Displaying items by tag: Malcolm Turnbull

The NBN Co's continuing bid to placate regulators, retailers and consumer organisations means its financial worries are far from over, independent telecommunications consultant Paul Budde says.

The American news agency Bloomberg has claimed that Chinese telecommunications vendor Huawei used malicious code to spy on Optus in 2012, a claim that the telco has denied. The story in question is replete with dubious assertions, risible claims and quotes that do not match what the reporters say they do.

The final cost of the NBN is likely to end up being in the $90-billion range, a figure that was once claimed in 2013 by Malcolm Turnbull as what it would cost if Labor continued with its plan, a well-known independent telecommunications analyst says.

Malcolm Turnbull has some explaining to do about the costs of the NBN this morning, after Guardian Australia reported figures hidden in a report commissioned by him showed a full-fibre NBN or a multi-technology mix would have cost about the same.

The CIA has invested US$1.6 million (A$2.2 million) in the company behind the secure messaging app Wickr, through its investment arm In-Q-Tel, the American website Motherboard reports, citing public disclosure records as a source.

OPINION The Shadow Minister for Communications and Member for Greenway Michelle Rowland, issued a media release titled 'Department slaps down dodgy Fletcher for misleading about fibre NBN'.

ANALYSIS The Australian Federal Police appears to have provided the best possible argument for not passing federal bills that seek to enhance its powers, following the provision of details about using existing Australian encryption laws to read the encrypted messages of criminal gangs and take them down.

Industrial control systems security specialist Dragos has gained a well-known investor as it expands its presence in Australia and New Zealand, with former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull having ploughed some of his hard-earned into the firm.

One of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull's contributions to the national broadband network, the HFC network, has been termed a dog's breakfast by a retail service provider.

The NBN Co, the company rolling out Australia's national broadband network, will stop providing new connections on its HFC network within a matter of days due to an acute shortage of network termination devices, reliable sources have told iTWire.

The Telecommunications Sector Security Reforms, put in place just after the Turnbull Government was toppled in 2018, have hit Huawei Australia hard, with the company losing 900 direct jobs, more than 1500 sub-contracting jobs and $100 million in R&D in Australia, the company claims in a submission to a parliamentary inquiry.

The NBN Co, the body rolling out Australia's national broadband network, has taken on another $1.2 billion of debt at 1% over five years.

A senior official from the Australian arm of Forcepoint, an American multinational security software developer, has welcomed the news that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will create a cyber security role in his cabinet when he carries out a reshuffle next month.

If proof were ever needed that the US directly interferes in Australia's internal affairs, US ambassador Arthur Culvahouse has provided it in spades, intervening in a dispute between Beijing and Canberra over a list of Australian actions which reportedly annoyed the Middle Kingdom.

A media statement by Ericsson chief executive Borje Ekholm to the effect that vendors should not be banned from 5G without properly balancing national security concerns with free competition has been hailed by Huawei Australia as a "welcome injection of common sense”.

The Australian Government has cheerfully forked out $1.2 billion of those green notes to settle a lawsuit in the robodebt case. I think it's a good moment to stop and consider whether some ministers should be told, in strict terms, to avoid taking any initiatives that involve technology.

It's beginning to look like the Federal Government should avoid anything to do with technology following the revelation on Thursday that $70 million of taxpayers' money was spent on the COVIDSafe app – and only 17 cases were detected through its use.

Talking with Malcolm Turnbull on Friday about the big dynamics shaping our region, Peter Coroneos was struck by a few things Malcolm Turnbull said.

The Coalition Government's decision to provide fibre connections to about 75% of homes on the NBN, making a total of eight million in all by the end of 2023, has been welcomed by tech experts, but there have been some reservations about what the policy would actually achieve.

Given that he was the person most responsible for the current parlous state of the national broadband network, it is surprising that former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has devoted just nine pages to the network in A Bigger Picture, his recent 660-page memoir.