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This week
IN THE NEWS: NBN Co’s SAU accepted; ACCAN 2022-23 Annual Report; National Referral Centre for School Student Broadband Initiative
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ACCAN is pleased to present our Annual Report for 2022-23. To read more about our communications policy, grants, accessibility and media work, find the full report via the link above. [ACCAN]
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The ACCC has accepted NBN Co’s latest proposed variation to its Special Access Undertaking (SAU), which includes measures designed to protect consumers from sharp price rises, reduce barriers to entry for new retailers and create incentives to fix systemic issues that drive poor NBN consumer experience. [ACCC]
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ACCAN welcomes the ACCC’s acceptance of NBN Co’s SAU Variation. In the media release above, ACCAN congratulated the ACCC and NBN in finalising this process in time for new commercial agreements to be in place before the end of the year, thereby providing pricing and service certainty for consumers. [ACCAN]
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The Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland, has announced Anglicare Victoria as the National Referral Centre to support the rollout of the initiative and assist families in confirming their eligibility for the program which provides 12 months of free NBN.
To be eligible, a family must have a child living at home that is enrolled in an Australian school, have no active broadband service over the NBN network, and live in a premises where they can access a standard NBN service. Families can contact the NRC directly to check their eligibility and be supported to access the one year of free home broadband, rather than relying on being identified by a nominating organisation. [Minister Rowland]
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The eSafety Commission has fined the social media giant formerly known as Twitter $610,500 for failing to respond to questions from the regulator regarding its child abuse mitigation policies. Specifically, X did not answer questions about how long it took to respond to reported child abuse content, steps it took to detect child abuse in livestreams, and the amount of content moderation staff it employs. Alphabet (Google) was issued a warning for lesser offences, with the commissioner Julie Inman Grant calling some of its responses to questions “generic”. [Digital Nation Aus]
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The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (DITRDCA) has announced it will join an informal multilateral alliance with government departments from the UK, Japan, the US and Canada that aims to strengthen coordination on security and resilience within the telco sector. Representatives will meet twice yearly. The forum hopes to ensure complementary approaches and bolster security through unity among the five nations. [Australian Cybersecurity Magazine]
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Space X owned Starlink has quietly started advertising its Direct to Cell service on its website, promising connectivity to existing LTE phones ‘wherever you can see the sky.’ Direct to Cell works with existing LTE phones with no changes to hardware, firmware, or special apps required, claims the site. Starlink will offer text services in 2024, followed by voice, data and IoT connectivity in 2025. [Telecoms.com]
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The ABC has published a great resource about the role of undersea infrastructure in global communications, including security vulnerabilities they are subject to. Given Australia’s reliance on submarine cables, the article explains the layers of protections we place upon the infrastructure. [ABC News]
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Continuing our ongoing focus on this emerging issue, Deloitte’s latest research report indicates that more than a quarter of the Australian economy will be rapidly and significantly disrupted by generative AI or almost $600 billion of economic activity. [ITWire]
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When we seek to understand the drivers of poverty and disadvantage in Australia we can take action collectively to end it. ACCAN is glad to support the Anti-Poverty Week campaign. Follow the link above to discover events and resources that will assist in its goal to End Child Poverty. [antipovertyweek.org.au]
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If you are Deaf, or have a hearing impairment or speech impairment, you can contact us on 02 9288 4000 through your preferred National Relay Service call number or access point.
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