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Oonagh Reidy

Optus Pips Telstra In NBN Price Race

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Optus have unveiled seven NBN packages starting at $39.99, available from November 21, reaching out to mobile, internet and home phone customers alike in a bid to enter the high speed broadband race ahead of rivals Telstra. The monthly plans start from $39.99 for 40GB of data (20GB peak/off-peak) when bundled with an Optus postpaid mobile plan at $19, and extend right up to $80 standalone broadband plan.


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The plans, bundled and standalone, available later this month in the mainland first release sites.

“The competition to connect communities throughout Australia is heating up” Optus said in a statement today, the second ISP to announced NBN pricing following Internode announcement in July, starting at $59 for 30GB, making the SingTel owned telco option cheaper.

Telstra has yet to reveal its pricing plans, but unlike its rivals are holding off and will reveal all “after we sign a wholesale agreement with NBN Co,” a company spokesperson told SmartHouse. 

But it seems Optus has got ahead of itself as it has yet to finalise the terms of a wholesale broadband agreement with NBN Co.

All Optus plans will be available on a month-to-month basis under the existing NBN Co trial agreement, it said today.

The broadband only packages come with huge amounts of data and faster speeds – $59.99 plan (120GB), $69.99 and $79.99 (500GB). All three plans include the basic “Social” speed pack , with the option to upgrade to the “Multimedia” and “Multimedia eXtream” speed packs depending on usage needs.

Optus new plans will include “enriched” content offerings including newly launched IPTV service Optus MeTV with fetch TV, by end of this year.

But users who want combine broadband and home phone can do so on three packages, starting with the $64.94 120GB ‘yes’ Fusion plans.

On the $109 and $129 options come with 500GB and 1000GB data allowance plus unlimited standard calls to fixed lines and mobiles in Australia.

All month-to-month plans come with a free NBN Wi-Fi gateway and no service installation or set-up fees, to help sweeten the deal.

“To ensure a smooth transition to the NBN, Optus will also have specialist installation teams on the ground to connect customers and help make their experience as seamless as possible,” it said.

Packages for SMB’s will to be announced soon.

 “The NBN opens up the opportunity for Australians to finally receive real choice for their fixed services,” declared Anthony Shiner, Director, Optus Consumer Fixed.

 “As the NBN roll-out progresses, we’ll release a greater range of plans as well as more exciting broadband bundles that combine the latest Optus digital products such as Optus MeTV to help customers stay better connected and entertained.”

But that’s not all.

 

Optus is also looking to its wholesale business for an NBN boost announcing wholesale NBN aggregation services on an initial trial basis.

As an NBN aggregator, Optus Wholesale will provide ISPs with access to the high speed fibre network, it confirmed.

iseek Communications is the first Optus Wholesale customer to trial the service, and has also worked in partnership with Optus to develop the technical product capabilities.

“Optus Wholesale will also be offering customers a range of value-add services in addition to NBN aggregation as part of a bundled offering starting early next year,” said Vicki Brady, Managing Director, Optus Wholesale and Satellite.

Optus Wholesale’s NBN aggregation service allows a service provider to reduce the number of points of interconnect (POI) to the NBN, a major issue of contention between ISP’s, when NBN strategy was being deviced earlier this year.

Telstra: Forget Flying, Hop On Cisco

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Cisco and Telstra have waded into the Qantas debacle, saying its TelePresence networks are ideal for face-to-face encounters for business meetings instead of “costly” travel. The telco are promoting its “highly secure, high definition video conferencing facility” video conferencing offering, officially launched today.


Cisco Telepresence…better than flying first class?

“Telstra and Cisco have enabled members of the Australian Government to meet face to face without the need for costly travel, following the successful deployment of one of the largest national TelePresence networks in the country, the Government’s National TelePresence System,” the duo said, as the solution was announced in Canberra today.

The Telstra announcement comes as troubled Qantas could have flights back in the air by 2pm today after Fair Work Australia ordered the service to be restarted after ruling it was destroying Australia’s air travel. “We will fly mid afternoon (pending approval),” Qantas screens are currently indicating at airports.

The Telepresence video conferencing, which connects to 12 different locations had achieved productivity and cost benefits, saving government coffers an estimated $12 million, not to mention the carbon emissions savings.

The service has hosted more than 1031 official meetings totalling more than 1660 hours, to date.

Announced in February 2009, Cisco TelePresence units operating over the Telstra Next IP network has been operating for 18 months connecting the seven Commonwealth Government offices, including Prime Ministerial and Cabinet, Parliament House and Premiers and Chief Minister agencies in every state.

However, today’s announcement has “nothing to do with the airline industry” current woes, Telstra Public Afffairs Advisor, Peter Habib told SmartHouse, but saved the Federal government thousands in travel costs during CHOGM 2011, which has just wrapped up in Perth.

Philip Jones, Executive Director, Data and IP, Network Applications & Services at Telstra said the announcement indicates video conferencing has come of age.

“A modern meeting today is one that uses technology such as high definition TelePresence to bring people from across the country together for a meeting without the need for travel,” Mr Jones said.

“Telstra managed the planning, designing and deploying of the National TelePresence System in Government offices all across the country. Our combined network and project management skills  means we have now delivered a proven solution to a national Government audience that is capable of supporting the Government as it strives to deliver ICT deployments that deliver genuine productivity, sustainability and cost savings,” Mr Jones said.

Ken Boal, Director of Public Sector, Cisco Australia said the National TelePresence System is world leading in its deployment and utilisation.

 

“The Australian Government is at the global forefront by using immersive video technology to bring key decision makers together to solve critical national issues,” Mr Boal said.

“The Government’s National TelePresence System is enabling more effective and frequent collaboration with reduced travel, expense and carbon emissions and moves us to a more sustainable lifestyle.”

To view a video case study regarding the Australian Government using Telstra and Cisco TelePresence visit www.bit.ly/telstra-telepresence and for more information on video conferencing visit www.telstra.com/eyetoeye.

From Baker To Beckham: Samsung Hire ANOTHER Pretty Boy

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Samsung Electronics have announced David Beckham as the corporate face for its 2012 Olympic Games sponsorship.


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Soccer superstar and ladies favourite Beckham as brand ambassador will begin his role “with immediate effect” Samsung announced yesterday. 

David Beckham was the electronics number one choice to be global ambassador for its sponsorship of London 2012 games.

His success as a sportsman and his ambassadorial role in bringing the Olympic Games to London were among the many reasons for his selection, it said. 

Born in Leytonstone, East London, just one tube stop from the new Olympic Park located in Stratford, Beckham will be on home ground.

 “I’m very proud to be part of the team that brought the Olympics to my home city, London.  It is one of the greatest events in the world,” he said.

Gyehyun Kwon, VP & head of Worldwide Sports Marketing, said that Samsung and the LA Galaxy player shared a number of common values ranging from their mutual commitment to youth and their efforts to encourage participation in sports.

Victoria Beckham’s better half will also be promoting the electronics giant’s role as Worldwide Olympic Partner for wireless communications equipment.

 “We’re delighted that David will be supporting our goal to extend the Olympic Games spectator experience to fans throughout the world using our leading smart mobile technology.”

“David Beckham is a global sports icon who is helping to raise the profile of the London 2012 Olympics and attracting more of us to watch and to actively participate in the Games,” Gyehyun Kwon observed.

“Samsung’s London 2012 marketing campaign will also place great importance on the value of engaging youth.”

 

Another looker, Australian actor Simon Baker, star of the hit series ‘The Mentalist’ fronted Samsung ad campaign ‘Turn on Tomorrow’ last year.

REVEALED: Dannii Minogue Web’s “Most Dangerous Celeb”

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She may not be as good as Kylie, but Dannii Minogue is the Most Dangerous online celeb in Australia, while Nicole Kidman is No. 2

Fellow homegrown beauties Isla Fisher and Elle Macpherson are not far behind, ranking No. 11, and 16 respectively if you are searching for the celebs using ‘.com’ search engines.

That’s according to McAfee’s Most Dangerous Celebrities 2012 study which found the most dangerous online celebs are nearly all female and warn searching for a celeb’s “nude pictures” or “free downloads” means surfers are likely to run into malware or cybercriminals looking to nick your personal info.

Emma Watson, Jessica Biel and Eva Mendes were the top 3 “Most Dangerous Celebs” online while Cameron Diaz, Megan Fox and Sofia Vergara also made it into the top 10.

Three supermodels made the top 20 list, meaning searching for Bar Refaeli (No. 17), and Kate Upton (No. 20) can result in landing on a risky site rather than pretty pics.

Aussie fans searching on .com.au sites for “Dannii Minogue” and the search terms “free downloads”, “nude pictures” and “fakes” risk running into online threats designed to steal personal information or downloading viruses and malicious software known as malware, warns McAfee.

Almost one in 11 resulting sites for Ms Minogue were identified by McAfee as “risky – even higher than searches for Emma Watson, which identified one risky website in around every eight results.

Cybercriminals often use the names of popular celebrities to lure people to sites that are actually laden with malware. Web users should also be on the lookout for ‘malvertising’, where cybercrims exploit a user’s browser without their awareness, or mask malicious URLs behind shortened URLs.

“Cyber criminals often disguise security threats in what appears to be a harmless website and use celebrity names and free downloads to lure users to their site,” said Melanie Cole, McAfee Asia Pacific.

 

“Australians, just like users around the world, are at risk of coming across malicious websites when searching for such celebrity content. So to keep safe it’s important to think before you click.”

McAfee Tips to Stay Protected:

· Beware of content that prompts you to download anything before providing you with content. You may want to opt to watch streaming videos or download content from an established site, such as ABC’s iView or Netflix

.· Free downloads are significantly the highest virus-prone search terms. Anyone searching for videos or files to download should be careful as not to unleash malware on their computer.

· Since most people use a variety of devices to search for celebrities, be sure you have up to date, comprehensive security for all of your devices. It’s important to have protection, such as McAfee All Access, on all Internet-enabled devices, including PCs, Macs, smartphones, tablets and netbooks.·

 A free version of SiteAdvisor software can be downloaded at www.siteadvisor.com.

REVEALED: OZ Top Smartphone Duds

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Hint: Its Black and tastes like fruit.


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BlackBerry and HTC are the two biggest smartphone duds around, and the ones that break most commonly, says repair gurus Mobilion.

The Sydney based company should know as it repairs thousands of phones through its centres every year for companies like Zurich and Macquarie Telecom, who manage hundreds of Nokias, BlackBerrys iPhones and Android smartphones on their corporate networks.

So, what are the top faults on a BlackBerry?

The touchscreen on BlackBerry 9900 devices crash often and “don’t like low battery,” while the top faults on the 9780 and 9700 suffer from a loss of trackpad sensitivity and speaker malfunction.

But the 9800 and 9810 are pretty crappy also, a Mobilion exec told SmartHouse.

HTC devices experience a lot of software issues, often crashing and failing to reboot, which “happens a lot.”

Worse yet, If its not under warranty, repairs can set owners back as much as $70 to get fixed.

Apple’s ubiquitous iPhone is “pretty good” and hardly crashes at all, says the repair guru, although speakers and microphones are the top things that go on the much loved smartie.

But of course the top fault with all smartphones are cracked screens, which for an iPhone can cost $120 to $170 in other repair outlets.

Apple’s arch rival Samsung has “very good phones,” but are very expensive to fix.

The Galaxy S II can cost as much as $250-$270 to repair the screen alone, considering it has a high end AMOLED display. (Ouch).

Phone cases and covers won’t prevent the screen from cracking but will help, added the Mobilion guru. 

Samsung are “killing it” at the moment say Mobilion execs, who reckon Apple has “lost it” as they have no TV, entertainment units to connect their mobile devices to, unlike the Galaxy maker.

“Samsung is killing it and Apple can’t stop it” he admits.

Comparing the iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy S III is like comparing “chalk and cheese”.

The Korean giant is “seasons ahead now which in the tech world is a long time” and compares Samsung’s popularity (recently emerged as the world top phone maker) to Nokia’s supremacy several years back with models like 6130 and Motorola with their early flip phones.

 

But companies are sticking to BlackBerry despite its “issues” due to BlackBerry’s enterprise server (BES) which gives good security and password functionality that other devices can’t match. (This writer also noted the Mobilion exec himself owns a BlackBerry).

BlackBerry is considered a work “tool” and can hold a lot of emails, whereas Apple iPhones and a lot of Android smartphones are seen more as toys, although Apple are making a lot of steady inroads with corporate clients within the last 18 months, he adds.

In addition, international calls are cheaper than ‘Droid or Apple due to BES and users can still take email and work communication while roaming, for free, as long as you don’t use data.

And BlackBerry devices can handle a lot more data and email than iPhone or other platform, which appears to be its saving grace.

iOS rival Android do make for good business phones but one major company recently knocked it back as a fleet device as it just “wasn’t secure enough.”

So how long should a consumer have to wait for a phone repair?

Mobilion have a 24 hour turnaround time but notes rival repair company Phonebiz, who does HTC and have just taken over Nokia official repairs, takes a “minimum” of 2 weeks, and are said to have a slow service.

Meanwhile, Telstra repair centres will fix a phone in as little as 5 days, while Vodafone and Optus repairs are slower and can take anything from 1 to 3 weeks for Optus. 

Hello NBN: Vodafone Eye Fixed-Line

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Look out Telstra: Vodafone are jumping on the NBN wagon with aplomb – saying it will offer fixed line voice and Net services.


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Getting fixed line service right is “crucial” for mobile networks, VHA exec told a joint committee on NBN in Sydney today, making a case for the pricey $36 billion network.

Until now the fixed line market was unattractive for other players due to the dominance of Telstra, Matthew Lobb, VHA General Manager Industry Strategy and Public Policy, told the hearing, reports The Register.

“Australia has not been an attractive fixed line market because of Telstra’s 70% market share and vertical integration,” he said.

However, he did recognise Telstra would be a “formidable” competitor in the fixed-line market once Voda services got off the ground.

And a span new fibre network is also good news for Vodafone in more ways than one – it will also take pressure off its own troubled mobile network, which suffered slow speeds and call dropouts due to overloading, and led to a masssive consumer backlash.

“If you can take traffic out of the mobile network you increase the speed,” Lobb told the hearing, adding: “recent reforms and the NBN have changed our thinking”, he told the joint parliamentary committee on National Broadband Network.

VHA is already testing fixed-line, IPTV service FetchTV and femtocells on the high speed fibre network among a small number of its customers Lobb also revealed.

But its not all roses surrounding the high speed fibre broadband network, which will see the end of Telstra’s dominance over the wholesale telco market, warning fundamental change urgently needs be ushered in with the new fibre network.

“There needs to be a pro competition plan,” he warned and should encourage new players into the previously tight market and also had some advice for NBN Co on how they communicate the premise of the new broadband network:

 

“Saying nothing will change is a missed opportunity. NBN Co should promote new entrants. ”

Lobb also called on the competition watchdog, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, to monitor wholesale prices.

“It’s early days, but it does seem that it is the same pricing or similar pricing to the pricing that is currently in the market in comparable areas of Australia,” he added.

TV Right Now: Optus Free-To-Air Lands On Phone

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Free-to-air-TV has just gone mobile. Optus has just launched Optus TV Now, allowing users record and watch TV from their iPhone or any other 3G smartphone.


The “landmark” mobile TV service, which is a first in Oz, means TV is no longer confined to the living room and can be watched anywhere. 

Viewers can “schedule, record and playback free-to-air television from any compatible 3G mobile device+ or PC,” the telco said today. 

The service is available across all 15 free-to-air channels and is ran from the Cloud. 

All Optus mobile subscribers get 45 minutes of free storage monthly with the TV Now basic plan and telly addicts looking for more storage space can add on, as desired. 

Optus TV Now standard gives five hours of storage time for $6.99 a month while TV Now premium provides 20 hours for $9.99. 

And the good news is users can clear recorded content and re-record  as many times as they like, enabling them to make the most of allotted storage. 

You can also set whole series to record, handy for lovers of The Wire or the series 4 of Mad Men, set to hit Aussie screens soon and watch it on the train coming home from work. 

“While we’ve been able to record free to air TV on our personal video recorder for years, Optus TV Now is the first service that allows customers from across Australia to record free to air TV using their mobile and play it back on a mobile or personal computer,” says Austin Bryan, Director of Optus Digital Media. 

“This innovative new product highlights the diverse and exciting potential for consumer cloud services.”

 
Go to OptusTVNow for more info.