Displaying items by tag: Households

Major falls in wholesale electricity costs and new laws requiring retailers to pass on cuts are likely to result in lower electricity bills in 2021, despite residential consumption rising by 10% and household bills increasing by 7% in 2020, according to competition regulator the ACCC.

Australia’s competition watchdog the ACCC has called for stronger measures to be taken to keep high gas prices in check, saying there is a need to ensure businesses and households are not paying more for gas than would be expected in a well-functioning market.

The decision by National Broadband Network operator, NBN Co to extend its Education Assistance offer until 15 January 2021, has earned the praise of communications consumers peak body ACCAN, which says the targeted offer from the company waives the wholesale costs for many services on the 25/5 Mbps speed tier - and encourages telcos to offer free or heavily discounted NBN plans to low-income households with school-aged children.

A blockchain solar energy trading trial that lets households set their own electricity prices has found the technology is technically feasible, viewed positively by participants and can lead to localised energy autonomy - and provide a big boost for peer-to-peer systems globally, according to Western Australian headquartered blockchain cryptocurrency and energy trading platform provider Power Ledger.

NBN Co, the operators of the National Broadband Network, is claiming an earlier than planned activation of connections to the network for more than seven million homes and businesses across Australia.

The competition watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has granted new interim authorisation for an expanded range of measures allowing participants in the gas and electricity markets to work together to help safeguard energy supply during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Australian Government says it has set reasonable expectations of energy companies to protect householders and small business customers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and will closely monitor retailer and network compliance with measures put in place by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER).

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced $2.7 million in funding for digital energy technology company Wattwatchers to develop a consumer-facing energy data hub - ‘My Energy Marketplace’ - that will give greater visibility over household energy use.

There is a continuing decline in household landline telephones, according to a new report from the telecommunications regulator ACMA revealing that for the first time more than half of Australian adults rely solely on their mobile for making and receiving voice calls at home.

NBN Co’s flagging of proposed lower wholesaler pricing for some broadband network entry level product bundles is good news for “budget conscious households” who are now likely to have better options in terms of connecting to the NBN, according to Communications Minister Paul Fletcher.

The Australian Internet of Things at home (IoT@Home) market grew 57% during the past 12 months to $1.1 billion in 2018 and is forecast to reach $5.3 billion by 2023, according to new research.

Thousands of New Zealand households are being roped in to help the country’s competition enforcement agency, The Commerce Commission, monitor and improve broadband performance.

Over one million (45%) Australian households who have connected to the national broadband network experienced issues when transitioning across to the service, according to a newly published research report.

The convenience of robots will trump compromise, says Juniper Research, with AI improving slowly so today’s 1 robot in 25 households becomes 1 in 10 by decade’s end.

The affordability of telecommunications services and access to those services for consumers is under the spotlight at the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) conference which got underway in Sydney today.

The cost of mobile phone and Internet charges are a big concern for many Australians, with charges for the services putting increased pressure on household budgets.

Wi-Fi connectivity at home is growing at a rapid rate for consumers all around the world with the average home now having six media devices connected to its Wi-Fi network – but it’s not all smooth sailing with a disparity between consumer expectations and performance of their networks.

Australia’s living standards have increased marginally, with those of the younger generation outpacing older generations, and the overall cost of living for all groups in the community remaining virtually flat.

Australia’s standard of living edged upwards in the second half of last year following two years of zero growth, with the modest rise in standards mainly due to “weak increases” in our cost of living due to lower petrol and household energy prices.

Australia’s telecommunications infrastructure industry has banded together to launch a new initiative to address what it says is the problem of ‘public confusion’ about what to do to make the most of the NBN at home.