The new May issue of CommsDay Magazine is now available. IN THIS ISSUE: * The newest biggest telco in the world: an in-depth look at Tata Communications. Tony Chan talks to the inside players at the firm that now ranks as the world’s largest international voice carrier * All about the hetnet. Petroc Wilton digs [...]

CommsDay Summit is over for another year with record numbers of 350 delegates from across the industry attending this year. Highlights included speeches from Huawei’s Alexander Downer, Optus’ Austin Bryan, Internode’s Simon Hackett, ACMA chair Chris Chapman and shadow comms minister Malcolm Turnbull. Email Sally Lloyd at Sally@commsday.com.au to receive PDF copies of presentations from [...]

Major Australian telecom operators are concerned by the cost implications and selective impact of rigorous new national security proposals floated at secret talks last month. As exclusively reported by CommsDay last Friday, the Australian government is proposing a strict risk assessment and reporting regime over telco use of foreign suppliers and personnel. The proposed regime would [...]

Optus has scored a key coup in recruiting David Epstein, once chief of staff in Kevin Rudd’s prime ministerial office, to mastermind its regulatory strategy during the critical phase of transition to the NBN. News of Epstein’s appointment comes just as Optus parent Singtel executes its planned restructure into its new Digital Life, ICT and [...]

The world’s largest telecommunications equipment vendor has shocked many in the industry by deciding to exit the market for DSLAMs, forcing some carriers to look for an alternative vendor. While no official announcement has been made, CommsDay has learned from service providers in both New Zealand and Australia that Ericsson would be discontinuing production of [...]

The Australian Government has begun secret talks with carriers on proposals to enhance the security of Australia’s telecom infrastructure which would, in part, mandate a penalty-backed requirement on operators to secure their networks against external threats and require notification of infrastructure upgrades, modifications and procurement decisions. CommsDay also understands that the government is highly concerned [...]

On the surface, the Australian government’s decision to block Huawei from supplying the NBN seems predictable, given it effectively is in lockstep with the US government’s policies in this regard. It would seem the AG’s department is taking its cues from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. The received wisdom in Washington is that [...]

Optus parent SingTel will restructure into three new business units from April 1, in an effort to drive fresh growth and leverage scale while rebranding the company as a genuine multimedia player. The change will mean a significant shakeup for Optus in Australia, with current COO Kevin Russell taking on much of the day-to-day management [...]

Quite a lot of commentary—perhaps too much—in the Australasian telecommunications space focuses on issues that are more to do with trees than forests. Issues regarding the merits of public ownership and investment in fibre telecommunications, whether the balance is right vis-à-vis wireless telecommunications, the appropriate degree of regulation over the industry and so on get [...]