Telecommunications

We respect Dr Teo’s work as a brain surgeon and acknowledge his right to express his strong personal opinions about mobile phone safety and health issues.

However, our industry relies on the expert opinion of national and international health agencies, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), which have found no convincing evidence that radio frequency exposure within internationally accepted safety limits causes adverse harmful health effects.

The WHO says in its fact sheet Number 193 of June 2011: “A large number of studies have been performed over the last two decades to assess whether mobile phones pose a potential health risk. To date, no adverse health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone use.”

Continue reading "Counterpunch: there’s no proof mobiles cause cancer" »

There are three undisputed facts about the link between mobile phones and brain tumours. Firstly, the jury is still out. Secondly, the number of mobile phone users is increasing rapidly and currently stands at over five billion worldwide. Thirdly, IF there is a causal link between exposure to non-ionising radiation and brain tumours, then the social and financial consequences would be devastating and on a scale never before witnessed in history.

With over twenty one million mobile phones in use in Australia, why are we not spending the resources on finding the answer? Perhaps the answer is one that all of us would rather not imagine. Could those with a vested interest be misguiding us?

The other, less divisive explanation is that epidemiologists and scientists truly believe that the jury is no longer out and that there is absolutely no link.

Continue reading "What if your mobile phone is giving you brain cancer?" »

If you have a mobile phone, internet service or fixed line and you live in Australia; chances are you’ve experienced had some sort of issue with your service at one time or another. No big deal, right?

You call the customer service helpline of your provider and begin to explain the problem. You might be told you are speaking to the wrong department and get transferred … multiple times. You might be kept on hold. You might be promised a call back. You might, if you’ve spoken to the right department, be promised a solution, which may or may not happen. If not, you’ll have to call back, and possibly even start again.

It’s no great secret that customer service across the telco industry is lacking. Last year was a record year for complaints – almost 200,000 of us had to resort to taking our problem to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman. By comparison, the banks – another industry Australians love to complain about – generate around 24,000 complaints a year to the financial ombudsman.

Continue reading "A call for change at our service-challenged telcos" »

The continuing insistence of the Government not to release its business plan for the National Broadband Network within the next week is hurting Stephen Conroy, aiding Tony Abbott and undermining the credibility of the project.

Stephen Conroy has suffered the political equivalent of an atomic wedgie over the NBN business plan at the hands of the Senate. Not many thought the Senate would be able to get the underpants all the way over head, but they did. Even Bob Brown joined in at one stage only to back off when he thought little Stephen had had enough.

For those who weren’t watching last night and today (can’t imagine why), the Senate passed two motions that demonstrate a majority of the upper house are opposed to delaying the release of the plan until after Parliament has finished sitting. So the Parliament is being expected to pass the bill without knowing whether the project will be commercially viable at some point.

Continue reading "Hiding the NBN business plan not a good political one" »

Sometimes it’s tough being a celebrity journalist. Not only do you have to constantly travel to Prague and party with Ben Affleck but you also have to do radio interviews.

Earlier this week I was chatting to a Queensland radio station at about 7.30am when all of a sudden my mobile phone just cut out. Just immediately ceased to function, as if Philip Nitschke had caught it in a bad mood.

I must admit I found this lack of reception strange, given that I was standing in a street in the middle of Sydney—as opposed to, say, Hitler’s bunker.

Continue reading "My iPhone is great - except at making calls" »

The reintroduction of the Competition and Consumer Safeguards Bill is a key step towards delivering a vibrant and competitive telecommunications sector. It is in the interests of all Australians.

The Gillard Government is committed to addressing the mistakes of the past and establishing an effective and efficient telecommunications regulatory framework.

Reforms outlined in the Bill include restructuring the market to promote greater competition and strengthening consumer safeguard measures such as Customer Service Guarantee and the Universal Service Obligation.

Continue reading "Here’s why we need to split Telstra" »

In another study from the University of Obvious Research Findings, research out today finds people are increasingly working away from the office.

And it’s perhaps it’s even more predictable given that the survey was commissioned by Telstra. Surprise! Telecommunications technology is all the rage says a study - from a telecommunications technology company.

Although once you get past saying “well, duh” and grab your pinch of salt, some details in the findings might just twitch your eyebrow. It says a quarter of Australian workers are spending five hours working outside of the workplace each week, and 15 per cent are doing it 10 hours a week. These are pretty significant numbers and signal a real shift in the nature of Australian work. The question is whether a society of always-on workers is a Good Thing.

Continue reading "Is it time to put the brakes on remote working?" »

We don’t torture people in this country. Instead we allow large telecommunications providers to roam the malls and high streets where they sign people up to what are euphemistically called ‘service contracts’. 

These service contracts entitle the telco to subject those same people to cruel and unusual treatment designed to disorient them, make them doubt their senses and generally elicit feelings of such helplessness that people begin to identify with the telco and renew their contract.

I speak from experience. Last month, my wife’s BlackBerry went bung so I returned it to an Optus store. Despite having a large ‘Optus Yes’ sign out the front, the message from the staff inside was ‘Optus No’.

Continue reading "Telcos,  Australia’s torture chamber" »

Will we ever get a viable “national broadband network” or NBN? Well, that depends on how Senator Stephen Conroy, the Federal Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, plays the game.

At stake are tens of billions of taxpayers’ money.

In fact, the upwards of 43 billion dollars estimated to be needed to build the NBN is simply mind boggling. Of that figure, upwards of 26 billion dollars is “government investment” or, more precisely, taxpayers’ money.

Continue reading "National broadband network: fact or fiction" »

Update 2:20 PM: Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has announced today the NBN will be able to be completed for $5 billion under initial budget at $38 billion. The implementation study also found the network could be viable without Telstra, but said it would be preferable for the Government to strike a deal with the telco.

Australian households and businesses will find out today how much they will have to pay for state-of-the-art broadband when the Government finally tables long-held advice on its controversial $43 billion national broadband network.

A detailed implementation study into the proposed NBN, which promises broadband connections to virtually all Australian homes and businesses at speeds of of up to 100 megabits per second, will be released this afternoon.

Continue reading "Awaiting the bill for the NBN" »

Everyone loves to hate call centres, but it’s time to give them a break because they generally provide a convenient and effective service.

If you’re foaming at the mouth right now thinking that the ten minutes you’ve just spent on hold being told “your call is important” was neither convenient nor effective, consider the alternative.

In many cases it’s a drive down to your local shops, a few minutes spent hunting for a parking spot and then a few more walking past shops before you get to the retail outlet where you want to conduct a transaction.

Continue reading "Don’t take your bad day out on a call centre worker" »

DON’T be surprised as you walk down a street in Spain to hear someone humming or even singing the words to Waltzing Matilda.

The catchy unofficial Aussie national anthem has become somewhat of a sensation in Spain since it was chosen by a mobile telephone company to promote its new summer tariff plan, then featured in their advertisement in the break of the televised Champions League soccer grand final watched by millions across Europe recently.

The accents on the advertisement are strange and the video clip is downright wacky but online chat rooms and talk back radio in Spain has been inundated with debates about “Billy-bongs” and “Kooly-bar trees” and speculation about what it was that a man put into a “ta-ka” bag.

Continue reading "Juan’s a jolly swagman: the Spanish Waltzing Matilda" »