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

How to bring Telstra down to size

5 October, 2007

Australian Democrats Senator Lyn Allison supports a mandate for the structural separation of Telstra in light of recent events.

More political punches thrown

3 October, 2007

For those that can stomach more of the battle between Telstra and the Howard Government.

Optus and Telstra choose political corners

3 October, 2007

On the same day that John Howard was extolling the virtues of open competition at the opening of Optus' new home in North Ryde, Telstra's Phil Burgess was slinging mud back at the government from at a business breakfast in Sydney's Bondi Junction in Wentworth.

Unwired shareholders attempt to derail sale

3 October, 2007

Disgruntled about a number of issues behind the proposed sale of Unwired to Network 7, an online database has been set up by small and medium investors to list their shareholdings in an attempt to derail the takeover through collective action.

Not just a missed call

2 October, 2007

Pranking is the name given to the growing phenomenon of people calling but hanging up on mobile phones so as to just leave a 'missed call' message for a variety of reasons.

CSIRO to defend IP rights to Wi-Fi

2 October, 2007

Having already successfully sued US product manufacturer, Buffalo Technology for refusing to honour its Wi-Fi patents by paying licensing fees, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is ready to sue other manufacturers of next generation wireless products.

Finally some pragmatism enters Telstra fracas

1 October, 2007

Telstra Countrywide general manager for south-east NSW, Ian Peters, has directed the CDMA licensing debate back on technology and believes that the problems that users are reportedly experiencing with Next G could relate to a variety of issues including handsets, antennas or a fault in a particular tower at a particular site.

It then gets personal

2 October, 2007

Telstra has hit back at Senator Coonan personally by labeling her as a public policy failure.

Telstra gets political

1 October, 2007

Senator Coonan has chastised Telstra for orchestrating a "belligerent and offensive" mail out to 1.6 million Australian households, urging them to vent their anger at the Howard Government's attack on licence conditions forcing Telstra to keep the CDMA mobile phone network running in rural and regional Australia until it can prove its new 3G network is as good.

New Zealand

New network needs injection of funds

5 October, 2007

In response to the need for New Zealand Communications to increase its capital next year, Maori investors in the company, formerly Econet Wireless, are preparing to raise more funds to maintain their stake in the network operator.

Telecom and Vodafone may both miss out on iPhone deal

4 October, 2007

Industry news is that Telecom and Vodafone will be overlooked by Apple and the exclusive deal to support the iPhone in New Zealand will be awarded to Orcon.

CallPlus founders find themselves in court

3 October, 2007

CallPlus founders Annette Presley and Malcolm Dick will face each other in the High Court on November 9 over claims that he placed himself in a position of conflict by starting the 2Talk phone business that offers services that CallPlus currently offers or might offer in the future.

Export award goes to wireless broadband manufacturer

2 October, 2007

Wellington-based 4RF Communications has won one of the major awards in this year's ANZ Wellington Export Awards for exporting over 90 per cent of its radio systems that allow for long-distance wireless broadband.

Number porting decision pending

1 October, 2007

The Commerce Commission is nearing its decision whether to force Vodafone to let people switch from Telecom's mobile network to its own pre- paid service while keeping their 027 phone number.

300 good reasons for recycling

1 October, 2007

The inaugural recycling 'eDay' in New Zealand netted almost 300 tonnes of old computer equipment and mobile phones which were dropped off at special recycling centres around the country.

Hyperfactory gets new machinery

1 October, 2007

A consortium has taken a "substantial" stake in the Hyperfactory that controls more than 80 per of all branded mobile advertising in New Zealand.

What's new on our site?

NetEyes™, Cellint's groundbreaking RF optimisation solution was deployed nationwide by Cellcom Israel

Cellint's NetEyes (www.cellint.com) has announced today that Cellcom Israel Ltd. (www.cellcom.co.il), the largest cellular operator in Israel, has deployed the latest release of NetEyes over its entire GSM network in Israel, following significant contribution of NetEyes in solving persistent dropped calls problems.

Baruch Bar, Cellcom Israel's RF Dept Manager commented: "NetEyes" analyses and findings were highly useful and provided a significant data required to pinpoint and fix problems. With the standard optimiser and drive tests, it might take months to collect such critical and accurate data. NetEyes delivers great value in network management and enhances significantly the quality of service".

CLICK HERE for more information

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

Upcoming Events

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 more information and be sure to quote TELERE15 for your 15% registration discount

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 be sure to quote TELERE15 for your 15% registration discount

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

Australasian Media & Broadcasting Congress 2007

28-30 November 2007
Sydney

The conference will draw on key industry leaders that can share their vision and practical strategies for the development of the media sector.

The focus of the conference will be a strategic examination of the new media structure, business models and paradigms. It will be all about opportunity - to make money and change the media landscape.

For more information and to register please visit: www.terrapinn.com be sure to quote TELERE15 for your 15% registration discount

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