Displaying items by tag: Rod Sims

The competition regulator, the ACCC, has announced that it will not accept a long-term behavioural undertaking offered by Google that sought to address competition concerns about its proposed acquisition of wearables supplier and manufacturer Fitbit.

Search giant Google has rejected the Australian news media code which was introduced into Parliament on 9 December, saying it "remains unworkable, but there is a way forward".

Australia’s competition watchdog the ACCC has instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against Facebook and two of its subsidiaries for false, misleading or deceptive conduct when promoting its Onavo Protect mobile app to Australian consumers.

Average petrol prices rose in the September quarter 2020 after a record low earlier in the year, but still remain well below the 15-year real average of 151.6 cents per litre (cpl), according to a new report from the competition watchdog, the ACCC.

Increased broadband speeds have improved performances of popular streaming services such as Netflix and YouTube during mid-September and October when compared to a pre-COVID baseline of February 2020, according to the ACCC.

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), Citigroup Global Markets Australia, Deutsche Bank and six senior banking executives have all been committed to the Federal Court of Australia for trial on criminal cartel charges.

The boffins at Google know many things, but one of the lessons in life they have failed to grasp is that one should learn to acknowledge defeat gracefully.

Broadband speeds have been hitting records during the pandemic, with RSPs now able to deliver almost 94% of the plan speed during the peak evening hours, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says.

In his quest to determine whether or not he should give the green light for the merger between search giant Google and American digital health and fitness company Fitbit, ACCC chairman Rod Sims would do well to peruse the transcripts of the entire Google-Oracle lawsuit over Java.

The Australian consumer watchdog has called for submissions on a proposed court-enforceable undertaking offered by Google with regard to its bid to buy American digital health and fitness company Fitbit.

Telstra has been taken to court by the competition watchdog, the ACCC, over its admitted breach of consumer law through “unconscionable conduct” in the sale of post-paid mobile products to Indigenous consumers. 

Australian news businesses that are arguing for a news media code to ensure that digital platforms pay for their content are trying to turn back time and make the Internet much less open and its business models less diverse, the Internet pioneer Vint Cerf, a Google vice-president and Internet Evangelist, claims.

After a long silence, Google has once again spoken up on the news media code that is expected to be finalised by 10 December, reiterating that it will only accept a code that is "fair, principled and technically feasible".

The number of higher speed broadband services in Australia has exceeded 5 million for the first time, jumping from 4.9 million to over 5.2 million last quarter, according to a new report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

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.

Australia’s competition watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, says it is keeping a close watch on global anti-trust efforts focusing on major digital platforms, including the US Department of Justice’s recent case against Google and proposed new competition laws in Europe.

Lower entry-level prices and other proposed improvements to NBN wholesale arrangements are in the long term interests of Australian broadband customers, according to a new report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)

The competition regulator the ACCC has flagged a substantial fall in the price of wholesale transmission services in many regional and rural parts of Australia following its decision to reduce the regulated prices for the declared Domestic Transmission Capacity Service (DTCS).

The calendar for progressing the mandatory media code into legislation has been delayed a bit, ACCC chairman Rod Sims admits, adding that he still expected to see the law presented to Parliament in time for it to be in place before the end of the year.

Mobile phone services provider Amayism has paid a penalty of $126,000 and fellow mobile company, Lycamobile, a penalty of $12,600 for alleged false or misleading representations about their mobile phone plans.