Welcome to This Week, the only easy to read FREE weekly summary of the top news stories on wireless communications in Australia and New Zealand. This Week is updated daily with stories drawn from the popular press, regulatory bodies, vendors and operators. To receive a free copy of This Week delivered to your mailbox each Friday, please REGISTER here. 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

Telstra slams Libs. for fiddling

27 June, 2008

TELSTRA has momentarily suspended its attack on the Labor Government over speculation the telco might be structurally separated and refocused its ire on the federal Opposition which it accuses of "fiddling" on broadband.

Lonely Planet mobile site launches on Big Pond

26 June, 2008

At the core of the Lonely Planet m-site is a‘What’s Around Me?’ feature that enables users to select their current or planned location and instantly get Lonely Planet recommendations for the nearest restaurants, nightlife spots, hotels, shops and sights on their mobile phone.

Telstra boss grilled at launch of T (Life) store

26 June, 2008

TELSTRA boss Sol Trujillo today defended the company's executives from suggestions they had indulged in a lavish lifestyle while travelling overseas to persuade investors to take up shares in the company's final privatisation.

3 Launches iPhone petition

26 June, 2008

The 3 mobile network is banking on people power to help it convince Apple to allow it to carry the new 3G iPhone in Australia. A new website, three.com.au/iphone, will go live tomorrow and 3 is encouraging customers to register their interest "for the powers that be at Apple to see".

Is this Telstra's answer to the iPhone?

26 June, 2008

HTC has unleashed its answer to the iPhone with the new Touch Diamond handset, set to be released in Australia next month in an exclusive tie-up with Telstra.Australia. Trailing the iPhone's Australia release by a matter of weeks the Touch Diamond will be available on Telstra's Next G network for a stand-alone price of $A999 ($NZ1260) or free on a two-year $A80-per-month plan.

Motorola provides hardware for wireless research venture

25 June, 2008

The University of Wollongong will is a step closer to the commercialisation of wireless sensor networks with Motorola providing hardware needed to test its theoretical research on real life systems.

More than just mobile

25 June, 2008

Vodafone Australia has announced plans to step outside the mobile phone market and offer mid-sized enterprises a package of telecommunications services that includes broadband, and fixed-line and mobile.

NextG not fully paid for yet

25 June, 2008

Rumours have surfaced that not all the contractors working on the rollout of Telstra's $1.2 billion Next G mobile phone network have been paid yet.

Optus provides parental control

24 June, 2008

Optus is the first mobile carrier in Australia to license the "mozone" software suite that enables parents to control their children's mobile phone usage including what websites they can visit, who they can contact and when they can use the built-in camera.

New Zealand

Year of 'giant leap forward' for telecoms

26 June, 2008

Will this year go down as "the year New Zealand took its giant leap in telecommunications?" When New Zealand's political leaders came to realise the enormous potential of the technology to transform New Zealand's position in the world?" At the moment, the chief executive of the Telecommunications Users Association lobby group is upbeat about where the industry is headed.

Telco's want more details on Broadband plans

24 June, 2008

The Government and National's competing plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money to turbo-charge New Zealand's broadband networks have drawn vaguely positive but non- committal responses from the country's two big telecommunications companies

Farmers need broadband - lobby

24 June, 2008

The nation's farmers desperately need access to broadband internet links, and they need it more than many "townies" It's more important to us than it is for many urban dwellers. Mr Aubrey told the ninth annual telecommunications summit in Auckland yesterday that the "dial-up" modem speeds for many rural subscribers to the internet was "painful".

Mobile to play second fiddle to fibre optic plan

24 June, 2008

Mobile technology will only be used as a crucial niche extender to a nationwide fibre optic network under government policies to offset New Zealand's isolation problems.

India key to $20m Telecom revamp

23 June, 2008

Telecom has awarded Indian company Tech Mahindra a contract worth $20 million to $30m to help to help reshape its retail business, providing customers with more self-service options and cutting costs.

Next Generation Networks on Commission's cards

23 June, 2008

The Telecommunications Commissioner is seeking feedback on plans for upgraded telecommunications services known as Next Generation Networks (NGNs).

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Upcoming Events

Oceania Com

7-8 July 2008
Sydney

Building profitable, world-class telecoms businesses in the Pacific.

The newest member of the Com World Series, Oceania Com conference and exhibition is designed to gather operators and vendors from Australia, New Zealand and the island nations and territories of the Pacific.

Discuss, debate and gather best practice on:

• Policies to Stimulate Growth, Innovation and Competitiveness
• Operator Growth and Profitability Strategies
• Profitable Deployment of Wireless Broadband Technologies
• Extending the Availability of Broadband Services

Advertising and Marketing Summit

21-22 July 2008
Sydney

The 7th annual summit in this highly successful series of events continues to examine the challenges of Australia’s evolving advertising & marketing landscape.

Join the leading minds who will share their authoritative predictions in vibrant discussion and leading insight in addition to the celebration of exemplary practice, giving you the insights to unlock excellence.

Get the advantage and avoid the rhetoric to the questions you have not considered and the answers you need to have.

For details and registration, please visit: www.acevents.com.au

South East Asia Com

23-24 July 2008
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Harnessing The Opportunity Of Regional Scale By Developing Partnerships And Deploying Strong Value Propositions In Each South East Asian Countries.

SE AsiaCom is the number 1 meeting place for the communications value chain in the region. It gathers thought leaders and purchasing decision makers from across SE Asia and the wider international community to learn, network and to do business

Untapping The Opportunities Of Key South East Asia Markets Including:
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore

For details and registration, please visit: www.comworldseries.com

17th Annual Wireless & Mobile Comms Conference

23-25 July 2008
Melbourne

Raise the security, reliability and responsiveness of your mobile communications to enable your team to make quick, smart decisions and ensure officer and public safety. IWCE in Association with 17th Wireless & Mobile Comms Conference is your unrivalled means of accessing the latest knowledge and meeting the leading professionals within the integrated communications sector.

If you are responsible for planning and implementing your organisation's wireless and mobile communications technology then note 23-25 July in your diary.

By attending the Conference you can learn from practical case studies presented by peers plus draw upon the expertise of international industry practitioners to help solve your wireless and mobile communications issues.

For details and registration, please visit: www.iir.com.au

Submarine Network World

18 - 20 August 2008
Singapore

The amazing race (Submarine Network edition) - Final Destination Australia. In this final segment, key cable owners and operators in Australia and the surrounding regions share with us their perspectives on ‘Impact of increasing competition and the entrance of new players into the market’, ‘Perth to Singapore’ cable project, ‘Project Runway’ and more!

For details and registration, please visit: www.terrapinn.com or email email karin.lee@terrapinn.com

14th India Telecoms International Summit

23 - 25 September 2008
New Delhi, India

The summit will address the strategic, financial and technical challenges facing India’s operators. Driven by experts from the telecom operators and industry professionals involved in developing the Indian market, we will also bring to the summit experiences from leading international operators.

Highlights of the conference:

• How to grow networks in terms of coverage and capacity in a highly competitive market?
  
  
• How can operators develop profitable new services and applications?
  
  
• How can operators afford to increase subscribers in the rural areas whilst ensuring profitable voice and data for the developed markets in India?