Here are a few I have come across the last week or so. Note: Each link is followed by a title and a few paragraphs. For the full article click on the link above title of the article. Note also that full access to some links may require site registration or subscription payment.
General Comment
-----
News this week was clearly dominated by the management changes at the ADHA. While the blog received a lot of comments – 51 to be exact by Saturday on the topic there was apparent silence from the RACGP / AMA / CHF/ Minister Hunt. I wonder why?
Elsewhere there seemed to be deck clearing before the silly season proper starts!
-----
Australian Digital Health Agency CEO Resigns
Tim Kelsey will step down from the role of CEO of the Australian Digital Health Agency in January. Kelsey led the ADHA since 2016 and presided over the introduction of the controversial $1.5 billion My Health Record system.
The ADHA board will appoint an interim CEO while a recruitment process is undertaken to find Kelsey’s successor.
“The Board is engaging with the Agency to ensure staff are supported during this time of change and will be taking all appropriate steps to ensure the ongoing management of the Agency’s business,” an ADHA statement released today said.
Kelsey joined the ADHA after a brief stint as director at Telstra health in 2016. Prior to that he was the national director for patients and information at NHS England and has also worked as a McKinsey and Company expert.
-----
Australian Digital Health Agency chief suddenly quits
After three years.
Australian Digital Health Agency chief Tim Kelsey has abruptly resigned after more than three years at the helm of the country’s national digital health services and systems.
In a brief statement on Monday afternoon, the agency’s board revealed Kelsey would leave the top job on January 17.
Kelsey joined the ADHA as its inaugural CEO in August 2016 - when the agency replaced the then National e-Health Transition Authority - following a brief stint at Telstra Health.
Prior to that, he spent more than three years as the national director of patents and information for the UK’s National Health Service, where he came under fire over plans over the care.data program.
-----
https://www.innovationaus.com/tim-kelsey-exits-digital-health-agency/
Tim Kelsey exits Digital Health Agency
James Riley
Innovation Australia
9 December 2019
Australian Digital Health Agency chief executive Tim Kelsey has unexpectedly resigned from the organisation that has overseen the difficult My Health Record implementation. The resignation is effective from January 17.
A short statement issued by the ADHA board on Monday said it would appoint an interim chief executive shortly.
Mr Kelsey has been the chief executive at the ADHA since August 2016, having joined the organisation after a short stint as director at Telstra Health.
The former McKinsey & Co consultant had previously been the national director for patients and information and the UK’s National Health Service and has been an executive director on transparency and open data in the UK Cabinet Office.
-----
Tim Kelsey exits Digital Health Agency
James Riley
Innovation Australia
9 December 2019
Australian Digital Health Agency chief executive Tim Kelsey has unexpectedly resigned from the organisation that has overseen the difficult My Health Record implementation. The resignation is effective from January 17.
A short statement issued by the ADHA board on Monday said it would appoint an interim chief executive shortly.
Mr Kelsey has been the chief executive at the ADHA since August 2016, having joined the organisation after a short stint as director at Telstra Health.
The former McKinsey & Co consultant had previously been the national director for patients and information and the UK’s National Health Service and has been an executive director on transparency and open data in the UK Cabinet Office.
-----
My Health Record chief quits
Tim Kelsey to leave in January 2020
Editor, Computerworld | 9 December 2019 14:17 AEDT
The chief executive of the agency charged with operating the national eHealth record system will depart in January 2020.
The Australian Digital Health Agency announced today that its CEO, Tim Kelsey, had resigned. The ADHA operates the My Health Record system.
Kelsey joined the agency in 2016 shortly after it was established as a successor to the National E-Health Transition Authority (NeHTA).
As CEO he has overseen the roll out of My Health Record to 22 million individuals, with the system shifting from being opt-in to opt-out following 2015 trials. That shift and some privacy settings of the system were a source of controversy, with the government last year passing legislation allowing individuals to request deletion of their record and requiring a warrant for police access to My Health Record data.
-----
E-health chief Tim Kelsey calls it a day, following COO’s resignation
Australian Digital Health Agency chief executive Tim Kelsey has handed in his resignation.
Kelsey will take his leave from the post on January 17 after just over three years leading the agency that operates the My Health Record system and is responsible for the federal Digital Health Strategy.
“During that time the agency has done much to be proud of, particularly working with stakeholders and the community to provide more than 22 million Australians with an online summary of their key health information through their My Health Record, and to support the introduction of e-prescribing,” says a statement from the board of the statutory authority.
An interim chief executive will be appointed shortly to run the show until a new CEO is appointed. The board says it is working to “ensure staff are supported during this time of change” and “taking all appropriate steps to ensure the ongoing management” of the e-health authority.
-----
Health agency chief Tim Kelsey departs
Kelsey leaving after three years at the helm of the Australian Digital Health Agency
The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) has advised that CEO Tim Kelsey has resigned and will no longer lead the agency charge of My Health Record as of 17 January 2020.
Kelsey was made CEO in August 2016 with one of his responsibilities being to revitalise the My Health Record.
Prior to his role with the ADHA, Kelsey was the first national director for patients and information for NHS England and the first chair of the National Information Board in England which oversaw the design of a new digital health strategy for the NHS. He was also the strategy and commercial director for Telstra Health between February and August 2016.
-----
ADHA to find new CEO as Tim Kelsey steps down
During his tenure, millions have opted out of the ADHA's My Heath Record, however ten times that number have opted in.
The Australian Digital Health Agency Board (ADHA) has announced the resignation of its CEO, Tim Kelsey, who took on the post three years ago.
"During [Kelsey's] time, the agency has done much to be proud of, particularly working with stakeholders and the community to provide more than 22 million Australians with an online summary of their key health information through their My Health Record, and to support the introduction of e-prescribing," ADHA said in a statement.
As ADHA CEO, Kelsey oversaw the rollout of My Health Record. Last month, the Australian National Audit Office pointed out a number of security issues concerning the My Health Record implementation, including instead of testing against the Australian government's Information Security Manual, vendors sign a form saying they are compliant. Otherwise the audit office said the rollout was "largely effective".
-----
ADHA CEO appointed senior VP for international analytics at HIMSS
Tim Kelsey will take on the new role in 2020.
December 10, 2019 04:29 AM
Chief executive Tim Kelsey is leaving the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) after being appointed to the role of senior vice president, international analytics at HIMSS, it has been announced today.
WHAT HAPPENED
Kelsey, a former journalist, has been in charge of the ADHA for the past three years, where he led the development of Australia’s national digital health strategy and oversaw the expansion of the My Health Record system.
Prior to his work with the ADHA, he was the national director for patients and information at NHS England and executive director, transparency and open data at the UK Cabinet Office.
-----
Macquarie Uni races tech giants to build AI medical scribe
A team from Macquarie University has set out to build its own version of an artificial intelligence-powered scribe in a race against global tech giants like Google, Microsoft and Amazon.
Researchers from the Australian Institute of Health Innovation (AIHI) at Macquarie are currently hunting for data to build an automated speech-to-text capability that can accurately record medical jargon for integration with health records.
While AI scribes have become much more popular and powerful in recent times, they’re still far from perfect (often with hilarious or frustrating results).
And although AIHI didn't delve too deep into it, the security of consultation recordings could be a major concern for doctors and patients alike, especially when processed by large multinationals known for harvesting data to sell to unknown third parties.
-----
How GPs can help develop a time-saving 'digital scribe'
More data is needed to help AI create a program to cut time spent note taking, says researcher
9th December 2019
GPs are being recruited to record patient consultations to help create a ‘digital scribe’ that would slash the time doctors spend writing up notes.
Macquarie University researchers plan to use the doctors’ recordings to develop a tool that uses speech recognition and artificial intelligence to record and transcribe consultations.
The tool would extract relevant information and summarise it in a patient’s electronic health record, say the team from the university’s Australian Institute of Health Innovation (AIHI).
Such a tool would benefit doctors worldwide by reducing the time spent on documentation and note taking, allowing them to focus on the patient.
-----
IT glitch leaves hospitals without surgical supplies, patients at risk
Livingston Contributor on December 11, 2019
Hundreds of patients have been put at risk after Victorian hospitals were left without vital surgical supplies due to an IT glitch.
The hospitals were unable to order surgical instruments when the computer ordering program of one of Australia‘s largest medical suppliers, Medtronics, went down.
Victorian hospitals have had a shortfall of surgical supplies.
There were 7290 outstanding orders a fortnight ago, leading to shortfalls in surgical and laparoscopic instruments, respiratory products and sutures, skin staples and tissue adhesives.
-----
How accurate is the Fitbit as a sleep tracker?
Doctors wary of patients' sleep data from activity trackers due to a lack of validation, say study authors
12th December 2019
When a patient comes in with sleep times recorded on a Fitbit, doctors can now assume the device provides useful data, researchers say.
One model of the Fitbit activity tracker is as accurate in monitoring sleep patterns as the more expensive research-grade actigraphs, write the Monash University study authors.
“Clinically, patients often show up at sleep disorders clinics with output from such devices, hoping their doctor can make sense of it,” said lead researcher Professor Sean Drummond, of the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Melbourne.
-----
Malnourished healthcare cybersecurity creates ransomware epidemic
Cheaper to pay insurance excess than to add protection.
Following what it terms an unprecedented and unrelenting barrage of ransomware attacks, security vendor Emsisoft has sharply criciised American public service organisations for not acting on the growing threat and taking measures to protect it.
Emsisoft released its annual report on ransomware attacks in the United States early after a criminals recently not only encrypted and extortioned a municipal authority's data, but also stole it.
The security vendors tally this year stands at 948 government agencies, educational institutions and healthcare providers being hit with ransomware.
-----
13 December 2019
Behind every good doctor is another good doctor
Doctors who fear seeking medical help because of professional stigma or are concerned about being reported to the Medical Board of Australia, should put their health first, the AMA says.
With the launch this week of the DRS4DRS platform, doctors and medical students are being reminded to reach out for help, and look out for their colleagues by seeking appropriate health services.
Doctors using the new platform need not be worried about being reported to the MBA, according to the website.
“The MBA recognises that DRS4DRS needs to operate separately from regulatory bodies, so that we can confidentially support doctors without fear of reporting,” it states.
-----
9 December 2019
AI picks up first rumblings of thunderstorm asthma
When the thunderclouds blew pollen over Melbourne on 21 November 2016, causing a 10-fold increase in hospital presentations for asthma, it took some time for the authorities to recognise that they had a city-wide emergency on their hands.
But hours before the hospital deluge, people were reporting symptoms of wheezing, coughing and breathing difficulties on their public Twitter accounts.
Researchers at CSIRO’s Data61 are now using these types of tweets to demonstrate how social media might form part of an early-warning system for such rapidly developing asthma outbreaks.
The team developed 18 algorithms to analyse the tweets overall. Three of the algorithms would have detected the thunderstorm asthma outbreak up to nine hours before the first official report.
-----
Big names pile in to back Aussie AI health pioneer with $29m
Dec 9, 2019 — 11.00am
Artificial intelligence healthcare start-up Harrison.ai has closed its first capital raising, scoring $29 million in a round led by Blackbird Ventures and joined by Hong Kong's Horizons Ventures, Kim Jackson's Skip Capital and Ramsay Health Care.
Founded by brothers Aengus and Dimitry Tran, who immigrated to Australia from Vietnam for high school, the company's capital raising follows its early success building an AI algorithm for IVF provider Virtus Health to select the best embryo for implantation.
Speaking to The Australian Financial Review, Aengus said the company had also recently locked in a deal with the country's largest medical imaging company, I-MED, to form a new joint venture called Annalise.ai that would apply its technology to X-rays, and in the future mammography and CT scans as well.
-----
https://www.garvan.org.au/news-events/news/a-way-to-2018fingerprint2019-human-cells
By combining single cell analysis techniques with machine learning algorithms, a team led by researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research has developed a method to ‘fingerprint’ human cells.
The method, called ‘scPred’, published in the journal Genome Biology, has the potential to allow earlier detection of cancer, identify the cells at the root of autoimmune disease, and help personalise treatments to individual patients.
-----
https://www.garvan.org.au/news-events/news/a-way-to-2018fingerprint2019-human-cells
A way to ‘fingerprint’ human cells
Researchers have developed a
method that allows them to identify single cells with a unique genomic
profile from a tissue sample.
Media Release: 12 December 2019
Researchers say a new method to analyse data from individual human cells could be a step-change for diagnosing some of the most devastating diseases, including cancer and autoimmune disease.By combining single cell analysis techniques with machine learning algorithms, a team led by researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research has developed a method to ‘fingerprint’ human cells.
The method, called ‘scPred’, published in the journal Genome Biology, has the potential to allow earlier detection of cancer, identify the cells at the root of autoimmune disease, and help personalise treatments to individual patients.
-----
GP referrals to Specialists transformed by StVincentsPriority.com.au
ASX Release
Highlights:
• In an Australian first, possibly world first, 1st Group launches new online patient referral and booking service for St Vincent’s Health Australia specialists – StVincentsPriority.com.au and MaterPriority.com.au
• Powered by 1st Group’s MyHealth1st platform, the new service called “EasyReferrals” transforms the GP to Specialist referral and booking experience for GPs, patients and receiving Specialists
• Phase 1 rollout delivered - 3 of the 10 private hospital networks of specialists and some 160 sites have gone live
-----
Tuesday, 10 December 2019 02:35
1st Group claims Australia-first launch of GP referrals to specialists service platform
Australian listed digital health group, 1st Group, is claiming an Australian first with the launch of a new MyHealth1st product called EasyReferrals that powers the new service - StVincentsPriority.com.au - which it says completely transforms the GP to specialist referral process.
1st Group says that previously, GPs had no ability to know when a specialist might be available to see their patient without making lots of phone callsv and “nor would the GP know if the patient actually made the booking with the specialist”.
“Now, with the MyHealth1st EasyReferrals platform that powers StVincentsPriority.com.au GP's can find realtime availability of around 21 specialties including breast surgeons, cardiologists, orthopaedic surgeons, neurologists and others”, and “book the appointment on behalf of their patients in a few clicks or invite their patients to book the appointment themselves online 24/7.”
-----
09 Dec 2019 12:34 PM AEST
Shexie and MyHealth1st to transform GP to Specialist referrals
ASX Announcement:
Shexie to introduce MyHealth1st platform to its 3,500 specialists helping to transform the GP to Specialist referrals broken system
Shexie is a leading provider of Practice Management Software to the medical specialist market
Highlights:
• Shexie supports some 3,500 medical specialists
• MyHealth1st platform now integrated with Shexie’s practice management software
• The recently launched MyHealth1st EasyReferrals product for GP’s, patients and specialists is now available to Shexie practice customers
• Partnership builds on 1st Group’s share in the specialist vertical following the agreement with St Vincent’s Health – the first stage of growth in this new vertical
• Joint marketing to Shexie’s full practice base has commenced with site growth anticipated to accelerate in 2H 2020
-----
Govts agree on national API standards
To keep IT systems interoperable.
Commonwealth, state and territory IT ministers have agreed to a set of national application programming interface (API) design standards to promote interoperability between IT systems.
The decision, taken at the fifth meeting of the Australian Digital and Data Council in Sydney on Friday, aims to ensure APIs are consistent between all levels of government.
The standards will allow governments, as well as “trusted” third-parties, to “securely share, re-use and enhance data in real-time”.
“The national API design standards create a common method of API development that all governments can adopt,” the ministers said in a communique following the meeting.
-----
Monday, 09 December 2019 12:54
Healthcare services provider Opyl launches on ASX
Newly listed Australian healthcare services company Opyl - formerly known as ShareRoot before a rebranding - has now started trading on the ASX under its new name.
Trading commenced on Monday for Opyl (ASX:OPL), which uses AI-assisted technologies to allow biopharma and health organisations to collect and analyse the significant volume of clinical health data and real world data - in particular data that patients are creating on wearables, apps and social media - to better understand and improve healthcare design, development and delivery.
Opyl says the continuous flow of health data created in clinical settings and by patients in the natural course of each day is exceptionally large with the vast proportion of it underutilised by medical researchers and developers.
Michelle Gallaher, CEO of Opyl Limited, said: “At last, via social media and patient generated data, we can put the final piece of the puzzle into place and genuinely understand the real lived experience of people managing illness, injury and disorders”.
-----
Tuesday, 10 December 2019 09:49
ANU team develops new self-healing hydrogel
Scientists from the Australian National University claim to have invented a new hyrdogel that operates like skin, ligaments and bone, and is very strong, self-healing and able to morph into different shapes.
A statement from the team said their discovery could lead to a class of medical implants or artificial muscles for next-generation robots that were able to swim. Their research was published in the journal Advanced Materials.
Hydrogels contain a high content of water and are used in products like contact lenses.
Lead senior researcher Associate Professor Luke Connal from the ANU Research School of Chemistry said the dynamic chemical bonds in the new gel gave it unique features.
-----
Tuesday, 10 December 2019 12:35
AI-powered skin mapping app helps skin cancer detection
Danish company Miiskin has developed AI-powered skin mapping technology normally used by clinicians to detect early warning signs of melanoma.
Introduction of the app comes as research, commissioned by Miiskin and undertaken by YouGov Plc with 1,066 adults aged 18+ across Australia, has found that more than 1 in 5 Australians aren’t checking their body for the most common sign of melanoma.
“As a country with one of the highest levels of skin cancer in the world, the importance of self-examination is generally well understood in Australia – and consumer tech to support this is becoming widely used,” said Jon Friis, founder of Miiskin.
“However, in adults, more than 70% of melanomas show up as new marks or moles on the skin, not as changes to a previously existing mole.
-----
Government invests $14.7 million in innovative medical projects
A media release from The Hon Alan Tudge MP, Acting Minister for Health, announcing $14.7 million for 17 ground-breaking medical projects to help turn innovative medical ideas into reality, helping generations of future Australians.
Date published: 12 December 2019
Media type: Media release
Audience: General public
The Morrison Government is backing 17 ground-breaking medical projects to help turn innovative medical ideas into reality, helping generations of future Australians.
The Government is investing more than $14.7 million in these projects through the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), comprising $8.9 million through the BioMedTech Horizons (BMTH) program and more than $5.8 million through the Biomedical Translation Bridge (BTB) program.
The BMTH program is a $45 million Government initiative that aims to move technologies to proof-of-concept and commercial development.
-----
G Medical Innovations (ASX:GMV) continues U.S. growth
ASX:GMV MCAP $37.17M
Jessica De Freitas Markets Reporter
12 December 2019 16:00
- e-Health company G Medical Innovations (GMV) continues its rapid growth in the U.S., particularly after its uptake of remote patient services
- Between January and October 2019, the company added nearly 24,000 patients to its remote services
- These services aim to improve access to medical data and care for people living remotely
- G Medical expects the growth will continue stemming from the provision of remote monitoring independent diagnostic testing facility (IDTF) services to a major hospital chain in Ohio
- Additionally, the go-getter is pursuing new contracts across the country to implement and extend its services
- Shares have soared 33.3 per cent today and are trading for 12 cents each
e-Health company G Medical Innovations (GMV) has updated the market on its rapid growth across the U.S. during the 2019 calendar year.
-----
Respiri’s (ASX:RSH) asthma management app on-track for January 2020 delivery
ASX:RSH MCAP $53.70M
Jessica De Freitas Markets Reporter
jessica.defreitas@themarketherald.com.au
13 December 2019 16:15
- Respiri (RSH) has included a recurring monthly revenue model to transform into an e-health software-as-a-service player
- The company is set to complete the first 500 devices of the wheezo asthma management app by January next year
- The pricing model for wheezo will encompass an ongoing monthly service subscription fee of roughly $5-10 which is likely to drive recurring revenue
- According to the Global Asthma Report from 2018, there are approximately 339 million people suffering from asthma
- Respiri's wheezo device is set to help reduce hospitalisation rates and help patients better manage the disease
- Despite the news, the company is down 1.05 per cent with shares trading at 9.4 cents each
Respiri (RSH) has included a recurring monthly revenue model to transform into an e-health software-as-a-service (SaaS) player.
-----
Christchurch Hospital uses Cortex for clinical notes
Monday, 9 December 2019
eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
Cortex is being used to generate more than 11,000 electronic clinical notes every week at Christchurch Hospital.
Alistair Rumball-Smith, co-founder of Sense Medical which developed Cortex with Canterbury District Health Board, says there are more than 2000 unique monthly users actively using the care coordination platform across the DHB.
Cortex has been rolled out to 14 departments at Christchurch Hospital that are all moving to the new Hagley site next year and the final few are being onboarded.
Each department uses Cortex Designer to design their own forms and adapt the system to its own workflows.
-----
Government 'online safety' measures to encompass apps, search engines
Government launches consultation on new online safety act
Editor, Computerworld | 11 December 2019 12:01 AEDT
The government will today reveal details of proposed new legislation that will seek to tackle online harassment, including swifter takedowns of abusive material.
Communications and cyber safety minister Paul Fletcher will use an address at the National Press Club to launch a consultation on a proposed new online safety act.
The act “will put pressure on industry to prevent online harms and will introduce important new protections for Australians,” the minister will say in his NPC address.
The government is not yet issuing an exposure draft of a proposed act, but will begin a 10-week consultation on proposed elements of the legislation.
-----
Facebook, Google to be forced to negotiate
Dec 12, 2019 — 10.58am
Facebook and Google will be forced to negotiate with Australian media companies via a code of conduct, in a world-first attempt to reduce the power of tech giants.
Tech platforms will be required to work together with the competition regulator to develop a voluntary code to govern their relationships with the news media, as part of the Morrison government's response to the Digital Platforms Inquiry.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will provide the government with an update on the negotiation of a code by May and the codes will need to be finalised by November 2020 or else the government will look at other options including a mandatory code.
-----
Thursday, 12 December 2019 11:58
Govt to provide $26.9m for ACCC to monitor digital platforms
The Federal Government will provide $26.9 million for the Australian competition watchdog to keep an eye on competition issues arising with digital platforms, with the ACCC to set up a special unit for this purpose.
Additionally, the ACCC will work with digital platforms to develop and implement a voluntary code to address any concerns that have been identified.
The government’s response to the digital platforms inquiry report, submitted to it by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in June, was announced on Thursday by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, along with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Attorney-General Christian Porter and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher. The report was made public on 26 July
-----
Data law changes to pop up soon
Facebook and Google users in Australia will see new privacy protection options pop up in their smartphone apps and gain new powers over their own data, if world-first changes endorsed by the Morrison government on Thursday come to pass.
The government on Thursday said it would introduce new legislation in 2020 to force the tech giants to be more transparent with how they handled user data, and flagged potential further changes to the Privacy Act, which experts say is heavily outdated.
It will also dole out higher penalties for breaches of the act, and is likely to introduce a private right of action, which would allow an individual to sue directly on privacy matters.
The chief executive of the Consumer Policy Research Centre, Lauren Solomon, said privacy policies were littered with vague terms such as “we’re sharing with trusted partners” or “third parties” and “affiliates”, which mean nothing for most people. That would all begin to change, she added.
-----
Call for news ban on digital giants
Digital platforms would be banned from using any news publisher’s content or data unless all major news organisations sign on to a new code of conduct overseen by the competition regulator, under a plan from Australia’s largest media company.
News Corp Australia (publisher of The Australian) has endorsed a plan by the ACCC and the Morrison government for a new code of conduct to be drawn up between the likes of Facebook and Google and media companies, on the proviso that all major publishers sign up to the codes.
The publication of the media company submissions comes a day after the Morrison government responded to the ACCC report into the effect of digital platforms on traditional media, pledging that if a voluntary code were not agreed to by November 2020 a compulsory code would be introduced.
In previously confidential submissions to Treasury responding to the ACCC’s inquiry, News Corp also ask that digital platforms “appropriately compensate publishers” for use of their content.
-----
NBN argues against price setting by ACCC
NBN Co and the telcos are once again at loggerheads over wholesale pricing and how it affects consumers on entry level broadband plans over the National Broadband Network, with the industry taking aim at the company’s reliance on temporary discounts.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is mulling the need for a regulatory intervention to ensure consumers do not end up paying more for NBN plans that are no better than their existing ADSL/ADSL+ services.
One measure in the ACCC’s arsenal is for it to step in and dictate the wholesale price of entry level plans.
With the regulator keen to see the basic NBN plans anchored at $60 for consumers, NBN Co has warned that sticking to the $60 figure could destabilise its business model.
-----
NBN Co challenges Australia's $60 broadband 'sweet spot'
Claims "high-use end users" could fill up unlimited entry-level products.
NBN Co is fighting a government-led bid to create an unlimited “entry-level” product for $60 a month by challenging the extent to which that sweet spot ever existed in Australia’s broadband market.
The network builder’s defence to an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) plan to more heavily constrain its price-setting capabilities was released late Wednesday. [pdf]
A key part of its defence hinges on the extent to which baselining NBN services at $60 retail a month makes sense.
The $60 retail price point has long been a sweet spot for ADSL services.
-----
Tuesday, 10 December 2019 20:30
5G Networks will replace ‘costly’ fibre rollouts in 2020, says Juniper Research
With the first commercial launches of 5G networks occurring throughout this year, 2020 has been identified as the year in which 5G connectivity starts to replace costly rollouts of fibre networks in remote areas, according to Juniper Research.
Releasing its top 10 tech predictions for 2020, Juniper Research shows 5G Last Mile Solutions, OTT TV advertising, and Open Data for Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) topping the list released on Tuesday.
Juniper Networks says it anticipates that the high bandwidth and throughput of 5G networks “will provide a highly appealing and cost-effective alternative to the rollout of fibre”.
Meanwhile, Juniper Research anticipates that OTT (Over-the-Top) TV services will experience launches of functional advertising attribution systems that will “align advertising closer to the wider digital advertising ecosystem”.
-----
Is 5G better than the NBN?
It’s been described as an NBN killer but is the rollout of the 5G technology really the game-changer some believe it is?
5G is promising extraordinary speeds that dwarf its predecessors, but can it live up to its claims – and is the technology safe?
Australians frustrated with unreliable service from the National Broadband Network may soon have another option.
The rollout of the 5G network around Australia promises to deliver benefits not just for mobile phone users, but also for home internet services.
Until now the mobile system, using 4G, hasn’t been widely used to connect to the internet at home. Most Australians have experienced the frustration of slow speeds on their smartphones while trying to watch a video or connect to video chat, which is something 5G promises to make a thing of the past.
-----
Enjoy!
David.
No comments:
Post a Comment