Tech Stream
Posts Tagged ‘ broadband’
Tech Stream 051 – NBN, Clean Technology and the Webby Awards
7 May 2010
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Nasturtium Droplet. An example of nature inspiring innovation. (Flickr: Kevin Krejci)
In the Tech Stream this week – behind the long awaited study into the implementation of a national broadband network (NBN) in Australia, which suggests the government can build the infrastructure without Telstra, and deliver it to more people for less than was thought; we also take a look at the clean and green technologies that are getting investors excited… and the part nanotechnology is playing in their development; plus the big winners in this year’s Academy Awards for websites, the Webbys… Find out via the MP3 link above, or read on for more information.
Tech Stream 040
19 February 2010
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Phones on display in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress. Photo by Jon Jordan from Flickr.
We head to Barcelona, Spain, this week for the GSM Mobile World Congress. We’ll find out why Google and Microsoft captured all the headlines and check out the handsets likely to make an impact in Asia. We also ask why Al Jazeera wants you to mashup their video content and test-run the web game the whole family can’t play – Chatroulette. It’s so hot right now. Plus the Multimedia Content Bill in Indonesia that has the country’s bloggers and media activists crying “censorship!” …and Hex returns with a review of Bioshock 2. More details after the jump or dive right in with the MP3 link above.
Tech Stream 031
18 September 2009
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Photo from Flickr by Martin Hopkins.
The splitting of Telstra, 3D technology in the loungeroom and does the iPhone stack up as gaming platform? It’s in the Tech Stream, program #31. Full details after the jump or get stuck straight in with the MP3 link above.
Australian government proposes Telstra split
16 September 2009
The Australian Government announced yesterday that they were seeking to overhaul telecommunications regulation in the country, and that it was their “clear desire for Telstra to structurally separate, on a voluntary and cooperative basis.” The company faces restrictions on it’s business, like access to advanced wireless spectrum, if it does not split its retail and wholesale arms.
The media release from Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy is available here and coverage of the announcement is on ABC Online at Conroy Moves to Split Telstra and on ABC TV’s Lateline last night at Telstra Forced to Split. Stephen Conroy also spoke with Fran Kelly on ABC Radio National Breakfast this morning about how the decision fits within the government’s vision for the National Broadband Network.
Shares in the company took a dive on the news and Telstra shareholders weren’t over the moon at the announcement, with chief executive of the Australian Shareholders’ Association Stuart Wilson telling ABC News that “It’s a situation where Telstra shareholders have purchased shares in good faith off the Government and then only a few years later the Government changes the rules and sets all sorts of limitations on Telstra to the point where profitability will be affected.”
Analysts like Paul Budde (speaking here to The World Today) are enthusiastic about the news and Telstra’s competitors have also reacted positively to Stephen Conroy’s announcement. Optus welcomed the idea of a split in Telstra’s business, with their director of government and corporate affairs, Maha Krishnapillai, telling ABC Radio’s PM:
“This is a great piece of microeconomic reform by the Federal Government. Very clearly they are getting a competitive advantage today. They have 60 per cent margins on their fixed communications networks. They make sure that it is as difficult and litigious as possible to access those networks. They make sure that the quality of those services, let alone access to the IT systems from everything from billing to provisioning to turning on services, is as difficult as possible. So it isn’t just price. It is in fact equivalence of access to those services.” MP3 Audio link
ZDNet have more of the industry’s response and AM this morning reports that Australia’s consumer competition watchdog, the ACCC, is welcoming the breakup of Telstra with their chairman Graeme Samuel saying that consumers will be the winners if the companies splits:
“…there’s 21 million Australian consumers, about 16 million of them are using some form of telecommunications service and they are the big winners because at long last we’re seeing competition quite clearly infused into the telecommunication sector.” MP3 Audio link
But what does Telstra themselves make of it all? Well their CEO David Thodey said in a statement that they were disappointed with the direction the government wants to go in but would play ball. ZDNet also have more on this, and we’ll have more in the Tech Stream on Friday.
A Pacific Superhighway
4 September 2009
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Undersea internet telecommunications cables, managed by Tata Communications. The full map is online here.
Internet access in the Pacific is frustrating slow and expensive. This is mainly due to most of the internet traffic being routed through satellites. But that is set to change. A new undersea fiber-optic cable, part of SPIN, South pacific Information Network, should provide internet users in French Polynesia and New Caledonia, as well as the countries in between, with high-speed, affordable broadband. I spoke about the new network with Remi Galasso, CEO of SPIN SA.
We also caught up with Simon Cooper from Tata Communications this week. We spoke about how Guam was turning into a telecommunications hot-spot, with multiple undersea internet cables connecting it to Asia and Australia. Their communications network played a big part in picking up the internet traffic in the region during the recent typhoon near Taiwan which affected some other undersea cables supplying telecommunications into the region.
You can hear both Simon Cooper and Remi Galasso in the MP3 link at the top of this blog post. We’ve had stories on these undersea internet cables in the Pacific in Tech Stream #25 and also back in March this year.
Broadband growth driven by Asia
18 June 2009
The ICT expo CommunicAsia is taking place in Singapore this week and their daily newsbrief (pdf link) has some interesting stats on the growth of broadband take up in the region. Their figures indicate that broadband lines topped 429.2 million globally as of the end of the first quarter of 2009 with most of that growth being driven by Asia.
Tech Stream 017
12 June 2009
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A WiMAX USB dongle. Photo from Flickr by Hirotomo Oi
In the Tech Stream this week we get serious about our games. The Good Game team return from the E3 games expo with news of motion sensor technology which could allow us to throw away our controllers; and we’re joined by “Serious Games” experts Noah Falstein and Dr Ian Bogost who are in Australia for a conference on Serious Games in Sydney. You can listen to their full interview on a previous post.
We also look at the rollout of WiMAX wireless broadband in Fiji and Papua new Guinea… and tech-journo Danny Gorog join us with the lowdown on the new iPhone 3Gs and OS3.0 mobile operating system which was announced at Apple’s WWDC on Monday.
You can listen to the full Tech Stream program with the MP3 link above or the “Listen Now” link on the right. Feel free to comment on any of these stories or suggest something we can follow up in future programs. You can also subscribe to the podcast too!
Tech Stream 008
9 April 2009
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Audio technology is our focus in the Tech Stream this weekend with an extended chat about the future of music production, and how changes in technology have impacted on the home recording musician. Joining us is Jim Moynihan, who records under the name Spoonbill (you can hear some of his music in the podcast too). We also have Brad Watts from Audio Technology magazine.
Also this week a quick look at the proposed national broadband network announcement from Australia. See our previous post for more details or check out a special Radio Australia News feature. The report in the program was from Triple J’s HACK radio program and was produced by Juliette O’Brien. It was originally broadcast on Tuesday 7th of April 2009 where they also interviewed the Australian Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.
National Broadband Networks
7 April 2009
Australia’s Prime Minister Kevid Rudd this morning announced that the government plans to build a $US30 billion national broadband communications network.
