Welcome to your personal issue of This Week, Australia's only easy to read FREE weekly summary of the the top news stories on wireless communications in Australia and New Zealand. Don't forget if you can't wait for the latest information you can always visit our web site where This Week is updated daily. You can also visit our archive where you can see stories posted since mid-2003. Our search engine is an easy way to locate a specific topic. For those that want to know more, click through hyperlinks are embedded in each story enabling you to view the source information. Note some of these links may require you to subscribe to the publication that provides the source material.

Australia

Labor will supplement wireless with fibre optic Internet in regional areas

28 June, 2007

If successful at the upcoming election, the Labor Party has confirmed that it will still finance a fibre-to-the-node network but will be careful not to duplicate parts of the OPEL proposal.

Broadband Connect to be underway before federal election

27 June, 2007

The Communications minister, Helen Coonan, expects that "some of the towers and some of the wireless component of the roll-out" of the Broadband Connect to be underway by the time of the federal election, tipped be sometime after the APEC conference in October.

OPEL costs wireless Internet access at $250

27 June, 2007

In refuting media claims that the OPEL network will demand up to $1000 for access, Elders Telecommunications chief Jason Horley believes that ISPs will to retail the service and get it installed for under $250 with Optus and Elders expected to set the market benchmark for monthly access and installation fees.

Smaller wireless ISPs voice OPEL concerns

26 June, 2007

Austar is one of many regional wireless ISPs that have signalled they will fight to maintain control over 3.4GHz spectrum to provide wireless
Internet services in regional areas and some are considering consolidation to compete with the new OPEL consortium.

WiMAX the target in Telstra diatribe

26 June, 2007

Telstra's chief technology officer Dr Hugh Bradlow has attacked the government's decision to go with the OPEL consortium and WiMAX technology by claiming it has a number of flaws inherent in all radio-based services.

NSW urges for federal government to introduce mobile phone jamming in jails

25 June, 2007

The New South Wales Justice Minister, John Hatzistergos, has again implored the federal government to enact legislation for mobile phone jamming technology, arguing that rampant mobile phone use is "poses a serious threat to the security, good order and discipline" in Australian correctional facilities.

New Zealand

Gattung replaced by Reynolds

28 June, 2007

British Telecom executive Paul Reynolds has been confirmed as the next CEO of Telecom New Zealand with analysts pointing to his experience with the division of BT into wholesale and retail operations as a significant factor in his appointment.

Termination rate deals still fall short of international standards

25 June, 2007

The agreement with the New Zealand government to reduce termination rates from 20c a minute to 12c for Telecom and from 20c a minute to 14c a minute for Vodafone remain unreasonable for consumers when measured against international arrangements such as in Australia where the Australian telecommunications regulator rejected similar offers from network operators and decided to cut mobile termination charges to 9c (NZ 9.96c) per minute.

Wi-Fi telcos question Auckland's offer

25 June, 2007

Wellington telcos CityLink and NZ Wireless will be analysing the detail of the proposal by Auckland City Council to build a 100 kilometre "dark fibre" urban fibre optic network due to some scepticism about what the deal could offer in return for undertaking the project.

Voeveo at forefront of mobile content evolution

25 June, 2007

New Zealand-based company Voeveo already has international reach with its plethora of mobile media content available to users on the Internet. However its move to the US is based on faster response capabilities for customers in the most affluent market in the world and a larger number of big hosting services.

What's new on our site?

TeleResources' MD Maurie Dobbin speaks to Comms Day at CommunicAsia

At the recent CommunicAsia event held in Singapore, TeleResources Managing Director, Maurie Dobbin, was invited by CommsDay to share his views about the latest changes in the Australian telecoms market, particularly in relation to the wireless aspects of the Broadband Connect project.

Click HERE to view the video

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Upcoming Events

China Mobility International Summit 2007

11-12 July 2007
Beijing, China

The China Mobility International Summit is a direct descendant of the China 3G Mobile International Summit, the largest international mobile and wireless business gathering in China. Co-organised with the China Institute of Communications, this annual Summit has top level government and industry support, being endorsed by the Ministry of Information Industry and supported by all of China’s mobile and fixed operators.

The Summit agenda and speakers reflect in-depth research and face-to-face discussions with China’s operators and industry experts, assuring strongly focused coverage on wireless broadband technologies, systems and services of greatest interest for industry development in China.

For more details and to register for the event, please visit www.china-mobility.com

In-Building Solutions Asia Pacific 2007

20th-23rd August 2007
Singapore

IIR's In-Building Solutions Asia Pacific Summit is the only event of its kind to address the specific technical challenges of Indoor Radio Network Planners. Don’t miss this opportunity to develop and consolidate your knowledge and contacts in this field. Singapore, 20-23 August 2007!

To register email: Registration