Displaying items by tag: Mark Gregory

The NBN Co has indulged in various kinds of spin over the years to project itself as an organisation that is doing a brilliant job at rolling out a broadband network in Australia and thus its latest stunt, to keep some of its accounts hidden and reveal them only at the half-year and full-year results stages, should not come as a surprise to anyone.

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.

As part of our series on the future of the NBN, iTWire had hoped to round off things with the opinions of Communications Minister Paul Fletcher and Shadow Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, the two people who are in a position to actually decide on what the future of the network will be.

Selling the NBN Co to a private entity as a monopoly would be the worst way to ensure that the network is upgraded, a network expert says, adding that if the definition of insanity is to do the same thing repeatedly and expect different results, then privatising NBN Co as a monopoly would definitely qualify.

The national broadband network faces three major challenges as it looks ahead to the era after its official rollout was completed, network expert Dr Mark Gregory says, adding that these are reducing the digital divide, upgrading to full-fibre in fixed access areas and contributing to provide universal access.

The Australian Government appears to have decided to outsource its cyber security strategy to the US, calling in the former US secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, to play a role in drafting the country's 2020 strategy in what seems to be admission of a longstanding cultural cringe and also an indictment of all the Australian cyber security professionals.

Enabling DOCSIS 3.1 on the HFC network would be a good thing in the short term, but the longer game will always be a full-fibre given its longevity, tech experts have told iTWire.

Many statistics in the NBN Co's results for the full-year 2018, announced on Thursday, show an improvement, but one area where things appear to be either worse or static is the cost of installation per premises.

Banning Huawei from playing a role in Australia's 5G rollout would put Optus and Vodafone at a massive disadvantage vis-a-vis Telstra and create chaos in the local telecommunications market, a respected network analyst says.

Australia's national broadband network, the NBN, will not return a profit on the billions invested in the project, a new report from credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's says.

At last week's hearing of the joint standing committee on Australia's national broadband network, the NBN, Associate Professor Mark Gregory of RMIT University was repeatedly questioned about his political affiliations, after he had made a fairly robust opening statement.

Regular commentators on the national broadband network have mixed opinions about the departure of NBN Co chief executive Bill Morrow, with some not absolving him of the condition of the project and others saying he could do no better under the circumstances.

Telstra's variation to the NBN migration plan, using fibre-to-the-curb in addition to other technologies, has been granted approval by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

A prominent network expert and frequent commentator on the national broadband network has described NBN Co's half-yearly results as a "train wreck" and said that there is nothing that can be done to get the company back on the rails.

Technical experts who have closely followed the rollout of the NBN say Telstra's HFC network will need considerable work done on it to meet the needs of NBN customers.

One of Australia's well-known network experts says the comments made by NBN Co chief executive Bill Morrow on the ABC's Four Corners NBN programme on Monday night indicate that he has discovered the company is in trouble as it is unlikely to make any money as per its business plan.

One of Australia's better-known network experts says the move by NBN Co, the company building Australia's national broadband network, to use a diagnostic tool to check home wiring to see if it may be causing speed issues should be both applauded and condemned.

The head of a Tasmanian retail service provider has taken issue with statements made by Robin Eckermann, an adjunct professor at Canberra University, about CVC pricing and its impact on prices for NBN packages.

Networking veterans have cast doubts on assertions made today that the speed woes experienced by customers on the national broadband network could be eradicated if telecommunications companies paid $9.75 per month for each connection.

Given its current state, Australia will be able to have a full-fibre national broadband network only by 2030, and that after shelling out an additional $30 billion to $50 billion, according to a network expert.