Tech Stream
Posts Tagged ‘ Telecommunications’
Tech Stream 051 – NBN, Clean Technology and the Webby Awards
7 May 2010
Listen and download: MP3
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 047
9 April 2010
Listen and download: MP3
A prototype Mesh Potato, developed as part of the Village Telco Project. (Flickr: Shuttleworth Foundation.)
In the Tech Stream this week we go hands-on with the new Apple iPad; learn about a low cost, community operated phone system, built on wi-fi networks, which is being trialled in East Timor; And we join Kratos on his ultra-violent rampage through mythical Ancient Greece in God of War 3. Follow the MP3 link above to hear the program or read on for more details.
Tech Stream 043
12 March 2010
Listen and download: MP3
A new type of solar module promising greater efficiency and reduced costs. Image from Technique Solar.
This week in the Tech Stream, the latest on the National Broadband Network in Australia. We’ll find out why there is opposition to the government’s plan to split Telstra, which it argues is essential to creating a more level playing field. A new undersea internet cable is being built to link New Zealand and the US, but could it also connect countries in the Pacific along the way?
We’ll shine a light on new solar panels, developed in Australia, that promise to be more efficient and cheaper to produce than current technology. And an update on the Mariposa botnet and calls for computer manufacturers to be held responsible for selling products vulnerable to attacks from cyber criminals. Finally Bajo joins us with a review of the multiplayer-focused war-game Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Full details after the jump, or follow the MP3 link above to hear the program.
Tech Stream 041
26 February 2010
Listen and download: MP3
E-Waste: Discarded PC cases in a dump in Guiyu, China. Photo by Bert Van Dijk from Flickr.
In the Tech Stream this week we look at a new UN report into the management of electronic and electrical waste (e-waste) in developing countries. We also hear from two sides of the nanotechnology debate. Do we really understand the implications of the developments in this science, and are the proper regulations in place? There’s more on mobile telco Digicel’s expansion in the Pacific with its new license to operate in French Polynesia… and finally Bajo reviews the film-noir video game Heavy Rain. More details after the jump or follow the MP3 link above to start listening to the program.
Tech Stream 035 – Year in Review
18 December 2009
Listen and download: MP3
What an incredible year to start covering technology news. I’ve heard 2009 described as being the “year of the internet”. And I’d have to agree. I spent a couple of weeks in the Solomon Islands and Japan where I lost access to the internet on my mobile and it really hit home just how important and valuable this connectivity was to me. So it’s no surprise that I’ve often been drawn to stories this year that related to how we connect with each other via the web. Sometimes this related to new mobile or PC technology. At other times it related to the underlying backbone of the network.
So in the Pacific we had more solid news about new undersea cables that could see the cost of internet access drop as speeds increase. The infrastructure isn’t yet in place though, and its still a struggle to access the kind of internet experience that most people in Australia, for example, now take for granted.
Domestically, here in Australia, we had two major announcements from the federal government – the splitting up of the country’s largest telecommunications provider, Telstra, as part of their National Broadband Network (NBN). And the government’s decision, the details of which became clearer this week, to filter banned content on the internet at an ISP level. Both of these stories are covered in the beginning of our special Year In Review program which you can listen to via the MP3 link above. Or continue reading on for more information.
Tech Stream 031
18 September 2009
Listen and download: MP3
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.
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.
Tech Stream 004
13 March 2009
Listen and download: MP3
In the Tech Stream radio and podcast program this week we chat about digital cameras and the megapixel race; download content for our gaming consoles with Bajo from Good Game; delve into the tricky subject of licensing music content online; the even trickier task of laying thousands of kilometres of cable under the sea to carry our internets; and Steve Wozniak dances up a light rainshower in our Epic Fail segment. Use the MP3 link in this story or to the right to hear the full program.
Internet cables under the sea
13 March 2009
Listen and download: MP3
I was checking out Gizmodo last week when the video above caught my eye. The men are loading cable onto a boat in Japan called the Tyco Durable. It is one of two vessels heading to sea very soon to create a new undersea fibre-optic connection between Guam and Sydney. Pipe International is behind the project, which is due for completion in August, and is set to benefit internet users in Australia as well as the Pacific. I spoke with their CEO Bevan Slattery and you can listen to our chat by using the MP3 link at the top of this story. You can also follow the PPC-1 progress at Pipe International’s blog.
