Quote Of The Year

Timeless Quotes - Sadly The Late Paul Shetler - "Its not Your Health Record it's a Government Record Of Your Health Information"

or

H. L. Mencken - "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."

Monday, February 03, 2020

Weekly Australian Health IT Links – 03 February, 2020.

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

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A quiet shortened week because of the Australia Day holiday with the air being polluted by the outrageous spin of the ADHA spruiking the #myHealthRecord as well as the smoke of seemingly endless bushfires and floods up north. The smoked and flooded out will be all grateful for their #myHR I am sure! You can tell me where the coronavirus fits in all this aggregation of pestilence!
Enjoy the browse!
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27 January 2020

Police’s secret access to our health data

Posted by Felicity Nelson
The Department of Human Services has decided to release the guidelines governing the disclosure of private health data to the police, one year after rejecting a Freedom of Information request by The Medical Republic.
The thought of the police rifling through private health documents makes many Australians feel uncomfortable, as evidenced by the furore surrounding access to the My Health Record, but our investigation has revealed police can access other private health data relatively easily through the department.
The data held by the Department of Human Services is just as sensitive as My Health Record data, and can include information on abortions, mental health and STIs.
We know from a previous FOI request that state, territory and federal police request around 2,600 private health records every year from this department.
But, while the police need a court order to access My Health Record data, no court order is required to access health data held by the Department of Human Services.
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Australian government secretly releasing sensitive medical records to police

Lawyers and health privacy advocates condemn laxness of privacy provisions in guidelines
Felicity Nelson
Mon 27 Jan 2020 10.00 AEDT
The Australian government is releasing highly sensitive medical records to police through a secret regime that experts say contains fundamentally flawed privacy protections.
The Department of Human Services fields large volumes of requests for Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) data from state and federal policing agencies each year.
The records can paint a detailed picture of a person’s medical history, including, for example, any history of mental health issues, HIV, abortion or sexually transmitted diseases.
But, unlike the controversial My Health Record, no warrant or court order is needed for the department to release the information to police.

The department instead uses a set of internal guidelines to decide how and when it will acquiesce to a police request. It has never made the guidelines public and has actively fought to keep them secret.
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Digital ‘giant’ Paul Shetler passes away

James Riley
Editorial Director
1 February 2020
Digital transformation leader and public policy innovator Paul Shetler died on Friday in Sydney after suffering a heart attack on January 23. He was 59 years old.
Mr Shetler collapsed while in a meeting on-site at a NSW government agency while working on the design of a digital transformation project. He did not regain consciousness before passing away peacefully on Friday evening.
Mr Shetler had been surrounded by family and loved ones in those final days and hours.
His death has prompted a outpouring of shock and sadness across social media among the many people who had worked with Mr Shetler.
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Media Release - Increased use of My Health Record by healthcare providers

28 January, 2020: Healthcare providers have uploaded documents to an additional 490,000 My Health Records in one month.
This takes the total in December 2019 to nearly 13 million My Health Records with information in them, up from 12.5 million in November.
Also, between November and December, there was an 11% increase in the volume of medicine documents uploaded by healthcare providers like GPs and pharmacies, to more than 100 million documents and a 13% increase in clinical documents uploaded by healthcare providers like hospitals, pathologists and radiologists.
In December alone, GPs uploaded nearly 3 million documents and their viewing increased 10%.
The total number of documents in the My Health Record system is now 1.7 billion.
These December 2019 My Health Record statistics were published today by the Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency).
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Tuesday, 28 January 2020 23:29

Uploads to My Health Records reach 13 million in December with increased use by healthcare providers

The number of documents uploaded to My Health Records by healthcare providers continues to soar, with the total in December 2019 reaching nearly 13 million records - up from 12.5 million in November.
Also, between November and December, there was an 11% increase in the volume of medicine documents uploaded by healthcare providers like GPs and pharmacies, to more than 100 million documents and a 13% increase in clinical documents uploaded by healthcare providers like hospitals, pathologists and radiologists.
In December alone, GPs uploaded nearly 3 million documents and their viewing increased 10%.
The total number of documents in the My Health Record system is now 1.7 billion.
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Media Release - Opportunity to influence global interoperability health standards

28 January, 2020: A once in a decade opportunity for Australian clinical informatics, terminology, software developers, and health policy professionals to influence global interoperability standards will be on offer in Sydney.
The HL7 Sydney 2020 Working Group Meeting and Connectathon will allow the local health informatics community to meet with global interoperability experts, and to influence and progress open and secure exchange of patient information across the Australian health system.
This international meeting will run from 2-7 February and will showcase global leaders in digital health and interoperability. It will include working group sessions on the development of practical health data interoperability standards to support clinical practice, management, delivery and evaluation of healthcare services.
HL7 Australia Chair Jason Steen said that HL7 Sydney 2020 is an exciting opportunity to bring this global meeting to Sydney.
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Increased adoption of My Health Record by GPs and pharmacies: ADHA

Dean Koh | 29 Jan 2020
Nearing the first anniversary of the My Health Record (MHR) collection deadline on 31st January 2020, the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) has announced that the total number of MHRs with information has reached 12.99 million, based on the latest statistics from December 2019.

The Agency also said that between November and December 2019, there was an 11% increase in the volume of medicine documents uploaded by healthcare providers like GPs and pharmacies, to more than 100 million documents and a 13% increase in clinical documents uploaded by healthcare providers like hospitals, pathologists and radiologists.
In December alone, GPs uploaded nearly 3 million documents and their viewing increased 10%. The total number of documents in the MHR system is now 1.7 billion. 
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PIP payments for those affected by bushfire

A number of measures have been implemented to support general practices and other healthcare services directly touched by bushfires.
28 Jan 2020
In addition to the physical damage caused by the devastating fires, general practices, Aboriginal medical services and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations may also be indirectly financially impacted.

A suite of temporary measures under the Department of Health’s (DoH’s)
Practice Incentives Program (PIP) and Practice Nurse Incentive Program (PNIP)/Workforce Incentive Program (WIP) have been designed to make it easier for healthcare services adversely affected by the bushfires to recover and continue providing quality care to their communities.

Payments will proceed as usual for practices located within
bushfire-affected regions that were compliant with requirements in the previous 1 August – 31 October 2019 PIP payment quarter and were unable to meet the requirements for the current payment quarter (1 November 2019 to 31 January 2020).

Practices participating in the
PIP Quality Improvement (QI) Incentive
Primary Health Networks (PHNs) have been advised to inform the DoH if any of these practices have been unable to submit their PIP Eligible Data Set data as a result of the bushfires.
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Prescription delivery startups gear up for Amazon threat

By Emma Koehn
January 25, 2020 — 11.00pm
The home-delivery boom has extended to prescription medication and Australian startups are gearing up to meet demand, while retail giant Amazon's pharmacy operation has lodged trademark applications in the local market.
"We see it growing and it's all about accessibility and making things easier for people," founder of Rosemary Health Romain Bonjean said.
Rosemary Health has been approaching wholesale investors to grow its prescription delivery app and Mr Bonjean said the company will round out a raise worth $1.5 million this month before looking for a larger round of funding later in the year.
The Rosemary app, which is currently being piloted with 20 pharmacies in Melbourne and Sydney, will let Australians photograph their prescriptions and then place orders for medication direct to their local pharmacy for same-day home delivery.
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IT contractors now cost the Commonwealth $1bn a year

By Justin Hendry on Jan 28, 2020 6:35AM

Analysis: Outsourcing surges despite increased scrutiny.

The federal government’s outlay on IT contractors likely surpassed $1 billion last year, with new data revealing some agencies have more than doubled their spending on external tech labour since 2014-15.
Around 35 – or a third – of the Commonwealth's non-corporate and corporate agencies have disclosed their latest expenditure on IT contractors in answers to question on notice from recent budget estimates.
The result is one of the most comprehensive snapshots of IT outsourcing in the Australian Public Service since the government’s annual IT expenditure benchmark report was scrapped in 2017.
The government has come under fire in recent years for its increasing reliance on contractors and consultants for both short and long-term work, while simultaneously cutting the number of permanent APS jobs.
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Local start-up that helps wheelchair users scores international funding

Yolanda Redrup Reporter
Jan 28, 2020 — 12.00am
Loop+, a Sydney-based medtech start-up that has created sensors to monitor the health of people in wheelchairs, has become the first local investment for Yamaha Motor Ventures and Laboratory Silicon Valley, Yamaha Motor Co's venture capital division.
The start-up was founded by sisters Kath Hamilton and Clare Conroy following Ms Conroy's experiences with her eight-year-old son Evander, who requires a wheelchair after suffering from a tumour at birth, which compressed his spinal cord.
"With his rehab, we've been doing a lot in terms of exercise and programs to maximise his functional improvement ... but what we found was there was nothing to track his progress except for subjective views of doctors and clinicians," Ms Conroy said.
"There's a lot more health issues for children in wheelchairs as opposed to other children ... and we wanted something to let us be proactive, rather than reactive."
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Aussie medtech Loop+ bags $3 million for tech putting wheelchair users in control of their health

Stephanie Palmer-Derrien / Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Aussie medtech startup Loop+ has secured $3 million in funding for its health tracker, which helps wheelchair users take control of their wellbeing.
The oversubscribed round was led by Yamaha Motor Ventures & Labatory, the strategic business development and investment arm of Yamaha Motors.
Other investors include Giant Leap Fund, Eleanor Venture, the Insurance and Care NSW Foundation, and a group of angel investors formed through Australian Impact Investments
A graduate of Cicada’s MedLab accelerator, Loop+ was founded by sisters Kath Hamilton and Clare Conroy.
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Five reasons to attend next week’s HL-7 meeting in Sydney

    
From Sunday HL-7 Australia is hosting the international meeting of the seminal interoperability standards body in Sydney, providing an unprecedented opportunity for locals to much better understand FHIR and HL-7 in the rapidly evolving context of interoperability in Australia. Here’s five reasons to make a last minute adjustment to your schedule next week and come to some sessions. Register for a session now using our 20% discount code WILDHL720.
FHIR is emerging as the most important digital interoperability community, set of resources and standards in the fast moving world of digital health interoperability and next week the HL-7 group is hosting their international conference in Sydney where the world’s best top thought leaders are turning up to concur, and to teach and coach. Here’s five reasons you might want to attend a session or two if you’re a clinician interested in how digital health is moving and will change your life, a digital health expert in policy or government, a health CIO, CTO or IT manager  with remit for your company’s connected future, or a digital health start-up wanting to make your way in this new world.
1. What would the My Health Record look like if it was designed and implemented today, and what might that mean for the future of interoperability in Australia?
If you could redo the My Health Record (MHR) today, how could you do it, and what impact might that have on the evolution of interoperability throughout Australia? It’s a fascinating scenario that global expert Oliver Krauss, will take the audience through in an education session on Friday. Given the MHR is currently in the middle of a consultation around just such a scenario the session is sure to be topical and fascinating, and promises to inform a lot about where this major and somewhat controversial project might head from here. This will be the key theme of Friday’s education session which will focus on the patient summary and look at the role of the EMR, device integration, patient admin and even payment pathways.
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My Health Record NASH Certificate expiry dates

29/01/2020

To enable the use of My Health Record in conformant software, the NASH Certificate must be renewed every two years.  You can check the expiry date on the HI Service certificates tab in Health Professional Online Services (HPOS)  if you downloaded it in HPOS or  printed on the side of physical certificates—such as CDs or USB tokens.

Before your certificate expires, you need to request a new NASH PKI via HPOS so you can keep using My Health Record. This needs to be completed by the Organisation Maintenance Officer (OMO). An OMO IS A person who is registered with the HI Service and acts on behalf of the organisation in its day-to-day administrative dealings with the HI Service and the My Health Record system. Healthcare organisations can have more than one OMO, this could be the practice managers and or owner. For more information on becoming an OMO, please see the practice manager handbook.

For a step by step guide on how to download a new NASH via HPOS/PRODA you can request and download of NASH Organisation PKI certificates in HPOS.

For more information on NASH Certificates click here or contact the eBusiness Service Centre on 1800 700 199 for questions about progress of PKI requests.
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NSW Health completes massive hospital, health service wi-fi rollout

By Justin Hendry on Jan 30, 2020 6:18AM

All 150,000 staff now have access to state-wide wireless core platform.

eHealth NSW has completed its state-wide wireless core networking rollout, with all NSW Health staff now able to access secure wi-fi at hospitals and health services.
The final stages of the platform’s deployment, which the digital arm of NSW Health has described as the “largest wireless network investment in NSW”, reached the completion milestone last month.
It gives the state’s 150,000 clinical and non-clinical staff access to a consistent, secure wireless experience when moving between NSW Health sites for the first time.
eHealth embarked on the project, which forms part of the state’s wider Health Wide Area Network (HWAN), in 2017 to improve connectivity across the state’s hospitals and health services.  
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Govt flags delaying reforms after e-Planning guru quits

EXCLUSIVE | The Marshall Government’s ambition to roll out a comprehensive new statewide planning framework by July has been dealt a blow with its hand-picked reform tsar resigning abruptly this week, as stakeholders warn the overhaul should be delayed.
Tom Richardson @tomrichardson
The Government today signalled for the first time it was “open to considering” holding up the rollout of its much-hyped Planning and Design Code’s electronic launch, slated to go live in regional SA from April and statewide from July.
The admission came as the Planning, Transport and Infrastructure Department’s Director of State Planning Reform, Marcus Bal, quit the agency this week, less than a year into his tenure.
Brought in last February to oversee the transition to a new electronic planning regime, Bal joined the department shortly after an executive exodus saw the departure of former chief development officer Andrew McKeegan, at the time considered “the last remaining senior planning guru in government”.
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Investing for growth in a favourable market - solid start to FY2020


Melbourne, Victoria - Alcidion Group Limited (ASX: ALC) today released its Appendix 4C for the three-month period ended 31 December 2019 (Q2 FY2020).
Highlights:
  • $16.2M institutional placement in November 2019 enables accelerated investment for growth of the business and strategic expansion, both geographically and via acquisitions;
  • New sales and marketing appointments will capitalise on the advantageous market backdrop in all regions as healthcare providers globally look to technology to improve healthcare;  
  • In the important UK market, the opportunity for significant growth is improving post the election with policymakers signalling increased investment in technology solutions for the NHS;
  • $15.4M revenue already set to be recognised in FY2020, compared to $16.9M of total revenue for FY2019 with total sold revenue of $37.2M out to FY2025;
  • Recurring revenue component of sold revenue in FY2020 increased by 22.7% against Q2 FY2019;  
  • New contracts sold in Q2 totalled $3.5M; of which $2.1M revenue will be recognised in FY2020.
Alcidion Managing Director Kate Quirke said, “We have seen a continued strong uptake of our technology and services in FY2020, and following the very well supported capital raising totalling $16.2M in November 2019, we are now actively investing to accelerate growth and to further evolve the platform to ensure we capitalise on the rapid shift taking place in the industry, as global healthcare providers look to technology to improve the delivery of healthcare”.
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Everlight sale to lead series of healthcare deals

The Australian healthcare sector is getting ready for deal activity, with global buyout firms, international health groups and infrastructure funds preparing to spend.
One of the sales processes under way involves Everlight Radiology, which is on offer through Rothschild.
Everlight is believed to be into the second round of the competition, after first-round bids were due on December 16.
While Ramsay Healthcare is looking at the business, some doubt whether it remains a strong contender, given that the listed healthcare provider is casting its eye over a range of opportunities as it contemplates various strategic moves.
However, European private equity firms are in the mix, with some questioning whether groups including Vitruvian or middle market European buyout fund Hg are among the final contenders.
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nHIP journey captures attention in 2019

Monday, 27 January 2020  
eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
Before kicking off another year of eHealthNews.nz, we are taking a look back at the stories that captured the most attention in 2019.
An announcement that the Ministry of Health was going to Cabinet to get approval to develop a detailed business case for a national Health Information Platform was the best read story of the year and articles charting the platform’s development continued to gain interest.
Deputy director data and digital Shayne Hunter discussed the initiative at the Emerging Tech in Health conference in Christchurch last May, saying the Ministry had moved away from the idea of building a single Electronic Health Record, towards developing a national Health Information Platform that will enable data about a single patient to be shared.
The platform is described as having the “ability to assemble a virtual electronic record on an ‘as required’ basis from multiple trusted sources, and provide access to data and services”.
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DHBs increase use of telehealth for clinical care

Thursday, 30 January 2020  
eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
A “promising” new telehealth report shows a significant increase in the number of providers and services using telehealth for the delivery of clinical care.
However, ongoing barriers to uptake and silos of data and knowledge around telehealth means successful pilots have not always translated into business as usual services.
The 2019 Telehealth Survey updates one published four years ago and shows uptake has increased considerably across all 20 district health boards, with more than 1300 telehealth initiatives either active, in pilot or planned.
“Many organisations are turning to telehealth as they strive to improve the services they deliver,” the report says.
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Encryption powers used 25 times already

Denham Sadler
Senior Reporter
28 January 2020
The federal government’s highly controversial new encryption-busting powers have been used at least 25 times since they came into effect a year ago.
A Home Affairs’ annual report on telecommunications intercepts has revealed that laws were used seven times in the period from its passage through the Parliament in late 2018 up to the end of the last financial year.
But the answer to a Senate Estimates’ question on notice has further revealed that the controversial laws were used 18 more times in the four months to November 2018.
The Assistance and Access Act, passed in late 2018, gives Australian authorities and agencies the power to compel technology companies and their employees to provide access to encrypted data.
Under a technical assistance request, tech companies can be asked to voluntary help using existing capabilities, while technical assistance notices and technical capability notices compel them to provide help and to build new technical capabilities that will provide that access.
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'Painstaking' process of restoring telephone connection to bushfire-hit towns begins

By Sumeyya Ilanbey
January 27, 2020 — 5.16pm
Telstra is scrambling to restore landline and internet connections to bushfire-damaged towns, as communities are being told it could take another month before crucial telephone lines are repaired.
The bushfires that have raged through Victoria since late last year have damaged roads, rail, bridges, power poles and telephone towers. In some cases, vital infrastructure has been completely incinerated.
Premier Daniel Andrews said on Monday detailed assessments of the damage caused to telephone lines and power infrastructure had been completed, and authorities had begun the "painstaking" process of returning services to normal.
Crews have been busy trying to reopen roads, restore communication networks and repair basic services, but the fires and wild weather - including heavy rainfall that resulted in reopened roads being blocked - have hindered attempts.
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Thursday, 30 January 2020 15:35

TelSoc repeats call for bipartisan approach on NBN

Australia’s Telecommunications Association (Telsoc) has repeated its call for a bipartisan response by Australia's politicians to the National Broadband Network and a rescue plan for the NBN, “as Australia’s broadband performance falls even further”.
TelSoc says the release of a new global broadband survey has prompted it to repeat its call for the bipartisan rescue plan for the NBN, and warns that Australia has the fourth lowest result in the latest Ookla report.
“We continue to fall behind comparable countries and this requires urgent action,” says TelSoc.
As reported by iTWire, last week TelSoc told a parliamentary inquiry Australia needs a 10 year plan to improve the country’s broadband and this requires the support of all sides of politics.
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Thursday, 30 January 2020 13:33

NBN Co moves to next stage of engagement with Retail Service Providers

NBN Co, the operator of the National Broadband Network, has announced the next phase of its engagement with Retail Service Providers (RSPs) and enterprise customers.
With more than one million business services now on the NBN access network, NBN Co’s announcement says it has “successfully raised awareness of its wholesale business products through a structured industry outreach program”.
“With businesses across the country benefiting from contestable, open access fibre, NBN Co has been exploring ways to maximise the benefits to enterprise customers and RSPs. This has included listening to industry feedback terms of how we jointly engage with customers moving forward,” NBN Co says in a statement released on Thursday.
“In response to this feedback, NBN Co will evolve its enterprise contracting model so that RSPs will in all cases have the direct contractual relationship with enterprise customers.
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NBN Co may try buying into a SpaceX-like service for future Sky Muster

By Ry Crozier on Jan 30, 2020 11:23PM

Rather than go to the expense of deploying its own satellites again.

NBN Co is not set on putting more satellites of its own into orbit, and may instead look to buy into - or from - a low earth orbit constellation to power the next generation of its Sky Muster service.
The company will eventually need an upgrade path for the Sky Muster service once the current satellites near their end-of-life.
It has long been linked to plans to deploy a third satellite of its own.
But with the source of funding for those future upgrades still uncertain, it’s been revealed that NBN Co may simply decide to exit the satellite ownership game altogether.
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NBN Co backs down on business push

NBN Co is going to stop reaching out directly to business customers, in a major win for telcos incensed by the National Broadband Network wholesaler’s intrusion into the retail market.
The decision to change the way it engages with enterprise customers is a significant backdown from NBN Co.
Under the new contracting model, announced on Thursday, NBN Co will let the telcos deal with businesses as they sign up to the NBN, removing itself from the retail landscape.
Previously, NBN Co has at times contacted enterprise customers directly, knocking the retail telcos out of the conversation.
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NBN Co will stop direct deals with enterprise customers

Backs down on enterprise market war.

By Ry Crozier
Jan 30 2020 10:12AM
NBN Co has yielded to industry blowback over its enterprise and government business, declaring it will stop contracting directly with users and share sales leads with retailers.
The decision is likely to end what had become an increasingly combative relationship between NBN Co and retail service providers (RSPs) over NBN Co’s participation in the lucrative enterprise and government (E&G) market.
As reported by iTnews in December, RSPs had two main issues with NBN Co: its insistence on overbuilding their existing dark fibre into commercial buildings, and its insistence on striking deals directly with end users, despite being a wholesale-only entity.
On Tuesday this week, NBN Co said it would stop overbuilding others’ fibre and try to use it instead to serve E&G customers.
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FTTN, FTTC not good enough for Australian businesses, says NBN Co

NBN Co wants to use third-party fibre to connect businesses

Editor, Computerworld | 28 January 2020 14:21 AEDT
NBN Co has launched a new industry consultation process, revealing it is considering using existing third-party fibre to deliver business services.
The government-owned company’s targeting of the enterprise market has raised hackles with some network operators that have criticised it for building fibre in already well-served areas.
In a speech delivered in October, Vocus CEO Kevin Russell gave the example of a commercial building where NBN Co had recently become the seventh fibre provider. “Is this really where NBN should be spending taxpayer dollars?” the CEO asked.
NBN Co today released a consultation paper that noted its approach to connecting business to the National Broadband Network had “relied heavily on a mix of copper-based technologies” including fibre to the node (FTTN), fibre to the basement (FTTB) and fibre to the curb (FTTC).
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NBN Co to stop overbuilding existing business fibre networks

By Ry Crozier on Jan 28, 2020 2:00PM

Major reversal could take heat off company’s enterprise play.

NBN Co is set to stop overbuilding existing fibre connections to commercial buildings and instead use existing fibre - where possible - to serve enterprise and government customers.
The network builder hinted at a change in its approach to serving the enterprise and government (E&G) market in ambiguous commentary to the Australian Financial Review this morning.
It has now revealed that it will make use of existing dark fibre to serve E&G accounts rather than duplicate infrastructure to those sites. 
“To date, whilst we have usually installed new fibre connections to large customer locations when requested, we have made some limited use of existing fibre when we have done so,” NBN Co’s chief strategy and transformation officer Will Irving said in a statement.  
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Enjoy!
David.

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