Networking

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Managing director of Aussie Broadband Phil Britt has issued a warning that NBN’s proposed soft cap will be useless for half of its life. Last week, NBN floated the prospect of a soft cap on overage CVC charges to limit the amount Australian telcos have to pay for increases in traffic. For the soft cap to kick in, total NBN costs before rebates for any telco would need to rise 7% across a three-month rolling average, and the telco would need to keep customer churn below a threshold of 10% on top of its yearly historical churn. A fair use provision is floated as being set around the 30% to 40% mark. Britt said that even with a soft cap in place, margins for ISPs would decline by 7% over the coming two years, which would lead to increased customer prices or reduced quality. Combining this with a mixture of rebates interacting with the cap, the cap itself would be useless until May 2022, he explained.NBN said it would also look to begin consulting on a special access undertaking variation that would be its long-term pricing vehicle, which the ACCC welcomed. The proposal arrives after retailers kicked up a stink when NBN attempted multiple times to taper off its CVC boost due to the pandemic outbreak in 2020. “We welcome and are encouraged by the ACCC’s recently announcement about taking a blank sheet approach to NBN’s pricing structure, and the consultation process that’s been announced,” Britt told the CommsDay Summit on Wednesday.

“However, it’s likely that this process will take at least two years, and we believe significant damage to the industry’s reputation and/or retail price rises may happen in the meantime. “We strongly believe NBN needs to urgently rebalance its access prices, and remove usage pricing altogether.” Also speaking at the summit, Shadow Communications Minister Michelle Rowland called on NBN to release the flat-price modelling it has developed but refused to release. “NBN Co argued they could not do this because, if they did, not all providers would be happy with the model they produce,” she said. “With all due respect, the notion that a wholesale operator requires industry-wide support on modelling that nobody has seen, before it will release it for consultation, is, a most unflattering tribute to circular logic. “If the removal of variable capacity charging is a bad idea, then simply release the modelling to retail providers and make the case for why that is so.” Rowland added the proposed NBN pricing makes it more complex, and it would be reasonable for the ACCC to look into it. The shadow minister also struck out at the boards of Australia Post and NBN Co over bonuses, whether in the form of millions of dollars or Cartier watches. “Working for Australia Post, or the NBN, or the ABC or the SBS is a reward in and of itself,” Rowland said. “That is the nature of public service and the privilege of opportunity it affords.” Related Coverage More

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India has given various domestic telcos, alongside certain network equipment vendors from around the world, approval to conduct six-month trials on 5G technology. Of note, however, is that none of the network equipment vendors in the trial will be from China. The decision to exclude Chinese manufacturers comes despite Huawei last year receiving permission to participate in India’s 5G trial phase. The minister responsible for India’s telco sector, Ravi Shankar Prasad, last year said, “5G trials will be done with all vendors and operators”.Instead of using Chinese network equipment, the 5G trials will use Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, and C-DOT kit, the Department of Telecommunications said in a statement. In addition, Reliance Jio, one of the telcos that received approval, will conduct trials using its own indigenous technology. The other telcos that received trial approval are Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, and MTNL. For the trials, the telcos will use experimental spectrum doled out by the Indian government, which are in various bands across the mid-band, millimetre wave band, and in sub-gigahertz band. The telcos will also be allowed to use their own spectrum to conduct the 5G trials, including those won two months ago in the nation’s most recent spectrum auction. Part and parcel of the approvals will be the requirement for the 5G trials to be conducted in rural, semi-urban settings, and urban settings so that the benefit of 5G technology is not confined only to urban areas, the Department of Telecommunications said. Another requirement is that the trials must be run on a non-commercial basis and not be connected with any of the telcos’ existing networks.

The department added that the objectives of the 5G trials include testing 5G spectrum propagation characteristics especially in the Indian context; model tuning and evaluation of chosen equipment and vendors; testing of indigenous technology; testing of applications, such as tele-medicine, tele-education, and drone-based agricultural monitoring, among others; and testing 5G phones and devices. The trial approvals come six months after Reliance Industries’ CEO, Mukesh Ambani vowed that the telco would roll out commercial 5G networks during the latter half of 2021. “I assure you that Jio will pioneer the 5G revolution in India in the second half of 2021,” said Ambani, during his keynote at India Mobile Congress 2020.  Related Coverage More

Arista Networks, which provides networking for large data center and campus environments, reported better-than-expected first quarter financial results on Tuesday. CEO Jayshree Ullal attributed the strong quarter to the company’s focus on AI-driven solutions. “Arista begins the 2021 year with a flying start,” Ullal said in a statement. “Clearly, the focus on our cognitive cloud networking suite is resonating with customers across diverse data sets and applications.”Non-GAAP net income for the first quarter was $198.8 million, or $2.50 per diluted share. Revenue was $667.6 million, an increase of 27.6 percent year-over-year.Analysts were expecting earnings of $2.38 per share on revenue of $642.12 million. CFO Ita Brennan said the quarter validated the company’s business diversification initiatives, with healthy demand across all market and product sectors.For the second quarter of 2021, Arista expects revenue between $675 million and $695 million.Analysts are predicting Q2 revenues of $649.84 million.

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The company responsible for running the National Broadband Network on Tuesday said it is planning to offer on-demand full fibre upgrades to users on its fibre-to-the-curb (FttC) network that wish to receive over 250Mbps. In September, NBN announced it would be looking to spend AU$4.5 billion to have 75% of its fixed-line network be able to receive 1Gbps speeds by the end of 2023, by offering on-demand upgrades to those on fibre-to-the-node (FttN) connections that wanted higher speeds. NBN said on Tuesday in its second round of consultation that it was still planning for 100Mbps to be the trigger for FttN connections to be upgraded. “Once the program to extend fibre deeper into select parts of individual communities is complete, eligible customers will be able to order a higher speed service via their chosen internet retailer,” NBN said. “Once approved, this will trigger the construction of a fibre lead-in to eligible premises, completing their conversion from FTTN to FTTP.” The company said due to the higher level of capability of FttC, it would be looking to set the upgrade trigger at 250Mbps. The first FttN customers lucky enough to be in the “small scale launch” area, will be able to begin placing orders from November. At the same time, the company said it would update its rollout map to inform users if their premises are able to be upgraded and whether they can place an order.

“NBN Co is currently engaged in consultation with internet retailers to define the process by which customers living in eligible premises currently served by FTTN or FTTC will be informed that their premises is eligible to receive higher speed services,” it said. NBN said of its 2.5 million HFC connections, 97% were able to access speeds of 250Mbps, and 58% were able to get over 500Mbps. By year end, the company says 94% of its cable connections would be capable of over 500Mbps. “We are now well underway with the next long-planned phase of the network’s evolution and development to provide more customers with access to NBN’s highest wholesale speed tiers currently available,” NBN CEO Stephen Rue said. “Today, approximately 3.5 million premises across Australia can access the NBN Home Ultrafast wholesale speed tier with wholesale download speeds of 500 Mbps to close to 1 Gbps, on demand.” NBN also said on Tuesday it has added 900,000 premises to its plans to be eligible for upgrades to full fibre. The total number of eligible premises now stands at 1.1 million homes, with 2 million planned to be eligible by 2023 when the upgrades will hit the mass market. The list of suburbs for the additional 900,000 homes is below, broken down by state. New South WalesAlexandria, Albion Park, Austinmer, Balgownie, Bankstown, Barrack Heights, Barrack Point, Batemans Bay, Belmont, Bogangar, Byron Bay, Cabarita Beach, Camperdown, Charlestown, Claymore, Cordeaux Heights, Corlette, Davistown, Dubbo, East Albury, Erina, Erskineville, Ettalong Beach, Fairy Meadow, Fingal Bay, Forster, Gerringong, Glenfield Park, Glenmore Park, Gorokan, Horningsea, Hoxton Park, Hunters Hill, Huntleys Cove, Jerrabomberra, Kariong, Kellyville, Kincumber, Islington, Lake Illawarra, Maryville, Merrywether Heights, Milton, Mount Annan, Mount Pleasant, Narellan, Nelson Bay, North Richmond, North Wollongong, Oak Flats, Old Bar, Prestons, Raymond Terrace, Salamander Bay, Seven Hills, Shoal Bay, Soldiers Point, St Georges Basin, Terrigal, Thirroul, Tuncurry, Tweed Heads, Ulladulla, Umina Beach, Warilla, Warners Bay, West Hoxton, Woodbine, Woolwich, Woonona, Worrigee, Woy Woy, and Yattalunga. Australian Capital TerritoryBanks, Campbell, Conder, Dickson, Gordon, Hume, Lyneham, O’Connor, Reid, and Turner VictoriaAireys Inlet, Albert Park, Alfredton, Barwon Heads, Belmont, Berwick, Caroline Springs, Cowes, Craigieburn, Deer Park (additional footprint), Delacombe, Derrimut, Echuca, Fairhaven, Geelong, Geelong West, Grovedale, Hampton Park, Hastings, Highton, Kalimna, Kangaroo Flat, Lakes Entrance, Leopold, Mernda, Mornington, Ocean Grove, Pakenham, Pearcedale, Rosebud, Sebastopol, Seymore, Somerville, Sunshine West, Tarneit, Torquay, Traralgon, Warrnambool, Waurn Ponds, West Wodonga, and Wodonga. QueenslandAlexandra Headland, Andergrove, Bargara, Bayview Heights, Beaconsfield, Bellara, Bentley Park, Blacks Beach, Brinsmead, Buderim, Bulimba, Burpengary, Burpengary East, Caboolture, Caboolture South, Cannonvale, Castaways Beach, Clifton Beach, Coolangatta, Coolum Beach, Cooroibah, Craiglie, Currimundi, Dolphin Heads, Earville, Edmonton, Eimeo, Forest Lake, Freshwater, Glenella, Griffin, Heathwood, Kawungan, Kewarra Beach, Lawnton, Meridan Plains, Monoora, Mooloolaba, Manunda, Marcoola, Marcus Beach, Maroochydore, Minyama, Mooroobool, Morayfield, Mount Coolum, Mount Pleasant, Mount Sheridan, Mountain Creek, Murrumba Downs, Newtown (4350), Noosa Heads, Noosaville, Ormeau, Pacific Paradise, Pacific Pines, Parrearra, Peregian Beach, Port Douglas, Proserpine, Redlynch, Rothwell, Seventeen Mile Rocks, Stratford, Sunrise Beach, Sunshine Beach, Tewantin, Trinity Beach, Twin Waters, Upper Coomera, Urraween, Victoria Point, Warana, White Rock, and Woree. South AustraliaAndrews Farm, Ascot, Ascot Park, Balcatta, Edwardstown, Exeter, Glanville, Grange, Largs Bay, Munno Park West, New Port, Port Adelaide, Seaton, Semaphore, Tennyson, West Lakes, and Woodville West. Western AustraliaBalcatta, Balga, Bayswater, Beaconsfield, Beckenham, Belmont, Bentley, Bicton, Cannington, City Beach, Cloverdale, Coogee, East Cannington, East Fremantle, Fremantle, Gosnells, Hamilton Hill, Highgate, Hilton, Huntingdale, Karawara, Karrinyup, Kewdale, Maylands, Midland, Morley, Mount Lawley, Nollamara, North Fremantle, North Perth, Osborne Park, Palmyra, Redcliffe, Riverton, Rivervale, Rossmoyne, Samson, Scarborough, Shelley, South Fremantle, Southern River, Spearwood, St James, Stirling, Tuart Hill, Waikiki, Waterford, Wembley Downs, Westminster, and Yokine. TasmaniaCamdale, Cooee, Devonport, Howrah, Legana, Ocean Vista, Park Grove, Paklands, Sandy Bay, Shorewell Park, and Tranmere Northern TerritoryAlice Springs, Araluen, Braitling, Ciccone, Desert Springs, East Side, Gillen, Ilpara, Larapinta, Ross, Sadadeen, and The Gap. Related Coverage More

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Telstra announced on Monday it was opening a AU$200 million co-investment fund for regional mobile coverage to run over the next four years. The telco said it will be looking to partner with governments, local councils, and businesses to make regional projects viable. “We have seen great success from this type of approach in the past, with Telstra investing over AU$120 million in such projects over the last few years,” Telstra CEO Andy Penn said. “Our investments … have increased capacity in our network year on year to cater to the around 40% per annum growth in our customer’s traffic demand, and we have been able to extend our coverage up to 100,000 square kilometres each year.” The telco also said it was putting an extra AU$150 million towards improving its regional networks. “These include improving coverage at popular destination spots in regional areas, capacity upgrades, the upgrade of 3G only sites to 4G and building new 4G sites, technology development for long range sites and small cells with satellite backhaul,” Penn said. “Last week when the government announced the result of the Regional Connectivity Program funding, Telstra was the only major retail provider to win projects and commit funding to improve services.

“In the [Commonwealth’s] Mobile Black Spot Program, Telstra has put up three times more capital than the rest of the industry put together, and we are building more than 75% of all of the mobile black spot towers in the program.” From the Regional Connectivity Program (RCP), Telstra is set to be involved in 30 projects at a cost of AU$16 million from the telco, AU$13 million from state and local governments, and AU$26 million from the Commonwealth. One big ticket item is the AU$9.8 million project to provide a six-fold upgrade to King Island connectivity and set up a 110km radio link across Bass Strait back to Victoria. The telco will also be involved in a AU$8.3 million fibre upgrade in East Arnhem, a AU$6.3 million network upgrade in Gippsland, a AU$5.6 million upgrade in Far North South Australia, and a AU$5.3 million transmission upgrade to Mornington Island. Another AU$19.3 million will be allocated to 25 projects to improve mobile connectivity. Meanwhile, Western Australia detailed the projects that will make up the AU$23 million of RCP improvements. The federal government is kicking in AU$17.1 million, while WA puts forward AU$5.88 million of funding. Among the projects are eight mobile coverage improvements from Telstra, two mobile coverage upgrades from Pivotel, three projects upgrading fixed wireless coverage, two improving satellite broadband connectivity, and one project in excess of AU$3 million to shift from satellite coverage to fibre to the premise in Halls Creek. Related Coverage More

A few years ago, video meetings were still rare for most people, something you did once a month, maybe, if you worked in an office for a big enough company. These events were infrequent enough that everyone struggled to remember how to make everything work. And then a global pandemic abruptly sent us all home early from work and school, and online meetings and classes quickly replaced in-person events. Now that video conferencing services have left their niche and became part of mainstream life, we’ve all become experienced online meeting participants.Even as the world gradually reopens for face-to-face business meetings and kids go back to the classroom, video conferencing tools have proven their worth. That’s especially true for freelancers, small businesses, and informal work alliances. If you’re in that category, you don’t have a corporate budget to pay monthly per-user fees for a service that everyone in the company can use, nor do you have full-time support staff to deploy and manage the service. Smaller businesses and sole proprietors need video conferencing tools that just work, preferably for free.That’s the purpose of this list, which focuses on services that allow people to collaborate for work or school projects, although there’s no reason you can’t use them for hanging out with friends online and hosting virtual cocktail parties. Online meetings can include collaborative features like screen sharing or whiteboarding and can typically be recorded for posterity. The most important qualification to make this list is that the service must be completely free, with no trial editions, expiration dates, or hidden costs. Typically, that involves technical limits on what you can do with the service: a cap on the number of people that can join a meeting, for example, or a time limit for each meeting. If you can stay within those lines, you can get a lot of work done for free.

The biggest, best-known brand in video conferencing

zoom.com

In the category of “tech company names that have become generic terms,” Zoom is right up there with Xerox and Google, no doubt much to the consternation of the company’s trademark lawyers. But Zoom’s share of mind towers over its competitors, and for good reason: Its user base has grown exponentially since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.Zoom’s basic plan (“Free, forever. No credit cards required.”) allows unlimited one-on-one meetings but limits group sessions to 40 minutes and 100 participants. You can record a meeting, but it’s stored locally. Support is through the online Help Center only. By contrast, paid plans can schedule marathon sessions that last up to 30 hours and offer cloud storage that any team member can access anytime. The biggest advantage of Zoom is its ubiquity. Everyone knows how to use it, thanks to a year of pandemic-mandated meetings can classes. If you can live without the bells and whistles in the paid plans, and if the 40-minute hard stop for every meeting isn’t an issue, then Zoom away. 

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If you use Office, you’ll feel right at home

Microsoft’s older video calling tool, Skype, is still around. Your family might even use it to keep in touch with the grandparents when they call from their iPad every weekend. For collaboration, though, Teams is the preferred alternative. Businesses with Microsoft 365 subscriptions get the full Teams feature set as part of their paid plan, and accredited academic institutions and nonprofit organizations can get no-cost, full-featured plans as well.For everyone else, there’s a free Teams option.  Anyone can sign up for the free version of Microsoft Teams using a personal email address; that tier supports up to 300 meeting participants, with meetings that can last for up to 24 hours. (Microsoft has extended both limits from the normal 100 participants and 60 minutes during the COVID-19 pandemic.) Other standard features include guest access, one-on-one and group video and audio calls, shared files (2GB per user and 10GB per team), screen sharing, and document collaboration using online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. 

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Screen sharing and virtual whiteboard features are key

Webex, which was founded in 1995 and acquired by Cisco in 2007, is upfront about its Basic plan: “Our free plan has limited access to certain features, but it’s a great way for you to try before you buy.” Despite that disclaimer, frugal Webex users can accomplish a fair amount, with customizable meeting layout options, screen sharing on desktop and mobile devices, whiteboarding, and the ability to save recordings locally. Meetings can have up to 100 participants, with meeting times capped at 50 minutes. Support for the free plan is online only.You’ll need to upgrade to the Meet plan ($15 per user per month) to increase the number of participants to 200 and extend maximum meeting times to 24 hours. Other premium features include cloud recording and streaming from Facebook Live.

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Enterprise infrastructure, priced for a sole proprietor

Lifesize has made its mark building solutions for enterprise communications and call centers, but if you look closely, you can find free plans aimed at sole proprietors and very small businesses. As with most of its competitors, free meetings come with limits on time and the number of participants. In this case, the limits are fairly stingy: 40 minutes per meeting, with a maximum of 10 online attendees. But as part of the deal you get the same infrastructure that global enterprises use, with video and screen sharing resolution at full HD (1080p).Meeting participants can join using native web apps in Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. Downloadable apps are also available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android.

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Best for those who want to host very large meetings

Wait, isn’t this the company that has been around since 2000 doing free conference calls and making a gazillion dollars a year by collecting a tiny piece of the interconnect fees when you use your phone on its network? Yep, that’s the one. Not surprisingly, their video conferencing service is also free.On its landing page, FreeConferenceCall aggressively compares its feature set to those offered by a free Zoom Basic plan. You’re allowed to have more participants (1000 per meeting, instead of Zoom’s 100) with no time limits on meetings; in addition, you get user reports (a perk reserved for paid subscribers in Zoom’s universe) and 1 GB of cloud space for recording meetings. You can pay for small upgrades, like more cloud storage space, but for most people a free account will cover all the bases.FreeConferenceCall has apps for Windows, MacOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. 

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The Canadian alternative

Despite the extremely similar names, there’s no connection between this Toronto-based company and FreeConferenceCall. Parent company Iotum is in the API business, with a platform that supports voice and video calls, live streaming, and real-time messaging. It all uses the same infrastructure as the audio conference call service and includes the full set of features you expect from better-known alternatives, including screen sharing, whiteboarding, and full moderator controls. Paid upgrades allow international dial-in numbers, custom hold music, and recording capabilities.You can use FreeConference.com with downloadable desktop apps for Windows, MacOS, and Linux, as well as mobile apps on iOS and Android, or set up a meeting using any modern browser. Chrome apps and an Outlook add-in for PC are also available.

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Will free video conferencing software work for webinars and online events?

Our focus in this article is on small meetings, formal and informal, between people collaborating on projects. One person usually plays host, with participants able to chime in when necessary. Webinars and presentations are a decidedly different event. Instead of participants, you have audience members, who typically can’t speak and don’t have a video feed.All of the services in this list can be pressed into service for large events, subject to participant limits. But for larger online events aimed at a public audience, Facebook Live and YouTube Live are more popular choices.

Which video conferencing options are worth paying for?

The biggest benefit of a paid video conferencing plan is the removal of meeting time limits. For a small team of remote workers, it’s not that big a deal for everyone to join a new meeting after the first 40 or 50 minutes runs out. But for larger meetings, especially those involving clients or customers, that forced end marks you as a cheapskate.Other worthy upgrades include administrative tools that allow a host to designate another participant to run a meeting, as well as cloud recording and transcribing capabilities so that attendees (and those who couldn’t make the live event) can review the event after the fact.

What are the limitations of Zoom’s free video conferencing plan?

The limitations on Zoom’s free Basic plan apply to anyone hosting a meeting. The number of participants is capped at 100, and group meetings end automatically after 40 minutes. In addition, a host can only have one meeting in process at a time, whereas paying subscribers can purchase multiple licenses to allow multiple meetings.Other limitations worth noting: You can’t dial in to a Zoom meeting set up by a free plan subscriber, and there are no options for polling, transcribing, or assigning a co-host.

How we narrowed the fieldWe looked at currently available video conference services that support a wide range of desktop and mobile platforms, concentrating on those with a well-established reputation and a reliable infrastructure for hosting high-quality, reliable meetings. We didn’t do any testing ourselves.The most important factor, as we note in the title, is that the service must be completely free for long-term use, with no expiration date or hidden costs. That filter knocks some well-known names off the list, including Intermedia AnyMeeting, GoToMeeting, and Google Hangouts Meet. Every program in our list offers some feature limitations available only with paid upgrades, but individuals and small businesses that can work with those limitations can use these services for free, for as long as they want. How to chooseEvery video conferencing service offers a core set of features that are pretty much the same. Meeting participants can connect using audio and video hardware on a PC or mobile device. The ability to share a screen with other participants is universal. Some, but not all, of these services also allow document sharing, collaborative editing, and virtual whiteboarding.The biggest differentiating factor is, of course, the number of meeting participants and the time limit for online meetings. If you regularly host short meetings with small teams (under 10 people), any of these services will do. For larger groups, be sure to examine the limits carefully. Another differentiating factor is recording capabilities, with most free plans allowing local recordings only and reserving cloud storage space for paid subscribers.

Because these services are free, there’s no barrier to trying them out before you settle on one that matches your needs and expectations. If your trial isn’t satisfactory, move on to the next contender.

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The company responsible for running the National Broadband Network has ended its consultation on whether to procure any existing dark fibre for enterprise connections, saying it is not cost effective. The consultation was kicked off at the start of 2020 as Australian enterprise telcos complained of NBN overbuilding existing networks. In an update posted last week, NBN after receiving quotes from six parties covering 31 sites as a proof of concept (PoC), and a mixture of fibre to the basement, fibre to the node, and fibre to the curb, said it was not impressed with any of them. “There is no evidence to suggest that an industry-wide procurement model for third party dark fibre connections to deliver wholesale enterprise services would be commercial or operationally feasible based on current NBN build costs, available third-party footprint, operational timelines and SLAs. Therefore, NBN will be concluding the consultation at this time,” it said. NBN said in a number of cases it would need to conduct build activity to connect third-party fibre in-building, and many responses said that meeting NBN’s service level agreements would “prove challenging”. It added that a majority of sites were in areas where the company had the lowest cost to upgrade connections to fibre. “It is clear that the indicative prices received … were not commercially viable options for NBN,” it said. “A key reason for this is that the cost to procure a dark fibre connection from a third-party provider involves a mix of upfront and ongoing recurring charges where NBN’s build cost only involves a one-off upfront cost.”

However, as its analysis was purely a desktop calculation, NBN conceded it might be able to get lower rates if the process would have led to actual usage. “It appears that several respondents quoted retail level prices for dark fibre services which are typically among the most premium offerings available at a retail level,” NBN said. “By contrast, in conducting the industry consultation NBN envisaged a procurement model that encouraged a lower cost approach from providers that desired to secure revenue from a sunk and potentially under-utilised asset in a competitive market. “Despite this, NBN acknowledges that in a genuine commercial tender for a large number of sites the prices may result in lower quoted prices (this fact was reflected in subsequent discussions with a number of PoC participants).” Elsewhere on Monday, Communications Electrical Plumbing Union (CEPU) has called for a Senate inquiry into “NBN Co’s shambolic management and pyramid contracting scheme”. It also walked off the job and conducted a car convoy to NBN’s headquarters. “NBN Co needs to scrap their dodgy pyramid contracting model, improve pay rates and ditch the shonky booking app,” CEPU national president Shane Murphy said. “Subcontractors are being forced to sign new contracts with NBN Co delivery partners which cut their pay, all whilst NBN executives paid themselves AU$77m in bonuses during the pandemic. It’s infuriating.” In a recent Senate hearing, NBN faced a grilling from Labor senators over how the company ensures the contracts between prime contractors and subcontractors are compliant with legal requirements. In response to questions, NBN COO Kathrine Dyer said the company had a “very strict” governance model. “We’re very mindful of … the contracts that we have with them but …. it’s not something that we monitor, we monitor our relationship with our contractors,” she said at the time. “We are very confident in our governance and audit process we have in place with our delivery partners that they are complying with the nature of the contracts that we have with them.” CEO Stephen Rue said NBN can direct one of its contractors to provide a statutory declaration that subcontractors had been paid, but that he wasn’t aware of any breach. “Surely, it’s the obligation of the delivery partner to comply with all legislation, laws, employment law, health and safety etcetera, and our contracts with them require them to do that,” Rue said. “It is the delivery partners obligation to comply with the law.” On Monday, Murphy said technicians were having to deal with a work dispatch system that could take three hours to book work off and leave customers waiting for technicians to head to the next job. “These technicians are highly skilled workers — yet because of the NBN’s ‘pyramid style’ sham contracting scheme, it’s the executives and middle-men who are profiting from Australia’s NBN while the people doing the work are getting get ripped off and consumers continue to suffer with substandard connections,” Murphy added. NBN said it did not expect there to be any impact on NBN operations, new connections, or network faults. “NBN Co is aware of some issues that our delivery partners and field technicians have experienced with our recently deployed SMAX-Go mobile application for managing and logging work requests,” a spokesperson said. “We have significantly improved the app over the last few weeks to address functionality, system performance and general user experience pain-points, and will continue to modify and enhance the app in the next two weeks. We appreciate technicians’ patience while we work to improve the app.” The company said it was “working constructively” with the CEPU to maintain “strong, productive working relationships”. “As is standard industry practice … our construction and maintenance contracts place responsibility for compliance with the law and relevant legislation on our delivery partners in relation to the contracted services,” the spokesperson said. “Delivery partners are free to use their own employees or sub-contractors when fulfilling the work and maintenance outlined in our contracts with them.” Related Coverage More

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Singaporean-owned Australian telco Optus has said it will be switching off its 2100MHz band for 3G services in April 2022, with the spectrum reallocated to its LTE network. Consequently, the telco is warning that instead of having a dual-band 3G network using both 900MHz and 2100MHz spectrum, it will after next April only be relying on a single band at 900MHz. This will apply for Optus customers, and retailers that resell its network. “Customers with a 2100MHz-only 3G device will need to upgrade their device to have 4G LTE capability to access the Optus network, which will provide them a better customer experience than the 2100Mhz 3G network,” the company said. Optus said it would reach out to customers impacted by the change over the coming months, including those with “very old SIM cards”.The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said in advice earlier this week that a key competition concern was the lack of spectrum under 1GHz held by Optus, compared to Telstra and TPG, once the 850/900MHz band is cleared out for an upcoming spectrum auction later this year.”Optus’ ability to compete effectively in the mobile services market will likely be constrained if it does not acquire more sub-1GHz band spectrum in the 850/900MHz allocation,” the watchdog wrote. “In particular, there is a risk that Optus may not be able to roll out 5G technology widely and efficiently in Australia in the absence of more sub-1GHz spectrum.”

As it currently stands, the ACCC said Telstra holds 46% of all sub-1GHz spectrum in metro areas and 54% in regional areas, TPG has 38% in metro areas and 31% in the regions, with Optus claiming only 15% in metro and regional areas. “The ACCC considers that the asymmetry of sub-1GHz spectrum holdings between the MNOs [mobile network operators] is likely to have a significant effect on Optus’ ability to compete with the other MNOs in the mobiles services market,” it said. “In the short term, Optus and TPG may need additional sub-1GHz band spectrum if they wish to continue to operate their 3G networks. However in the medium to longer term, Optus is the only MNO that does not currently have any sub-1GHz band spectrum that it could feasibly use to deploy 5G services.” Despite the ACCC not recommending for any spectrum to be reserved for any telco, preferring a sub-1GHz limit be imposed to prevent Telstra scooping up too much spectrum, the department answerable to the former Optus executive cum Communications Minister Paul Fletcher opted to set 10Mhz aside for both TPG and Optus in the upper four lots available, where the telcos currently operate under apparatus licences. Related Coverage More