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Surprise Surprise The ACCC Wants To Seperate Telstra

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A long time foe of Telstra the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is calling for the structural seperation of Telstra in a submission to the Federal Government.

Imposing a tougher structural separation regime on Telstra is the only way to guarantee an equal playing field during the transition to a planned national broadband network.

To see the full submission see file below.

“The ACCC is of the view that structural separation of Telstra is the only framework that will ensure equivalence in access during the transition to the NBN and is the only form of separation consistent with the type of wholesale-retail market structure the Government envisages for the NBN environment of the future,” the watchdog said in a submission to a government review of current telecommunications regulations.

Australia’s center-left Labor government in April announced ambitious plans to help build a A$43 billion fiber-to-the-home national broadband network.

The new network could make large parts of Telstra’s existing fixed line infrastructure redundant and, while the door is open for Telstra to participate in building the new network, this could cost the group its title as the nation’s dominant phone company, along with billions of dollars in lost revenue over time.

In its submission to the regulatory review, Telstra said its “overarching objective” is to help find an NBN solution that is in the interests of Australia while promoting a sustainable industry structure.

“We are committed to working constructively with the Government to enable the timely and successful implementation of the NBN,” the company said.

 

802.11n Wi-Fi Standard Ratified

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The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has finally voted to accept the proposed next-generation 802.11n Wi-Fi standard, which has been developed by the Enhanced Wireless Consortium.

The proposed 802.11n standard will enable higher performance wireless local area networking supporting speeds of up to 600Mbps with greater range than existing Wi-Fi technologies.

Two US vendors, Broadcom and Marvell, were both quick of the mark on the same day, claiming to be first to market with a compatible product.However Belkin has been marketing the PrN Router which is in fact a full  802.11n for more than 12 months. 

Broadcom Corporation announced the availability and sampling of its Intensi-fi family of WiFi chipsets, which comply with, and incorporate all mandatory elements of the IEEE 802.11n draft specification. Broadcom’s offering is designed to be software upgradeable once the standard is finalised, the company said.

To this end, Broadcom will continue to participate in the standards process through ratification, ensuring that its solutions comply with the final 802.11n specification.

Rival vendor Marvell meanwhile claims that its 88W836X chipset family, first unveiled in October 2005, complies 100 per cent with the IEEE 802.11n draft specification, and reference designs based on the 88W836X family are currently being used by OEMs and ODMs, the company said.

Skype Set To Trial Group Video Chats

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Internet communication company Skype whose service is now found on Samsung, LG and Panasonic TV’s is planning a a public “beta” test of a group video chat function that lets up to five people participate in a video call simultaneously. The service that could be a big hit with business organisations looking to cut travel costs.

When the feature launches next week it will be free, but Skype plans to start charging for it along with some other upcoming features in three or four months, said Neil Stevens, general manager of Skype’s consumer business segment.

Skype’s software already offers a range of free services, including the ability to make voice or video calls and send instant messages to other Skype users. Users pay for services such as making calls from a PC to a landline or cell phone.

Stevens said group video chat will first be available to those who use Skype on Windows PCs, and the company expects to roll out a Mac version later this year.

Stevens said the feature is the one users have requested most.

Skype, which was sold late last year by eBay for about $2 billion to an investor group that includes Skype’s founders, is also expanding its monthly subscription offerings to include calls to both cell phones and landlines in more than 170 countries.

The company’s existing subscription plans include one that allows calls to more than 40 countries, but they focus mostly on calls to landlines. That is generally cheaper for the company than routing calls from the Internet to cell phones.