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This week
IN THE NEWS: ACCAN 2023 Grants Round closes tomorrow, Vocus warns NBN price rise at odds with household spend and more
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ACCAN’s Grant Round for 2023 will close tomorrow 24 February, 5pm AEDT, with funded projects to begin from July. For more information visit our website at accan.org.au/grants [ACCAN]
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An NBN Co plan to raise the price of its popular 50Mbps product would add $6.60 a month in wholesale cost-to-serve for Vocus, at a time when some customers have already downgraded their plans to save $5 or $10 a month. In a submission on the revised NBN special access undertaking (SAU), sighted by iTnews, Vocus said its wholesale costs for a 50Mbps service would rise from $45.40 to $52 if NBN Co was allowed to raise prices for the tier. [iTnews]
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ACCAN has responded to an ACCC consultation on NBN Co’s proposed variation to its Special Access Undertaking (SAU). The SAU sets out the rules by which NBN Co provides wholesale access to retailers. The SAU can determine price and quality of voice and broadband services delivered over the NBN until 2040. The SAU variation lodged by NBN Co in November 2022 represents a significant step forward compared to its previous Variation. [ACCAN]
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Australia's biggest telco Telstra has increased profits by 25% year-on-year to $934 million in the first half of the current financial year, the company reported on Thursday. In statements sent to the ASX, the company said its income had gone up by 6.4%, driven by its mobile division and its new acquisition, Digicel Pacific. However, it said income for the full year would be at the lower end of the guidance issued, because mobile hardware and fixed product revenues were lower than expected. [iTWire]
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The industry association for the Australian communications sector has come out in support of the creation of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament. At its most recent meeting the Board of Directors of Communications Alliance Ltd resolved that: “A Voice to Parliament is a reasonable and practical step for Australia to take and is only achievable via a referendum.” [Communications Alliance media release]
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Telecommunications company Optus has switched on a new mobile tower in the coastal town of Tomahawk. The new tower will provide residents greater communication through improved density of mobile network and increased network capacity, as well as bringing Optus 5G capabilities to Tomahawk for the first time. [iTWire]
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Sole trader Noah Rose, trading as BetDeluxe, has paid a $50,172 infringement notice as part of the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) crackdown on spam-unsubscribing rules. An ACMA investigation found BetDeluxe sent over 104,000 SMS without an unsubscribe function and more than 820,000 SMS that did not contain the sender’s contact details. The SMS, sent between December 2021 and February 2022, advertised a ‘cheeky punt’ and ‘VIP service’ on sports and racing, and promoted bonus bets and money-back offers. [ACMA media release]
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TPG Telecom wants NBN Co prevented from raising its prices every year until at least 2032, with only periodic price rises possible every three-to-five years. In a submission to the ACCC, sighted by iTnews, TPG argues that NBN Co should not be able to increase its prices every year of a “regulatory cycle”, which covers a period of three-to-five years. [itnews]
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Two thirds of Australians aged 15 years and over were exposed to a scam in 2021-22, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). William Milne, ABS head of crime and justice statistics, said: “The results of The Personal Fraud Survey showed that 65 per cent of people received a scam offer or request in 2021-22, up from 55 per cent in the previous year.” People were most commonly exposed to a scam over the phone (48 per cent) or by text message (47 per cent), with exposure via text message doubling from 23 per cent in 2020-21 to 47 per cent in 2021-22. [Australian Bureau of Statistics media release]
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Nominations have opened for the Australian communications industry’s premier awards - the ACOMMS – with 13 categories celebrating performance excellence in innovation, customer service, artificial intelligence, digital platforms, cyber security & online safety, the space sector, diversity and inclusion, and product solutions across the breadth of the telecommunications sector. The ACOMM awards will be presented at the 17th Annual ACOMMS Dinner on 27 July 2023 at the Hilton, Sydney, attended by senior players from industry, the media, regulators and the Parliamentary sphere. [Communications Alliance media release]
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Tel: (02) 9288 4000
Email: media@accan.org.au
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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.
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