Displaying items by tag: Productivity Commission

GUEST OPINION: While there is pressure on application developers to make their products perform better under variable network conditions, networks themselves are also ripe for rework.

The Insurance Council of Australia has called for greater data availability in response to concerns it has with the Australian Government’s proposed government data sharing and release legislation.

Australia will soon have a national data commissioner, with the federal government saying yesterday that this was part of its responses to the Productivity Commission's final report into Data Availability and Use.

The Australian Labor Party has criticised the Coalition Government's approach to reform of the Universal Service Obligation, pointing out that it had managed to produce only a two-page response to the Productivity Commission's 450-page inquiry report into the USO.

The federal government has announced a programme of work to implement a new Universal Service Guarantee, which it says will ensure all Australians have access to voice and broadband services, regardless of where they live.

The Telecommunications Reform legislation provides a guarantee for all premises to access broadband services, but concerns remain in regional Australia about the reliability of telephone services.

Australia's familiar network of payphone booths will disappear if the Productivity Commission's recommendation to scrap the voice-based telecommunications universal service obligation is accepted by the government.

The Labor Party says the release of the Productivity Commission report into the Universal Service Obligation (USO) highlights the imperative to reframe the objective for universal telecommunications services to provide baseline broadband and voice services as the NBN rolls out.

Vodafone has led the industry chorus rejoicing at the Productivity Commission’s recommendations for the winding up of the telecoms Universal Service Obligations, describing the commission’s report as the “final nail in the coffin” for the current USO.

The much-criticised telecoms industry Universal Service Obligation (USO) finally looks set for the scrap heap, with the Productivity Commission recommending to the federal government that the programme be wound up by 2020.

The Rural, Regional and Remote Communications Coalition has added its voice to those raising concern over proposed changes to the telecommunications Universal Service Obligation, expressing concern that reliable home phone services in the bush may be put at risk.

Internet Australia wants the company building the National Broadband Network, NBN Co, to take primary responsibility for ensuring effective delivery of broadband data services under proposed changes to the telecommunications Universal Service Obligation (USO).

The direction that the Productivity Commission has indicated the Universal Service Obligation will take may put some consumers at risk of having reduced services, according to the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network.

The Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia (IPTA) has warned that recommendations by the Productivity Commission on Intellectual Property Arrangements would significantly weaken the Australian patent system, introduce uncertainty into obtaining and enforcing patent rights, and make the system more expensive for innovators,

The Productivity Commission has called on the Australian Government to make it clear that residents who get around geoblocking to access any kind of material are not in violation of the country's copyright laws.

The Communications Alliance and the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) have given their broad support to the Productivity Commission’s proposals and aims to increase the availability and use of data in Australia.

The federal government has proposed legislation to establish a Regional Broadband Scheme and the introduction of an industry levy to fund the costs of paying for the provision of the National Broadband Network in unprofitable regional areas.

The newly-formed coalition fighting to improve communications services in regional Australia is hopeful voice and broadband access for Australians living and working in rural and remote areas will be improved as a result of a review of the telecoms Universal Service Obligations.

The peak industry body looking after the interests of telecoms consumers, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), has welcomed the Productivity Commission’s report on the telecommunications Universal Service Obligations but says Customer Service Guarantees provided under the USO are outdated and in need of updating.

The Competitive Carriers Coalition, the industry association representing the interests of non-dominant telcos, wants the federal government to act immediately to dump the Telecommunications Universal Service Obligations scheme.