Optus has unveiled a suite of initiatives it says are designed to support small businesses to improve their operations, growth and profitability by better harnessing the power of Apple devices.

The telecommunications regulator, The Australian Communications and Media Authority, continues to clamp down on unlawful telemarketing and breaches of spam laws, with electricity, gas and Internet provider Sumo Power the latest company to be hit with a penalty for infringing the law on telemarketing.

Twenty-one members of a huge India-based fraud and money-laundering conspiracy that used phone scams to cheat Americans of millions of dollars have been sentenced to varying terms in prison. The sentencing took place in Houston on Friday.