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

Mobile traffic of APEC proportions

14 September, 2007

Telstra has released some interesting statistics about the amount of mobile traffic it had to manage during APEC week in Sydney.

ACCC concerns over Coonan conduct

14 September, 2007

Telstra has now asked the Australian Consumer Competition Commission to investigate its claims that Senator Coonan misled members of the public in Tasmania and Victoria to believe they were only able to acquire wireless broadband services from Telstra's competitors in a further legal blow to the embattled Minister.

Telstra opens new front in legal war on Government

12 September, 2007

Legislation giving the federal Government the power to stop Telstra turning off the existing CDMA network in regional areas has come under a legal challenge by Telstra seeking an injunction as the planned January deadline approaches.

WiMAX deal will leave rural Australia behind

11 September, 2007

NSW Rural Affairs Minister Tony Kelly has wade into the Broadband Connect debate and claims that it is a "slap in the face for regional Australia" due to the perceived problems of WiMax technology where distances, the number of users and transmission interference all impacted on the service quality and speed.

Rural ISPs flattened under OPEL rock

11 September, 2007

Left without funding following the federal government's decision to award the OPEL consortium the money, many rural ISPs will now be forced to collapse or be bought up in a regional fire sale.

Telstra goes for OPEL jugular

11 September, 2007

Seeking to annul the Opel consortium's billion-dollar federal Government broadband contract over 'procedural fairness' a Telstra spokesperson has said the telco will fight the case on appeal if necessary.

Government inks OPEL deal

10 September, 2007

Notwithstanding the fact that Telstra is disputing the OPEL tender process in court, the Government today signed the $958 million contract with the joint venture of Optus and Elders establishing the legal foundation to begin building a wireless internet network for rural and regional areas.

Vodafone makes Wallabies debut

10 September, 2007

In a move designed to capitalise on the popularity of the Wallabies at the rugby World Cup, Vodafone has launched its own mini rugby channel on its mobile phone network and subscription TV offering subscribers dedicated footage of the tournament.

New Zealand

No competition to port to

13 September, 2007

The lack of competitive pressure has been blamed for the insignificant numbers of mobile users choosing to subscribe with another provider under the Number Portability scheme now operating for five months.

Termination rates decision still raising eyebrows

12 September, 2007

Telecommunications industry players continue to question the decision by Trevor Mallard to reject a recommendation from his own Economic Development ministry to regulate Vodafone and Telecom's mobile termination fees in support of the Commerce Commission's recommendation to regulate commercial agreements with the operators.

Wireless data stolen unbeknown

12 September, 2007

The use of wireless networks by many businesses these days has brought new security risks that need to be addressed in order to protect against the unauthorised use of data and loss of profits.

Taking better care of complaints

11 September, 2007

The Telecommunications Carriers' Forum is a new initiative set up and run by the major telecommunications companies in New Zealand to better manage customer complaints.

CallPlus not impressed by Kordia Wi-Fi

9 September, 2007

State-owned communications company Kordia has launched new Wi-Fi wireless internet services in Auckland and Taupo but ran into criticism from rival telco Callplus for doing so.

Mobile plans a burden in more ways than one

8 September, 2007

Recent Commerce Commission statistics indicate that New Zealand has slipped further down the rankings of OECD countries in terms of high mobile prices, long contract terms, heavy contract termination penalties and no handset subsidies or international roaming.

What's new on our site?

Italian mobile entertainment leader, Buongiorno, selects Vidiator Xenon streamer and encoders as its technology

With this announcement comes an industry first -- Buongiorno will use Xenon's server-side playlist feature to allow subscribers to sample WAP-based ring tones before they buy. Using Xenon Streamer, customers can also dynamically create personal server-side music playlists from their preferred ring tones, or mix and match music clips through Buongiorno's Internet website and immediately, seamlessly listen to their streamed playlist using the standard 3GPP streaming player on their handsets, offering an alternative to mp3 players and music downloads.

CLICK HERE for more information

TeleResources announces agreement with Elektrobit for distribution of their Propsim range of radio channel emulators

EB Propsim radio channel emulators are tools for air interface testing, replacing the real-world radio channel between a transmitter and a receiver. The EB Propsim product family of radio channel emulators provides realistic and repeatable test conditions for air interface testing in your lab. You can test and verify the performance and functionality of your receiver and transmitter designs, and wireless systems against deployment environment.

CLICK HERE for more information

Upcoming Events

Mobile Payments Asia 2007

2-4 October 2007
Bangkok, Thailand

Informa’s Mobile Payments Asia 2007 is back and promises to be bigger and even more focused this year with a comprehensive 3 day programme that will look at all the key issues pertaining to market adoption and technology advancement. Mobile Payments Asia 2007 is a uniquely valuable opportunity for participants to put across their vision of how to meet challenges and maximise opportunities faced by players and stakeholders eyeing the rich potential of the Asian mobile payments market!

For more information and to register please visit: www.informatm.com

Transport Networks for Mobile Operators Asia Pacific

8-11 October 2007
Hong Kong

Transport Networks for Mobile Operators will be led by senior transport professionals from the Asia Pacific region, who are driving network evolution and rolling out new deployments. Themed sessions include optical core evolution, 3G & HSPA deployment, 3G transport & backhaul optimisation, IP transport evolution, Ethernet RAN and MW backhaul

For more information and to register please visit: www.iir-events.com

HSPa towards LTE Asia 2007

9-10 October 2007
Hong Kong

This established event, endorsed by 3GPP, GSA and UMTS Forum, will provide current updates on the industry progress from implementation, deployment and commercialization of HSxPA networks and services as well as evaluate the future evolutions of this technology towards LTE.

For more information and to register please visit: www.informatm.com

WiMax Summit Australia 2007

22-25 October 2007
Sydney

WiMax Summit Australia 2007 is the first in the region that will bring together international and domestic service providers to evaluate best practice, assess business models and discuss the projected impact of WiMAX on the Australasian broadband market.

CLICK HERE for registration details and to receive your 15% off be sure to quote TELERE15

IPTV Australasia 2007

22-24 October 2007
Sydney, Australia

IPTV Australasia is the leading destination for the converging ecosystems of broadband and entertainment. Covering IPTV, video on demand and webTV, this event delivers the most comprehensive examination of the convergence of communications and entertainment and its impact on service providers.

For more information and to register please visit: www.terrapinn.com

IIR’s Billing & Revenue Management Asia Pacific

22-26 October 2007
Hong Kong

IIR's forthcoming Billing & Revenue Management (RM) event will provide you with the unique opportunity to hear exclusive Pan-Asian and European telecom operator case studies. Leading operator speakers will be sharing their valuable and hard won experiences on optimising Billing and RM processes for meeting the requirements of next generation services and capturing maximum revenues.

For more information and to register please visit: www.iir-events.com

Mobile Entertainment Markets (MEM) Asia

6-7 December 2007
Singapore

The mobile and entertainment industries are increasingly merging, so why not have an event which brings together the leaders of both industries. Creating ONE Market-Place for both the mobile and media spheres.

The longest standing and most established event in the global mobile content industry. With market-leading speakers representing: mobile music, games, social networking and advertising, it will be an event not to be missed.
3 days, 6 events, unrivalled networking and a multitude of opportunities to do business!

For more information and to register please visit: www.memasia.com