failed to help vulnerable consumers, School Student Broadband Initiative and more
|
|
|
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from Telstra for failing to comply with its ‘priority assistance’ obligations. As a condition of its carrier licence, Telstra is required to provide priority assistance to customers who have a life-threatening medical condition, and once identified, must have systems in place to provide those customers with additional levels of service. [ACMA media release]
|
|
|
|
To boost education opportunities and narrow the digital divide, the Australian Government is working with NBN Co to provide up to 30,000 families with no internet at home free NBN for 12 months. To be eligible, families with school age children will be nominated by participating schools, education authorities and charities/community organisations. These organisations will identify and provide information directly to families about the initiative. The Smith Family, Catholic Network Australia, and Catholic Education WA have already joined the initiative, with more organisations to be announced shortly. [Federal Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts]
|
|
nbn®’s medical alarm register will be closing to new registrants on 30 June 2023 after almost nine years of supporting around 180,000 medically vulnerable and older Australians to migrate their medical alarms and phone and internet services to the nbn network. The medical alarm register’s purpose is to help nbn customers check their medical alarm is working correctly when migrating to the nbn network. [nbn media release]
|
|
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman’s (TIO) Quarter Two Complaints Report shows a 9.9 per cent increase in the number of complaints received between October and December 2022. Residential consumers and small businesses made 17,903 complaints, with more than half of these about mobile services. [TIO media release]
|
|
The number of domains in the overall .au namespace increased 22 percent to 4,160,209, according to auDA's latest quarterly report. Much of the growth in the number of domains can be attributed to the availability of .au direct domains, which were launched in March 2022. By December 2022, more than 716,000 .au direct domains had been registered, making it the most popular namespace within the overall .au space. [iTWire]
|
|
Optus has announced an expansion to its Digital Thumbprint Program, marking the 20th anniversary of Safer Internet Day today, and to provide more opportunities for regional Australian students to learn about digital safety and wellbeing. [iTWire]
|
|
Regional communities and telcos have until the end of the week to have their say on the design of two programs funded by the Albanese Government which will improve communications in regional and rural Australia. Round 3 of the Regional Connectivity Program (RCP) will deliver funding to place-based solutions to connectivity challenges, and extend new handheld mobile coverage to regional and rural areas. The $150 million funding pool will also provide dedicated funding towards projects in First Nations communities, in line with the Government’s commitment to closing the digital gap. [Minister Rowland media release]
|
|
ACCAN’s Grants Round for 2023 is now open, and will close 24 February, 5pm AEDT, with funded projects to begin from July. ACCAN encourages anyone interested in applying to discuss their project ideas with the Grants Team by getting in touch on grants@accan.org.au. For more information visit our website at accan.org.au/grants [ACCAN]
|
|
A Sydney man has been ordered to perform 100 hours of community service by the Sydney Downing Centre District Court for attempting to blackmail Optus customers by using data stolen during the attack on the telco that came to light last year. The man used text messages to try and deceive people whose details had been exposed in the Optus breach. [iTWire]
|
|
Ella always thought she was pretty online savvy — which gave her confidence when she decided to sell some shoes online. However, a close call with a scammer has made her think twice. "Any other time [scammers have reached out], they've tried to get the money really quickly," she said. [ABC news]
|
|
|
|
WebNews #596
Unsubscribe
from this mailing
click here
|
|
Tel: (02) 9288 4000
Email: media@accan.org.au
Web: accan.org.au
Twitter: @accan_au
Facebook.com/accanau
LinkedIn: accan.org.au/LinkedIn
|
| |
|
Although we take care to direct subscribers to sites with accurate and reliable content, we advise that ACCAN is not responsible for the content within external sites and has no control over the views, services or information contained therein. Information contained on external sites may not necessarily reflect ACCAN's policy, standards or beliefs.
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.
|
|
|
