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Telstra To Set Up Wireless Venture With Filipino Giant

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Telstra has confirmed it is mulling an investment in the Philippines, following media speculation that it is eyeing an investment in the Asian nation.

At stake is a possible investment in a wireless joint venture in the Asian nation with San Miguel Corporation – best kno wn for its beer-making, though in fact it is a huge conglomerate with many interests. Financing is being sought for the venture, Telstra said.

“We are in discussions in relation to these matters,” Telstra said in a short statement. “However, no agreements have been reached in relation to these matters and there is no certainty that this will occur.”

However both companies are known to have been gearing up for the move, with San Miguel hiring key telecommunications staff, while Telstra has been hiring local staff who understand the Philippines’ markets and languages.

“We note recent speculation concerning Telstra considering an investment in a wireless joint venture in the Philippines with San Miguel, and that financing is being sought in relation to that joint venture,” Telstra told the Australian Securities Exchange. “We are in discussions in relation to these matters.”

Under Andy Penn’s new leadership, Telstra has continued pushing deeper into the Asian market through partnerships with local carriers. A joint venture with Indonesian telecoms giant Telkom Indonesia started selling products this year and is understood to be performing well.

Telstra also bought Asian telecommunications service provider Pacnet for US$697 million late last year.

– Telecommunications  commentator Paul Budde last night told CDN: “Telstra is flush with money and there is only so much it can invest in the limited size of the Australian market (where it is already dominant).

“So in order to maximise the results for its shareholders there is no other way than to look outside the country if it want to stick to the market its knows well: telecoms.

“It is in this context that the investments in the Philippines and other overseas investments need to be looked at.”

Fitbit Challenger To Launch On ASX

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An Israeli Fitbit competitor is planning to list on the ASX via a reverse takeover by Victory Mines.The company aims to raise at least $3.5 million,

in order to accelerate the rollout of its MilestonePod wearable

gadget in US retail stores as well as Australia.

But unlike Fitbit wearables, which are worn on the wrist, its gadget attaches

to a user’s shoe, where it collects data on matters such as foot strikes, cadence,

rate of impact, as well as distance, duration and pace.

And also unlike Fitbits, which cost between A$130 and $350, in the USA the

MilestonePod sells for about US$25.

Victory Mines says in an ASX announcement that the device can also be used to

automate personalised marketing messages from retailers to customers.

The company plans to hold a general meeting of shareholders to approve the

reverse takeover deal on June 8, and if approved to relist on the ASX under the

Milestone Sport name on August 5.

Dipstick Shorten, Seeks 457 Visa Crackdown

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Labor leader Bill Shorten has joined US president-elect Donald Trump in calling for a crackdown on special visa systems that allow many companies- including technology outfits – to import guest workers from other countries, especially those in Asia.What Shorten has

failed to explain is where technology and digital engagement companies will get

their staff from, considering his period in Government he failed to deliver

people with the skills necessary to grow technology businesses in Australia.

 

Trump is proposing a crackdown on the USA’s HB-1 visa system which sees Indian

– and many Australian – IT specialists flocking to US technology companies.

In Australia this week, Shorten introduced a private bill that would have much

the same effect, putting new limits on Australia’s 457 visa program, which

allows employers to import technically advanced workers from Asia and other

areas and keep them here for up to four years. Some 95,000 temporary migrants

are said to be currently in Australia under the program.

Shorten’s plan has also been criticised by Atlassian co-founder Mike

Cannon-Brookes, who told Australian IT that a crackdown on 457 visas would

damage the growth of the local tech industry.

Box Revenue On Rise

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SAN FRANCISCO – Gathering more subscribers to its cloud-based storage system, Box has reported a better-than-expected rise in quarterly revenue and raised its full-year revenue forecast for the second time.Box expects full year revenue of US$295 million to $297 million, up from a previous estimate of $286-290 million.

Box competes with Dropbox and a number of other cloud service providers. Major big business customers include AstraZeneca, General Electric and Chevron.

Its online file-sharing and personal cloud content management service for businesses provides up to 10GB of free storage for personal accounts, but charges for additional space.

The company’s revenue rose 42.8 percent to $73.5 million in Q2 ended July 31. Net loss attributable to shareholders increased to $50.2 million from $39.4 million a year earlier as operating expenses rose.

Data Retention Fiasco Looms:Telecoms Industry ‘Left In Dark’

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A survey of Australian telecommunications service providers has found what it says is a “low state of readiness” for the Federal Government’s highly controversial two-year data retention scheme, which is due to come into effect from today.

The survey of 63 survey providers was carried out by the Communications Alliance, a body which claims to represent most sections of the telecoms industry. Among other things it found that:

 More than two thirds of providers are not confident they understand exactly what is required of them. Only 16pc said they were ready to retain and encrypt the data.

 Some 81pc have lodged a data retention implementation plan or indicated that they will still do so, but only 10pc of those had been approved;

 Around 58pc of providers estimate that their one-off set-up costs to comply with the regime will be between $10,000 and $250,000; another 24pc estimated more than $250,000. Of those, 12pc said it would be above $1 million – while 5 percent indicated ranges well above $10 million; and

 Some 61pc had lodged an application for exemption/variation or had indicated that they will still do so. But only 5pc of those had been approved.

Communications Alliance CEO John Stanton said the results highlighted the magnitude of the challenge ahead for all stakeholders.

“It is no surprise that many service providers won’t be compliant when the legislation comes into force – many of these because they are still waiting to hear from Government as to whether their implementation plans have been approved,” he said.

“All providers are still waiting to hear from Government as to how it will apportion the $131.3 million that has been pledged in assistance to partially meet the set-up costs that service providers – and ultimately their customers – are facing as a result of the regime.”

 Comms editor Stuart Corner comments: “The Communications Alliance gives no indication as to what percentage of customers all those companies struggling to comply represent. The reality is that the handful that account for probably well over 90 percent of all telecoms customers will probably be compliant – but dozens of very small ones won’t.”

Silverlight In Firefox Reprieve

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Mozilla said it is pulling support for Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface (NPAPI) plug-ins from its Firefox browser – but has agreed that 64-bit users will be able to hang on to Microsoft’s Silverlight a little longer.

When Google removed support in Chrome it experienced few problems, except a lack of support for Silverlight which brought down several top streaming and media sites including Sky Go BT Sport.

Benjamin Smedberg, Firefox’s engineering manager, said: “As browsers and the Web have grown, NPAPI has shown its age. Plug-ins are a source of performance problems, crashes and security incidents for Web users.

“Moreover, since new Firefox platforms do not have to support an existing ecosystem of users and plug-ins, new platforms such as 64-bit Firefox for Windows will launch without plug-in support.”

E-voting Seen As A No-No: Too Hard, Too Risky

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#NAME?A typical response comes from Raymond Schippers, a

senior security analyst with cyber security firm Checkpoint. “The amount

of attacks over the Internet is insane,” he said.

“In an instant, someone could compromise 10,000 computers. And without the

voter ever knowing: someone could change their vote and no one would ever be

able to confirm it was changed.”

Ian Brightwell, former CIO of the NSW Electoral Commission, takes a slightly

different view, saying partial use of electronic voting could offer significant

advantages but – given the possible problems – he doesn’t see any need for

Australia to go “all-in” for an e-vote system..

The Australian Information and Industry Association remains enthusiastic, however.

CEO Rob Fitzpatrick has called for governments to introduce “a safe,

secure and reliable electronic voting system.”

Fitzpatrick believes the possible problems are being over-stated.

“Australia has some of the world’s leading researchers in secure operating

systems, providers of cybersecurity infrastructure and public and private

sector operations, handling complex transactions,” he said last week.

“Without question, secure electronic voting is a challenge. But when were

we not up for a challenge?”

IBM Spend Millions In SmartCloud Push

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SYDNEY – IBM says its new production-grade cloud platform SmartCloud Enterprise+ (SCE+) is now available and fully operational in Australia.
The SCE+ platform will be hosted at IBM’s datacentre in Baulkham Hills, Sydney. It’s IBM’s seventh cloud centre globally to date, and the first to operate and serve SCE+ in the Asia-Pacific region, Big Blue says.

It’s said to offer enterprise-class managed cloud services, and act as an IBM hub for Asia-Pacific, but especially for Australia and New Zealand. It will operate on a pay-by-the-month subscription basis and is said to be suitable for organisations deploying between 10 and 500 virtual machines.

IBM Australia cloud computing executive Dean Evans told Australian IT that the company’s investment into the local SCE+ project was in the “millions of dollars”.

The new offering builds on IBM’s public SmartCloud Enterprise service, which is believed to have close to 50 customers in Australia, including a number of software vendors and a major airline – which is not Qantas, according to IBM executives.

“We believe SCE+ addresses both a solution and platform gap that currently exists in the cloud market within this region. Particularly in Australia and New Zealand, there is both a readiness and need to move away from components and infrastructure and towards shared platforms and software,” said Evans.

MS Swamped With W10 Demand

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Microsoft has admitted it’s struggling to keep up with demand for its new Windows 10 OS. But the company claimed more than 14 million devices are now running its Windows 10 software, just days after it was released.

The company won’t say how long it will take to clear the backlog or how many devices are still waiting for the online updates.

Microsoft said it is working 24-7 to continue the upgrade process and prioritising the quality of the upgrade over anything else.

NSW Wallopers To Film Perps With Body Video Gear

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SYDNEY – Fujitsu Australia has won a multi-million deal to equip NSW police with body-worn video cameras that are said to improve the ability of field officers to collect evidence, streamline administrative processes – and hopefully provide court evidence to see more perps convicted.It can also live-stream video feeds from coppers in

the field back to operational command units, Fujitsu said yesterday.

It’s not just a Japanese system. Fujitsu says it has partnered with the

Australian mobile video streaming technology company m-View Live Video to

develop a system “customised to the needs of the NSW Police Force”.

It is said to feature one of the world’s most rugged and proven body-worn

cameras – manufactured by FireCam, a US-based outfit that specialises in

helmet-mounted fireproof cameras for firefighters, but has more recently

branched into the chest-mounted devices for police and other baddy-hunters.

The cameras are water-resistant, have 32GB of built-in storage and infrared

night vision.

The Body Worn Video (BWV) system will also incorporate “one of the most

secure and reliable forms of biometric authentication available today”,

Fujitsu says: a PalmSecure palm vein reader, designed by Fujitsu.

This is said make it easy for officers to check-in their equipment at the end

of each shift with the assurance that the evidence gathered is aligned to the

correct source. Fujitsu adds that it will assist police in deploying and

maintaining the system.

NSW Police’s major events and incident group commander, assistant commissioner

Alan Clarke, yesterday said: “The Body Worn Video solution will deliver a

reliable and direct form of evidence gathering, which will compliment the

officer’s written notebook entry.”

It was unclear yesterday whether FireCam-equipped coppers will have to inform

subjects that they are being filmed, or that the movies snapped might be

tendered in court.