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This week
IN THE NEWS: Final WebNews of 2023; Starlink shot down by US regulators, new FTTP rolled out, Launtel lauded
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WebNews to return on January 18th
Thank you for your dedicated readership of WebNews throughout the year! As always, please get in touch via media@accan.org.au if you have feedback on the sort of content you find most useful and would particularly like to see more of in 2024. ACCAN’s office will be closed from December 25th until January 5th, and WebNews will return on January 18th, 2024. On behalf of the ACCAN team, I wish you all a restful holiday period and a very happy New Year!
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A Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision to cancel universal service funding to Starlink has been upheld after a review process. This story has been widely reported on, with Australian outlet CommsDay suggesting the FCC decision may have ramifications for the Australian government’s upcoming review into the future of the Universal Service Obligation (USO). The regulators doubt whether Starlink will be able to provide 100/20Mbps service to many of the over 600,000 unserved rural homes and businesses in the US by 2025, and are unsettled by Starlink’s failure to fully respond to FCC questions. [PCMag]
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Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has announced that 400,000 additional homes and businesses now have access to full-fibre broadband updates, bringing the total number of upgraded premises to over 3 million in the last 18 months. The statement claims that as of December 2023, 75% of premises in the NBN fixed line network will have FTTP connectivity, allowing residents to access maximum download speeds of nearly 1Gbps. To find the list of eligible suburbs and towns, visit the link above. [Minister Rowland]
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An ACCC report into the as-delivered broadband speeds of Australian telcos has found that Launtel delivers the best service as pegged to the maximum speeds of customers NBN plans. On average during peak hours (7pm to 11pm), customers experienced 103.8% of their maximum speed. Telstra and Exetel followed closely behind at around 101%. The ACCC found that rural and urban services have seen an improvement in speed since early 2022, but NBN services in rural areas (7% underperformance) still lag behind those in urban areas (4% underperformance). [ITWire]
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Ofcom, the UK telecommunications regulator, has proposed rules requiring telcos to ‘prominently and transparently’, at the point of sale, set out total monthly prices for telecoms contracts. In the UK, some providers bake in inflation or percentage-based price rises that take effect during the course of a phone contract. Such practices would be outlawed under the proposed rules. [BBC]
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The Commerce Commission, New Zealand’s competition regulator, has released draft guidelines that would make it easier for consumers to compare telcos based on mobile coverage (text, voice and data) and pricing. At present, as in Australia, telcos provide their own coverage maps on their own websites, making direct comparison difficult. The rules would establish a government-run provider coverage map, which would make comparisons easier, particularly for customers in regional areas. As per the proposed NZ guidelines, providers would also be required to cite a monthly average price in their advertising materials. [RNZ]
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Our best wishes to readers in Northern Queensland affected via disruption or property damage by Ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper. This situation serves as a reminder of the importance of preparation ahead of a volatile natural disaster season, including how you will communicate in an emergency when power or mobile towers may fail. For helpful information about communicating during a natural disaster, visit ACCAN’s emergency and disaster guide above. For more general information about cyclone preparation, the ABC has a helpful resource [ACCAN]
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The Australian Government is seeking feedback on the future of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) beyond 2024. We have created an explainer-style blog post to answer some of the questions you may have about this important consumer protection and outline our role in the review process. As part of our commitment to undertake in-depth stakeholder engagement on the future of the USO, we will be seeking the input of our member organisations and key stakeholders via a virtual roundtable to be held 14 February 2024 – 2pm-3:30pm AEDT. Please get in touch if you would like to participate. [ACCAN]
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Telecommunications analyst Paul Budde has written a synopsis of a recent BCARR study into spending on telecoms by Australian households. Budde highlights that, while telecoms are becoming more affordable on the whole, the proportion of low-income households with unsustainable spending on telecommunications has reached its highest level in two years. Read his full debrief via the link above. [Independent Australia]
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In a slightly different perspective on the AI issue, this is an interesting article which highlights some new research suggesting it's going to be a while before large-scale AI projects move into production. [ZDNet]
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WebNews #640
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