An iTWire publication www.itwire.com Editor: Chris Coughlan Monday 09 August 2021

CommuniCations allianCe throws support behind Government’s new haCkinG powers

plans

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CommsWire/Telecommunications Editor: Chris Coughlan Staff writers: Alex Zaharov-Reutt, Peter Dinham,

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CommuniCations allianCe throws support behind Government’s new haCkinG powers plans

telecoms industry peak body Communications alliance has welcomed the push by the Federal parliament’s security committee to “rein in” the sweeping new hacking powers proposed to be handed to national security agencies under the identify and disrupt bill.

In the report of its inquiry, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) has recommended 34 amendments to the controversial legislation, which CA says would allow agencies to covertly hack and disrupt the networks, accounts and devices of Australians where there is suspicion of a crime being committed.

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The PJCIS recommendations include changes to strengthen the oversight of the activity of agencies, allow for review of how the proposed powers are used and to better protect the privacy of Australians whose devices could be hacked and/or confiscated under the planned new laws.

Communications Alliance CEO, John Stanton [pictured], praised the comprehensive nature of the PJCIS scrutiny of the legislation and the fact that the Committee had supported and included

several recommendations that were put to the PJCIS by Communications Alliance in its submission to the inquiry on behalf of Australia’s telecommunications sector.

“Such sweeping proposed new powers for security agencies must come with appropriate checks, balances and protections,” Stanton said.

“The PJCIS recommendations would provide at least some protection for Australians against the intrusive nature of the framework proposed by the legislation and the potential for such powers to be abused by agencies. They also offer some protections for the employees of companies when they are being asked to cooperate with agencies.

“The PJCIS recommendations – including restricting the powers to only apply to serious offences and mandating judicial authorisation of warrants – should be accepted by the Government and incorporated by Parliament before the legislation is passed.”

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staff writer

Stanton also called on the Government to respond to the PJCIS recommendations for reform and improvement of the Government’s mandatory two-year Data Retention regime.

“The Government makes a lot of noise about the ‘urgency’ of each of the many new national security powers it proposes, emphasising what it describes as the dire nature of the threats Australia is facing,

“It is now nine months since the PJCIS made sensible and well-considered recommendations to address problematic aspects of the Data Retention laws, and 13 months since the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor made vital recommendations on the Assistance and Access (‘encryption’) Bill, but the Government has simply failed to respond and offered no explanation for its lack of action.

“If a balanced approach to national security and law enforcement actually matters to Government, it should behave accordingly,” Stanton concluded.

telsoC broadband Futures Forum: leos and how they diFFer From Geos - oneweb’s plans in australia and Competitor diFFerenCes

this wednesday, 11 august 2021 from 20:00 to 21:30, aest, telsoc will be running an australian broadband Futures Group Forum presented by ruth pritchard-kelly

[pictured next page], the senior advisor for regulatory affairs at oneweb.OneWeb is building an end-to-end Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite system to supply broadband-style data speeds to every part of the world and anticipates achieving full global coverage by around the end of 2022. LEOs differ in characteristics and capabilities from Geostationary Orbit satellites which were first launched in 1964 and previously popularised as a concept in the 1940s by the science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke as a way to revolutionise telecommunications.

LEOs are already starting to provide new opportunities for cost-effective deployment of broadband, particularly where terrestrial or other services don’t exist, perform poorly, such as in rural and remote areas, are more costly to provide, and where geostationary satellites are limited. In such situations LEOs can offer speed, band-width and performance improvements (including latency) and can be more quickly, simply and economically deployed. They also offer an effective means of reducing and potentially eliminating growing digital divide in particular locations, and remote communities, including indigenous areas. As for good broadband they offer improved remote health, education, sensing and other capabilities.

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The TelSoc Forum will comprise three parts.

1. Generic presentation on Low Earth Orbit Satellites (LEOs) and how they differ from longer established Geostationary Orbit satellites (GEOs)

2. OneWeb’s plans in Australia and how OneWeb differs from competitors

3. Q&A / discussion

Go here to book a seat.

Chris Coughlan

Government tells biG teCh to put saFety Firstsocial media and tech companies will be expected to protect their users from online

harms such as bullying and cyber abuse under a new set of basic online safety expectations (bose) released for public consultation by the morrison Government.

Following the passage in June of the tough new Online Safety Act 2021, Australians are now encouraged to have their say on the BOSE, which sets out a series of demands to big tech that reflect how the community expects to be kept safe online.

Under the BOSE, online providers will be subject to core expectations, additional expectation and reasonable steps to ensure the safety of users on their platforms. While core expectations include taking actions to deal with longstanding harms such as cyberbullying or kids accessing violent material, reasonable steps could include actions against such emerging risks such as ‘volumetric attacks’ where ‘digital lynch mobs’ seek to overwhelm a victim with abuse; or that products for children have the highest privacy and safety settings set as default.

Other expectations include:

- That providers take steps to prevent children accessing class 2 material such as R18+ content;

- That services do more to prevent unlawful or harmful material on anonymous accounts;

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Chris Coughlan

- That providers take steps against cyber-bullying, non-consensual intimate images of a person and promotion, incitement or instruction in abhorrent violent conduct; and

- That users have clear ways to make reports or complaints to services.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner will have the power to order tech companies to report on how they are responding to these harms and issue hefty fines of up to $555,000 if they don’t respond.

Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP [pictured], said online safety was a priority of the Government: “We we will always fight to protect all Australians, but especially children, from online harm and we expect big tech to step up and deliver on these expectations.”

Consultation is now open for all Australians to have your say on the proposed BOSE. After considering feedback, the Minister will make the final BOSE in early 2022. Submissions are open until Friday 15 October 2021.

More information, including how to participate, is available here.

nbn Co Creates 44 new nbn business Fibre Zones, oFFers wholesale disCounts on business nbn enterprise

ethernet serviCesnbn Co announced the creation of 44 new nbn business Fibre Zones to deliver premium

business-grade fibre to an additional 60,000 eligible businesses premises across australia, on demand, with no charge for the design and construction of fibre to the premises when they order a premium business nbn enterprise ethernet service.

The new NBN Business Fibre Zones will be available for eligible businesses in these new locations from 1 September 2021. NBN said, if the business customer signs up to a three-year plan from their internet retailer, NBN Co will not charge the retailer an up-front connection cost.

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NBN says, it follows NBN Co’s announcement in September 2020 to create the first 240 NBN Business Fibre Zones, offering direct fibre connections and enabling access to business-grade broadband to a customer base of around 790,000 eligible business premises across Australia.

NBN advise that the 284 Business Fibre Zones will offer more than 850,000 business locations across Australia access to business NBN Enterprise Ethernet, the company’s fastest symmetrical wholesale product options with a 99.95 per cent network availability uptime target designed to help optimise network reliability and help reduce downtime for business.

NBN says, that Enterprise Ethernet also offers access to plans based on the highest wholesale upload speed tier options available on the NBN network and dedicated onshore service plan support for providers via the business NBN Operations Centre. The plans remain flexible for small, medium and large businesses with options for prioritised data, high capacity symmetrical wholesale download and upload speed tiers from 10 Mbps to close to 1 Gbps service enhancements available to add on to plans.

NBN Co chief customer officer Brad Whitcomb said, “NBN Co has a very clear and simple purpose: to lift the digital capability of Australia. We are therefore expanding the coverage of our NBN Business Fibre Zones across Australia to help support and grow Australia’s digital economy.

“Businesses are increasingly using business NBN Enterprise Ethernet to support cloud-based business operations, remote file storage, content hosting, unified communications, large file distribution, and to connect head office locations.

"However, for decades the location of a business - whether it’s in the city or outer metropolitan area, peri-urban fringe, regional city, town or rural area - has been the determining factor in the price they pay for business-grade fibre.

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peter dinham

“For business NBN Enterprise Ethernet customers, we are helping to level the playing field and ensuring that more businesses throughout Australia can participate in the digital economy on an equal footing, with greater parity on recurring monthly wholesale charges in more locations.”

new wholesale pricing discounts

NBN said that the NBN Business Fibre Initiative helps level the playing field for businesses of all sizes and in more locations by reducing the significant variation that has existed in the cost of business broadband services in regional and rural areas compared to CBD Zones.

NBN added, eligible businesses within any of NBN Business Fibre Zones that order an Enterprise Ethernet service will receive their chosen speed tier and service based on the same CBD-equivalent wholesale charge that is applied to a company based in a CBD Zone.

NBN Co announced that it will be introducing further discounts for Enterprise Ethernet. NBN says, the discounted wholesale pricing will be offered in relation to new and existing customers within all NBN Business Fibre Zones. The company will also offer the wholesale pricing discounts to eligible businesses outside of new and existing NBN Business Fibre Zones.

Further discounts within nbn business Fibre Zones

NBN said that, “Businesses that were previously located in Zone 3 (regional areas such as Broken Hill), which have now been incorporated into a new NBN Business Fibre Zone, will be able to take advantage of wholesale pricing discounts of up to 68%.

“Businesses located in any of the existing 240 NBN Business Fibre Zones may also benefit from wholesale pricing discounts of up to 37%, where the Zone and Bandwidth discounts are combined.

“For businesses that are located outside an existing NBN Business Fibre Zone, NBN Co will offer wholesale discounts of up to 58%, where the Zone and Bandwidth discounts are combined.”

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Fibre build cost certainty

NBN continues, “From 9 August 2021, for eligible businesses located within any of the NBN Business Fibre Zones, NBN Co will offer a no up-front build cost to internet providers when they order an Enterprise Ethernet product. Additionally, if the internet provider signs up for a three-year Enterprise Ethernet service, they will have no up-front connection cost.

“For businesses that are located outside an existing NBN Business Fibre Zone, customers are quoted for the design and construction of their required fibre extension to their premises as part of the ordering process5. It is common practice within the industry that when unforeseen costs, such as additional civil works, trenching and site restoration are identified, those costs are passed on to resellers and then to end customers.

“To eliminate any uncertainty, NBN Co is introducing a new Fibre Build Quote Guarantee. For all locations in the NBN fixed line footprint, NBN Co will offer Retail Service Providers a guarantee on all Fibre Build Quotes5. It will not pass on any variations to resellers, providing them and end customers much greater certainty on their upfront costs.

“NBN Co will also introduce a Service Delivery Guarantee, under which it commits to complete the design and construction of new fibre infrastructure in most business locations within the NBN fixed line footprint within 50 business days. This is designed to be the first step of many improvements to help ensure our resellers and customers are able to get connected more quickly and easily.

nbn business Fibre Zones across australia

new south wales

NBN advise, in New South Wales, ten new NBN Business Fibre Zones will be created in metropolitan and regional areas throughout the state, which will give businesses access to premium business-grade services when they order a business NBN Enterprise Ethernet service.

NBN said, the ten new NBN Business Fibre Zones in New South Wales are located on the tip of Sydney’s northern beaches peninsula from Avalon to Palm Beach, Camden, Casino, Cessnock, Hunters Hill, Lithgow, Nelson Bay, Singleton, Wauchope and a Lake Macquarie - West zone incorporating parts of Morisset, Toronto, West Wallsend and Edgeworth.

Whitcomb said, “The new NBN Business Fibre Zones will cover more than 17,500 eligible businesses.

“Of the ten new zones, three are in metropolitan areas covering around 6,000 business locations and seven are located in regional and remote New South Wales, covering around 11,500 eligible business premises.”

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NBN says it has now established a total of 103 NBN Business Fibre Zones in New South Wales with the first 93 zones established as part of the company’s investment to deliver premium business-grade Enterprise Ethernet availability to lift the digital capabilities of eligible businesses in those areas.

A detailed list of all existing NBN Business Fibre Zones, and maps of each zone is available here.

victoria

NBN said it will be establishing 13 new NBN Business Fibre Zones across the state, with eight of the zones in metropolitan locations and five new zones in regional and remote areas.

Whitcomb said, “The 13 new zones will enable approximately 19,500 additional businesses to become eligible to acquire access to premium business nbn Enterprise Ethernet services.

“Of the 13 new zones, eight are in metropolitan areas covering around 14,500 business locations and five are located in regional Victoria, covering around 5,000 eligible business premises.”

The 13 new NBN Business Fibre Zones in Victoria are located in Balwyn-Surrey Hills, Bentleigh, Cowes, Eltham, Glenroy, Hampton-Sandringham, Hastings-Tyabb, Melton, Ocean Grove, Rosebud, Tatura, Torquay, and Yarrawonga.

NBN says it has now established a total of 61 NBN Business Fibre Zones in Victoria with the first 48 zones established as part of the company’s investment to deliver premium business-grade Enterprise Ethernet availability to lift the digital capabilities of eligible businesses in those areas.

A detailed list of all existing NBN Business Fibre Zones, and maps of each zone is available here.

Queensland

NBN said it will be establishing nine new NBN Business Fibre Zones across the state, with one additional zone in the rapidly growing northern Brisbane suburb of North Lakes and eight new zones in regional and remote areas.

Whitcomb said, “The nine new zones will enable approximately 12,500 additional businesses to become eligible to acquire access to premium business NBN Enterprise Ethernet services.

“Of the nine new zones, one is in metropolitan Brisbane covering around 3,000 business locations and eight are located in regional Queensland, covering around 9,500 eligible business premises.”

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The nine new NBN Business Fibre Zones in Queensland are located in Ayr, Dalby, Emerald, Goondiwindi, Hervey Bay, Nambour, North Lakes, Warwick, and Yeppoon.

NBN says it has now established a total of 49 NBN Business Fibre Zones in Queensland with the first 40 zones established as part of the company’s investment to deliver premium business-grade Enterprise Ethernet availability to lift the digital capabilities of eligible businesses in those areas.

A detailed list of all existing NBN Business Fibre Zones, and maps of each zone is available here.

western australia

NBN says, in Western Australian, four new NBN Business Fibre Zones will be created, with three zones in metropolitan locations and one zone in Collie in the South West region of Western Australia.

The four new NBN Business Fibre Zones in Western Australia are located in Cottesloe, Joondalup, Maddington and Collie.

“The four new zones will enable approximately 8,000 additional businesses to become eligible to acquire access to premium business nbn Enterprise Ethernet services,” said Whitcomb.

NBN says it has now established a total of 27 NBN Business Fibre Zones in Western Australia with the first 23 zones established as part of the company’s investment to deliver premium business-grade Enterprise Ethernet availability to lift the digital capabilities of eligible businesses in those areas.

A detailed list of all existing NBN Business Fibre Zones, and maps of each zone is available here.

south australia

NBN said five new NBN Business Fibre Zones are set to be established in South Australia, with an emphasis on strengthening the digital connectivity capabilities for businesses located in regional and remote locations.

“The establishment of the new zones will include approximately 4,000 additional eligible businesses across South Australia with approximately 2,000 additional eligible business locations in metropolitan areas and around 2,000 in regional areas,” said Whitcomb.

The five new NBN Business Fibre Zones in South Australia are located in Goolwa, Modbury, Naracoorte, Port Pirie and Stirling.

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NBN say it has now established a total of 29 NBN Business Fibre Zones in South Australia with the first 24 zones in metropolitan and regional areas established as part of the company’s $700 million investment to deliver premium-business grade Enterprise Ethernet availability to lift the digital capabilities of eligible businesses in those areas.

A detailed list of all existing NBN Business Fibre Zones, and maps of each zone is available here.

aCt

NBN said it will be creating two new NBN Business Fibre Zones in the Australian Capital Territory in Gungahlin and Tuggeranong.

Whitcomb said, “The two new Business Fibre Zone locations will include more than 3,300 additional business in the ACT.

“In Gungahlin more than 1,800 businesses will now be included in the Business Fibre Zone, and approximately 1,200 business premises in the Tuggeranong area will also be included in the zone.’’

NBN says it has now established a total of seven NBN Business Fibre Zones in the ACT with the first five zones in metropolitan and regional areas established as part of the company’s investment to deliver premium business-grade Enterprise Ethernet availability to lift the digital capabilities of eligible businesses in those areas.

A detailed list of all existing NBN Business Fibre Zones, and maps of each zone is available here.

tasmania

NBN said, in Tasmania, it is setting up one new NBN Business Fibre Zone, which will be located in George Town and Bell Bay.

“The new Business Fibre Zone will include approximately 450 eligible businesses in George Town and Bell Bay,” said Whitcomb.

NBN says it has now established a total of five NBN Business Fibre Zones in Tasmania with the first zones now well-established in Hobart, Burnie, Launceston and Davenport as part of the company’s investment to deliver premium business-grade Enterprise Ethernet availability to lift the digital capabilities of eligible businesses in those areas.

A detailed list of all existing NBN Business Fibre Zones, and maps of each zone is available here.

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Chris Coughlan

northern territory

NBN said it has previously established a total of three NBN Business Fibre Zones in the Northern Territory in Casuarina, Darwin and Palmerston as part of the company’s investment to deliver premium business grade Enterprise Ethernet availability to lift the digital capabilities of eligible businesses in those areas.

“Business Fibre Zones benefit eligible businesses in the Casuarina, Darwin and Palmerston areas of the Northern Territory,” said Whitcomb.

A detailed list of all existing NBN Business Fibre Zones, and maps of each zone is available here.

I haven’t been a fan of NBN over-building business fibre in CBD locations, it seemed a waste of capital and anti-competitive; given that most locations had direct fibre access from five or more Telcos. They were effectively buying market-share with public funds in order to continue to support the forecasted 3% ROI.

However, building out in regional communities, not supported in the past, will have positive economic outcomes for those communities and the country. Business is going through a paradigm change, accelerated by COVID-19, with remote working and changing views on where businesses can effectively operate. Having access to affordable business grade services in these locations will enable more business decentralisation and drive better economic outcomes for regional Australia.

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oaiC investiGation into optusthe office of the australian information Commissioner (oaiC) is investigating singtel

optus pty ltd (optus) under the privacy act 1988.

The OAIC said, the Commissioner is authorised to investigate an act or practice that may be an interference with the privacy of an individual or a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles under section 40(2) of the Privacy Act.

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The investigation follows preliminary inquiries by the OAIC into data breaches involving publication of Optus customer details in the White Pages, when individuals had asked for their details not to be published, the OAIC said.

The OAIC stated that, the public disclosure of personal information against the wishes of individuals may have the potential to cause harm.

The OAIC said that its investigations can determine whether such matters involve systematic issues that can be prevented by ensuring the right practices are in place. This can set a benchmark for all organisations and build trust in the community.

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Chris Coughlan

the aCCC - telstra, optus and tpG alleGedly misled Consumers over nbn maximum speeds

the aCCC said it has instituted separate proceedings in the Federal Court against each of telstra, optus, and tpG for making alleged false or misleading representations in their

promotions of some 50mbps and 100mbps nbn plans, in breach of the australian Consumer law.

The company was the only telco to make it to the prestigious list, which features companies such as Adobe, CISCO Australia, and DHL.

The ACCC alleges that the companies made representations to some consumers on Fibre to the Node (FTTN) connections that they would test the maximum speed of their connections, notify the impacted consumer of their maximum speed if their line was underperforming, and offer them remedies if the maximum speed was below their plan’s stated speed, but failed to do so for many customers.

The ACCC also alleged Telstra, Optus and TPG wrongly accepted payments from certain customers for NBN plans when they were not provided with the promised speeds.

“Telstra, Optus and TPG each promised to tell consumers within a specific or reasonable timeframe if the speed they were paying for could not be reached on their connection. They also promised to offer them a cheaper plan with a refund if that was the case. Instead, we allege, they failed to do these things, and as a result many consumers paid more for their NBN plans than they needed to,” ACCC chair Rod Sims [pictured next page] said.

“Collectively, hundreds of thousands of consumers were allegedly misled by these three big internet providers, Telstra, Optus and TPG, which accepted payments for NBN speeds they could not provide.”

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“What makes this behaviour even more concerning is that Telstra, Optus and TPG were well aware of these issues and had earlier given undertakings to the ACCC to provide remedies to consumers who purchased NBN plans with speeds that couldn’t be delivered,” Mr Sims said.

“We are very disappointed that these companies do not seem to have taken seriously the undertakings they gave to the ACCC.”

The ACCC said the allegedly false and misleading statements were made on the companies’ websites and in emails to consumers from at least 1 April 2019 to 30 April 2020 by Telstra and TPG, and at least 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019 by Optus.

The ACCC alleges that Telstra, Optus and TPG didn’t have adequate systems in place to implement the speed checks, notifications and remedies they said they would carry out.

The ACCC says, this investigation was prompted both by Telstra self-reporting elements of this conduct to the ACCC and by information in the ACCC’s Measuring Broadband Australia Reports indicating consumers were not receiving the speeds they were paying for.

“Internet speed is one of the main features consumers look for when choosing their NBN plan, but it can be complex, confusing and time-consuming for them to understand the features of advertised NBN services and they cannot check their maximum speed themselves,” Sims said.

“It is important that internet providers like Telstra, Optus and TPG give their customers accurate information so they can make an informed choice about the service that best suits their needs and budget.”

“We are pleased that Telstra, Optus and TPG have promised to compensate consumers even before the court case is finalised,” Sims said.

The ACCC said that Telstra, Optus or TPG are contacting current and former customers who are affected to advise them if they are eligible for a refund, and offer alternative plans, or an opportunity to leave their contract without penalty, if appropriate. Consumers may also contact their provider directly for further information.

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aussie broadband named one oF australia’s best workplaCes

Company news: aussie broadband has been ranked 16th in the ‘best workplaces in australia 2021’ list (medium business), by Great places to work.

The company was the only telco to make it to the prestigious list, which features companies such as Adobe, CISCO Australia, and DHL.

The rankings are based on an independent employee trust survey carried out by Great Place to Work, a global authority on workplace culture, as well an audit of company culture.

Aussie Broadband managing director Phillip Britt (pictured) said he couldn’t be prouder and thanked his team for making Aussie Broadband a great place to work.

“I’m super proud of the team - they are the ones changing the telco game every day, and the ones to continue to champion and generate our culture. We don’t always get it right - but this ranking shows that we’re giving it a good crack!” Brit said.

The ACCC is seeking a range of orders, including declarations, injunctions, pecuniary penalties, publication orders and the implementation of compliance programs.

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Chris Coughlan

“Being recognised as one of Australia's "Great Places To Work" is a real honour. It helps to demonstrate that we really care about building a company that is better for our people, better for our customers and better for our community. We strongly believe that when our staff feel valued and empowered, they’re far more engaged and invested in helping our customers and the broader community,” Britt said.

The company’s Trust Index survey results from Great Place to Work show 91% of staff believe that “management is honest and ethical in its business practices.”

Great Place to Work recognised Aussie Broadband’s inclusive work culture, and its focus on employee wellbeing, as being important factors to creating a high level of trust among its employees.

“We’ve more than doubled our staff in the last 2 years from 300 to 620 people. Even with hybrid working becoming the norm, we’ve managed to maintain our culture and stay committed to our core values,” said Britt (Continued)

The company offers a range of initiatives to support its employees, such as well-being programmes, free lunches, generous study leave, free counselling, paid community service leave, and subsidised gym membership.

Head of People and Culture, Fiona Blackmore said being a great place to work can be an important factor when trying to attract good talent.

“Our people truly make Aussie a great place to work, they are the bedrock of our culture. Our culture really is driven from our values (don’t be ordinary be awesome; think big; no bullshit; be good to people; and have fun). It’s something that distinguishes us from other organisations when candidates are looking for a new role, but more importantly, it reflects the lived experience of our current staff,” Blackmore said.

Learning and Development Advisor, Claire Morrisey said it reflects the great work that is done at Aussie Broadband.

“I haven’t worked anywhere like Aussie before, that really goes out of their way to make sure that we give back to our customers and community. Everyone comes to work feeling like you’re part of something that’s bigger than you every day. It’s feels good to be a part of that,” Morrisey said.

In the Trust Index survey, 89 % of staff said they feel good about the ways in which Aussie contributes to the community.

Speaking during the online event, Great Place to Work Australia general manager, Samantha Huddle highlighted the importance of purpose.

“The best companies are those that have clarity in their values and can lean on them when they need to. The best care about their communities and their people. They trust their people. And they operate for purpose, not just profit. That is what makes a great place to work.” Huddle said.

For the full list of winners, head to the Great Places to Work website here.

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by aussie broadband