Riding on a 15 year high in global computer sales, the latest figures are a shot in the arm for the Apple corp and their continual fight for worldwide domination with other leading computer manufacturers such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Acer.

Read more smh.com.au – Apple’s worldwide share of PC market reaches 15-year high

In a report released last Monday by the Telecommunication Industry Ombudsman ‘Deirdre O’Donnell’, it was revealed that 20,000 Telecommunication complaints against respective companies were being made by irate Australians. Being the largest Telecommunication provider in Australia, it was an obvious guess that Telstra led the list of most complaints which new CEO stated as very disappointing.

Dodo complaints on the other hand, skyrocketed through the period of January to June 2009. The budget price Internet Service Provider was awarded a customer service satisfactory level of ‘zero’ for the highest growth rate in complaints yet. It was reported that Dodo rose a staggering 33% in the first six months! Not happy Jan!

To put Dodo into perspective, the 2007/08 TIO report stated that Dodo accounted for 6683 complaints in that period, whilst the likes of Optus, who is very much significantly larger than Dodo, had 9063 and of course the monolithic telco ‘Telstra’,had the most by far with a total of 19,364.

Although Dodo’s shortcomings are very high, the Industry in general also took a substancial battering as the Ombudsman reported that more than 150,000 complaints were lodged last year. When you compare that amount to the year before, we’re talking a massive 46% rise!

Something has to be done to reel in the wayward ISPs. It might not happen immediately, but here’s hoping that legislation which will accompany the implementation of the new upcoming National Broadband Network will better protect the consumer. Until then though, if you’re unhappy with your current ISP, you know what to do ‘click here’.

In a recent survey conducted by Aussie ISP ‘Netspace’, inital results showed that 78.9% of participants disagree with the Federal Government on making Content Filtering compulsory at an ISP level. If this is anything to go by at a national level, it appears that the Government has it blatantly wrong.

Around 10,000 customers took part in the survey, in which Netspace said was an ‘overwhelming response’. Only a mere 13.6% supported a proposed content filtering mandate, with the remaining 7.1% undecided and 0.4% not responding. It really does send out a loud and clear message…. Australians do not want content filtering implemented at an ISP level!

Perhaps the average Aussie can see a bigger picture here than filtering child porn alone, and that it may refer to other fundamental principles such as the real motive for the introduction of filtering at an ISP level; Precedents that it will set; Effectiveness of an ISP filter to work appropriately; and the potential consequences that a decision like this may bring.

What are you concerns? Do they fit into any of the following categories:

A. Will an ISP filter stop illegal content completely? Industry experts are in agreeance and say ‘No’, as there are many different avenues to bypass or transmit content around an ISP filtering system.

B. What is the real motive behind an ISP content filter?  Is it to check election box promises? Control more than just illegal Internet content?

C. Once implemented, where does the filtering stop? Could the bodies in power that be impeach an individual’s freedom of speech by removing content at will, regardless of agenda?

D. How much content will be ‘wrongfully’ removed by accident or otherwise?

E. What kind of consequences are involved for the ISP and end user? Will it slow down the Internet dramatically and or cause other types of technical conflicts?

I, for one, believe that it comes down to ‘choice’ and more to the point, a parent’s responsibility, and that it should extend into respective Institutions (to a certain degree). However, just who should the primary responsibility of nurturing and protecting our children fall upon?

Are we now too busy to do this ourselves to the point that we need ‘Big Brother’ to intervene? Surely not. Could ‘FREE’ protection software act as an adequate alternative opposed to pre-emptive control, which in essence, may take away an individuals right to act ‘freely’.

Internet content filtering should be available, but to what extent and controlled by whom? If you have something to say on this topic, by all means feel ‘FREE” to post a reply.

In a recently released report from the ACMA, figures are suggesting that interest in fixed telephone line services are dropping which could indicate that the demand for Naked DSL services are on the up.

Naked DSL Broadband services includes line rental fees. Subscribers are now able to purchase Naked DSL Plans without the need of a regular PSTN telephone line service and alternatively use a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) communication service through their broadband connection at a far cheaper price.

The ACMA report shows that around 25% of households would contemplate replacing their fixed line phone service with an alternative form of communication (such as VoIP or mobile phone), however it appears that lack of VoIP knowledge and the high costs of mobile calls are a deterrent toward switching. With the emergence of Naked ADSL services steadily becoming popular, along with VoIP awareness, it appears that the Naked DSL ascension will continue until mobile phone call rates drop significantly.

source: acma.com.au

No it’s not the TV screen, it’s the Internet screen. Hang on a sec, maybe it’s both?

Australian’s are dumping Television as their preferred form of home entertainment in favour for the Internet. A recent report by Nielsen Online shows the average Internet use at 13.7 hours per week online, that’s .4 of an hour up on time spent in front of the TV at 13.3 hours per week.

So why is this trend occurring? Nielsen analyst Tony Marlow suggests that we’ve reached a point of Media Saturation where it may be difficult to go beyond two or three activities at any one time. However, industry group Free TV Australia disagrees by saying that the online sector is struggling to find a robust measurement of Internet usage.

The unprecedented decrease in time spent in front of the TV was a warning sign that Australians might have reached the feared “media saturation point”, at which they were unable to simultaneously conduct any more activities, posing new challenges for marketing companies.

“In 2007, according to the official source for Australian metro ratings, OzTAM, Australians watched, on average, over three hours and 32 minutes of television a day, or 24.5 hours per week,”

Read the entire article at news.com.au

If following trends in other countries is anything to go by, then many Australians are likely to be using Mobile Broadband more extensively in the future.

Mobile Broadband Internet consumption in the U.S. has risen by 154% in just one year. In 2006, there were 850,000 people roaming around wirelessly with Mobile Broadband whilst at the same time the following year this figure increased to 2,168,000! 

This ascent in Mobile Internet usage suggests there’s been a significant rise in mobile & wireless technology development along with mobile Providers offering respective services, and in fact it’s the latter of which that’s apparently the driving force behind the sudden increase in Mobile Broadband popularity.

Mobile Wireless Providers in the U.S. have been offering higher download limits, lower costs and faster speeds which is currently being witnessed by Wireless Broadband Providers here in Australia. If this trend is anything to go by, expect cheaper mobile Broadband services to come our way in 2008.

The finding is quite remarkable in the context of the relatively mature US internet market, and suggests much faster speeds, higher download limits and lower costs introduced by mobile broadband providers in countries like the US and Australia over the past year are having an impact.

Keep an eye out for cheap mobile broadband deals right here at Broadband Guide. http://broadbandguide.com.au/mobile-broadband/plans


Source: SmartCompany.com.au

The results are in!  A recent Australian Broadband Survey Report conducted in 07/08 stated that more than 50% of respondents clearly voted for the Government as the entity who should be behind the next generation internet access network (FTTN). Other significant results include: Most people suggesting that Broadband prices are just too high and would be greatly influenced to change ISP’s for a lower price, higher download limits and faster line speeds. The demand for VoIP is on the up and most Broadband customers are still very unhappy with the ability of ISPs to change ‘contract’ conditions at any time.The survey was conducted over a 4 week period (31.12.2007 to 01.02.2008) with 17,881 verified participants taking part.

Below are several examples of the feedback obtained in this years ABS that perhaps both Business (ISPs) and the Government should pay close attention to.

Which entity should be responsible for the next generation internet access technologies (e.g. fibre to the node)?

Telstra  5.7%
G9 consortium  21.4%
The government  51.9%
Other (e.g. Deutsche Telekom)  5%
Don’t know  16%


Do you support the government’s policy for mandatory ISP-level content filtering (opt-out)?

Strongly agree  2.9%
Agree  10.4%
Disagree  22.9%
Strongly disagree  51.5%
Don’t know  12.3%

From the following, what is most important for you in a broadband internet connection?

Fast speeds  39.2%
Ability to download large amounts  27.9%
It is always connected  14.9%
Lower service costs  11.7%
Low latency  3.5%
Frees up telephone line  2.5%
Exclusive content  0.1%

What would entice you to change ISP?

(ISP Average)
Lower prices 75.4%  
A higher download limit 56.7% 
Faster line speeds (e.g. ADSL2+) 50.4% 

See the full report here.

General Internet complaints have risen dramatically over the previous financial year among Australian Internet subscribers according to Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (or should I say ‘Ombudswoman’) ‘Deirdre O’Donnell’.

The recently released figures show that complaints were up by 16.9 per cent in the 2006/2007 financial year which represents more than 100,000 annoyances. About 17 per cent of those complaints made to the Ombudsman by unsatisfied customers are customer service related, with Billing and payments, including direct debits, capped and bundled phone plans topping the list.

Complaints in the 2006/07 financial year were up 16.9 per cent to 102,463 over the previous year, ombudsman Deirdre O’Donnell said.

Source: Couriermail.com.au ‘Internet complaints surge’

Broadband Guide says: Read or enquire about your Broadband Plan’s respective ’Term and Conditions’ on every contract you enter so that you’re aware of the obligations that you’re undertaking. This may save you some unexpected nasty billing surprises along with saving you a few phone calls, emails and letters to your ISP and or the Ombudsman.

Australians can’t seem to get enough of Mobile Broadband technology related services with one in every two Aussies wanting Internet access on their Mobile phones. According to a recent global study, other figures suggest that a further one in three want live television on their Mobile phones also.

It comes as no surprise that Japan currently leads the bunch with a whopping 47% of Mobile users already accessing the Internet while 33% of Australian Mobile phone users are logging onto the information super-freeway via their handsets. It’s not just a small group of countries bolstering the trend either, as it appears that people all over the world are becoming content crazed with a reported 3.3 billion predicted to become connected by 2011.

Internet access was the most popular form of content, desired by 52 per cent of respondents, followed by live TV (37 per cent) and TV clips (31 per cent). While half those surveyed wanted to use their phone to watch the news and check the weather, the most popular content was entertainment news, nominated by 58 per cent.

Read the entire article at AustralianIT.com.au

Australia has risen four places in Broadband world rankings which currently witnesses our position as 12th overall. That’s the good news. However, the latest OECD figures show that Australia has also started dragging the chain again and fallen behind other advanced countries due to the unresolved new FTTH Broadband Network status which the government has procrastinated with for quite sometime now.

Senator Coonan is bound to jump up and down about the elevated rankings position (whoopee do), but the real issues for Australians regards our future! The current progress Coonan and the Federal Government have made with the FTTH network development (or should I say lack of) overshadows any positives made from a higher world ranking. It’s not the jump to 12th place from 16th that we should be focused upon, it’s this lack of vision and progress (rated zero by the OECD) which places Australia way behind the likes of Japan and Korea. It’s this statistic that should be of major concern. Let’s get real here, we’re still very far from where we need to position ourselves on a ‘broadband level’ for this country to really power ahead as a prosperous nation and a potential world leader in technology.

Australia’s increased broadband ranking was the good news. The bad was that, with FTTH presently stalled, we are falling even further behind the most advanced nations.

Fibre connections account for 36 percent of all Japanese broadband subscriptions and 31 percent in Korea.” The figure in Australia was so low as to be rated zero!

Source: ITWire OECD article.

Australians are certainly behind the eight ball when it comes to Broadband Technology (as we all should know by now). While the Federal Government is bungling around in la la land over a new national high speed Broadband Network as the Federal Election looms, other regions of the planet such as Asia are far more advanced than Australia using robust Fibre to the Home Technology (that’s since early 2000 as well).

Although not entirely wide spread yet, other regions such as Europe and more so Scandinavia have embraced the technology and implemented Fibre to the Home Networks. It’s easy to see that the core of Australia’s future depends on a national high speed Broadband network, so why is it that decisions and development on Broadband infrastructure in our country are taking so long and being left on the backburner?

21.2 percent of homes in Hong Kong were found to be wired with FTTH, followed by South Korea at 19.6 percent and Japan at 16.3 percent.

In Japan, FTTH often provides a 100Mbps connection for less money than Australians pay for a connection one-tenth as fast.

Take-up in Europe varies from country to country, although the most significant movement to date have taken place in the Scandinavian countries and, latterly, France and the Netherlands.

Current estimates put the number of subscribers across the continent at around one million, with Sweden leading the way with some 27 percent of subscribers.

Much of the debate around fibre in Australia remains around fibre to the node, with both the Coalition and Labor planning to authorise rollouts in the near future — should they be elected.

Labor’s communications spokesperson Stephen Conroy has previously lent his support to a FTTH rollout although the costs involved in such a move remain prohibitive, according to the Opposition senator.

Read the entire article at ZDNet.com.au

Australians are becoming more aware of telecommunication services as a recent Communications and Media Authority report shows that 90% of Aussies have both Mobile and Fixed phone services while 80% have Internet access (mostly Broadband). Changing attitudes and trends within socio-economic factors suggest that many Australians are becoming highly dependant of telecommunication services.

Parents believe broadband is important to aid their childrens’ schooling, and mobile phones were a useful safety aid.

“The research also shows that Australians are becoming increasingly aware of new and emerging telecommunication services.

Read the entire article at AustralianIT.com.au