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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Has been quite a busy week with the ADHA really keen to sell access to the myHR by SA Health Hospital Staff as a wonderful step forward. Not sure the docs themselves will be convinced!
Otherwise lots of commercial stuff happening – and Mars has a new rover!
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Hospital staff can make more informed decisions as SA electronic medical records system linked to My Health Record
· 17 Feb 2021 7:06 am AEST
Australian Digital Health Agency
Senior Intensive Care Specialist at Flinders Medical Centre and Chief Medical Information Officer for Digital Health SA Dr Santosh Verghese said the inclusion of My Health Record in South Australia’s electronic medical record system will improve clinical interactions with patients and ensure care is based on their medical history and directives.
“In an ICU setting the arrival of patients is unpredictable and time critical when dealing with trauma,” he said.
“In this situation, access to the patient’s medical records and encounter history ensures the ICU clinicians can make informed decisions when the traditional health care networks and family networks are inaccessible.”
This development follows the announcement by Australian Digital Health Agency CEO Amanda Cattermole that work is complete on an integrated Sunrise electronic medical record (EMR) My Health Record (MHR) viewer in South Australia.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/sa-health-links-sunrise-ehealth-record-to-my-health-record-561159
SA Health links Sunrise ehealth record to My Health Record
By Justin Hendry on Feb 17, 2021 10:59AM
Integration gives clinicians direct access to medical history.
SA Health has linked its Allscripts Sunrise electronic medical record (EMR) and patient administration system (PAS) to the country’s My Health Record, allowing clinicians to upload information directly to the platform.
The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) announced the completion of the integration on Wednesday, which it said was made possible by a new My Health Record ‘viewer’ within Sunrise EMR.
The viewer – or tab – creates a single view of a patient’s interactions across the health care system, both within SA and interstate, providing shared health summaries from GPs, pathology and imaging reports and prescription information.
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SA electronic medical records linked to My Health Record
Friday, 19 February, 2021
The inclusion of My Health Record in South Australia’s electronic medical record system will improve clinical interactions with patients and ensure that care is based on medical history and directives, according to Dr Santosh Verghese, Chief Medical Information Officer for Digital Health SA.
Dr Verghese said that in an ICU setting, the arrival of patients is unpredictable and can be time critical when dealing with trauma. In this situation, access to the patient’s medical records and encounter history would enable ICU clinicians to make informed decisions when the traditional healthcare networks and family networks are inaccessible.
This development follows an announcement that work is complete on an integrated Sunrise electronic medical record (EMR) My Health Record (MHR) viewer in South Australia. Australian Digital Health Agency CEO Amanda Cattermole said this will enable SA Health clinicians to view and contribute to the My Health Record through their clinical workflows.
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https://medicalrepublic.com.au/what-booking-engines-have-planned-for-the-vaccine-drive-cont/40339
15 February 2021
What booking engines have planned for the vaccine drive (cont.)
Clinical COVID-19 General Practice Vaccination
General practices aren’t the only ones gearing up for phase 1b of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout – booking engines are also implementing changes to help GPs stay on top of their workload.
As reported by TMR last week, booking engine HotDoc will be rolling out a range of additional functionalities – such as eligibility screening – to ensure the vaccine rollout goes smoothly.
Since that time, HealthEngine, Jayex (formerly Appointuit) and MyHealth1st have all released details around what they will be adding as the immunisation process begins.
MyHealth1st’s service is run via VaccineConnect, a platform specifically launched by MyHealth1st’s parent company for the COVID vaccine rollout.
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https://medicalrepublic.com.au/clinical-trials-waste-billions-ai-could-be-the-fix/40519
17 February 2021
Clinical trials waste billions – AI could be the fix
Posted by Manuela Callari
Clinical trials remain the only way to ensure the safety and efficacy of medical interventions.
Yet many medical interventions fail to get approval from the regulatory authority.
An analysis of clinical trial data from January 2000 to April 2019 estimated that only around 12% of drug-development trials were completed and resulted in a medical intervention being approved.
Although this trend is changing, the percentage of interventions that navigate all three stages of clinical testing and receive approval remains around 30%.
“There are many different ways that a clinical trial can go wrong,” said Professor Wray Buntine, a data scientist at Monash University in Melbourne.
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Trust a website on IVF? It’s conceivable
Growing calls for transparency around the costly and confusing IVF process have been answered with the launch of a government-funded website that allows would-be parents to compare fertility clinic success rates.
For the first time, couples will have the chance to predict their chance of having a baby by entering their age and medical details into the YourIVFSuccess website.
“It allows people to access information based on real-world statistical information collected from patients who have undergone IVF treatment,” Health Minister Greg Hunt said.
The website provides impartial information from accredited fertility clinics to help the one in six couples who face difficulty conceiving.
The site was developed by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Statistics Unit at the University of NSW.
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https://www.afr.com/technology/rmit-shuts-down-systems-after-malware-hit-20210219-p5745f
RMIT shuts down systems after malware hit
Max Mason Senior reporter
Feb 19, 2021 – 5.58pm
Melbourne’s RMIT University has shut down its IT systems to nullify what is believed to be a so-called phishing attack, where a staff member has been tricked into or accidently clicked on a malicious link in an email.
Late on Friday RMIT began alerting other universities across Australia, which began warning staff they might be targeted and not to open or respond to suspicious emails.
RMIT took the step of shutting down its systems and cancelling all classes, in person and online.
“RMIT’s IT Services team is working to resolve some issues that have impacted access to some of the university’s supported applications and systems,” it said in a statement.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/drones-be-trialled-remote-nt-communities
Drones to be trialled in remote NT communities
They will deliver medical supplies and collect pathology samples, the territory's health department says
16th February 2021
Drones are to be trialled in the Northern Territory, delivering medical supplies and collecting pathology samples from remote communities that can be cut off in the wet season.
The NT Health Department says it is looking at using the technology to service 80 remote healthcare clinics in areas that can be hard to reach or inaccessible during bad weather, such as the towns Maningrida and Gunbalanya in West Arnhem Land.
It has partnered with Charles Darwin University and transport research centre iMove Australia to deliver the $1.4 million three-year trial.
While details are still being worked out, the drones, which can cost up to $500,000 each, are likely to carry loads of up to 25kg and travel as far as 250km.
NT Minister for Health Natasha Fyles said it was the “next step in medicine”.
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https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/law-firm-x-ray-provider-hit-by-cyber-attacks-20210217-p573bm
Law firm, x-ray provider hit by cyber attacks
Ronald Mizen Reporter
Feb 18, 2021 – 9.36am
Global law firm Jones Day has become the second major legal outfit to fall victim to a high-profile cyber attack which last year compromised Accellion, a secure file sharing service trusted with sensitive information.
PRP Diagnostic Imaging, a provider of radiology and nuclear medicines with 25 clinics across New South Wales, also confirmed its systems had been hit by hackers, including some holding patient records.
Global law firm Jones Day and PRP Diagnostic Imaging have both faced cyber threats in recent weeks.
The hack on PRP preceded a warning from the Australian Cyber Security Centre that COVID-19 had fundamentally changed the threat landscape for the healthcare sector, and providers needed to lift their game.
Launching a discussion paper in Parliament, Labor’s cyber security spokesman Tim Watts said hackers were becoming an intolerable cost burden on the economy and a national ransomware strategy was needed.
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Telstra Health’s HealthNow app allows full access to patients’ My Health Record
19 February 2021
Telstra Health’s HealthNow mobile app provides a secure platform for Australians to access and view their healthcare records where and when they need it, including access to their vaccination status.
The HealthNow app is one of just two apps with full view access rights to a patient’s My Health Record delivered by the Australian Government. The app enables users to find the health information and assistance they require in real time.
As
part of the national COVID-19 vaccination roll-out, users that enable access to
their My Health Record through the HealthNow app will be able to view all of
their previous immunisations that are available from the Australian
Immunisations Register (AIR) including their COVID-19 vaccination.
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https://www.afr.com/street-talk/healthtech-pks-readies-raising-taps-pac-partners-20210218-p573kz
Healthtech PKS readies raising; taps PAC Partners
Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Tim Boyd
Feb 19, 2021 – 8.37am
ASX-listed healthcare company PKS Holdings is expected to unveil a capital raising in conjunction with its half-year results on Friday.
Street Talk understands the company will seek up to $10 million in fresh equity to finance research and development and sales and marketing activities.
New shares in the placement will be offered to funds at 35¢ each, which represented a 5.4 per cent discount to PKS’ last close and a 7.6per cent discount to its 30-day VWAP.
The company’s biggest institutional shareholder – Sydney-based growth fund manager Bombora – is expected to tip about $2 million into the placement to increase its stake in the business.
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InterSystems Launches Automated Appointment Booking Solution for COVID Vaccinations
InterSystems COVID vaccination booking system saves providers time and resources while increasing accessibility and engagement for patients
SYDNEY, Australia and ETON, United Kingdom, February 18, 2021 – InterSystems today announced that users of its InterSystems TrakCare® unified healthcare information system now have access to an appointment booking system to schedule COVID vaccinations that has already saved one regional health board more than 500 hours of call centre time over 16 days when booking NHS staff vaccination appointments.
Created in response to the overwhelming demand for vaccinations, the solution automates the booking of appointments and is designed with choice, flexibility and security in mind. It offers significant savings to health services avoiding the need to manually book every appointment. The system can also be configured easily to track and schedule other appointments.
NHS Lothian registered 7,055 members of staff and booked vaccination appointments for 6,100 of those through this system in just 16 days. The process saved more than 500 hours of call centre time, avoided lengthy telephone queues and as a result has reduced delays in deploying vaccinations.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/media-code-gets-senate-committee-go-ahead-561007
Media code gets senate committee go-ahead
By Justin Hendry on Feb 12, 2021 4:26PM
Despite Google, Facebook opposition.
Australia’s proposed media bargaining code has inched closer after the senate committee examining the landmark bill recommended that it pass through federal parliament.
Handing down its report on Friday, the committee recommended the Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill pass without any major changes.
The code would force Google and Facebook to negotiate payments with news organisations, with a binding “final offer” arbitration process to be used if not agreement can be reached.
“Despite the concerns raised by various submitters and witnesses, the committee is confident that the bill will deliver on its intended outcomes,” the committeee said [pdf].
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Google, Facebook win media code concessions over algorithmic changes
By Justin Hendry on Feb 16, 2021 4:50PM
To make code "more workable".
The federal government is poised to water down the requirement that digital platforms give media companies 14 days’ notice of major algorithm changes under its proposed media code.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Tuesday said the government would introduce “technical amendments” to the Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill later this week to make it more “workable”.
The landmark code – which is likely to be legislated before the end of next week – is scheduled for debated in parliament on Wednesday after clearing the senate economics legislation committee.
It would force digital platforms Google and Facebook to negotiate payments with news organisations, with a binding “final offer” arbitration process used if no agreement can be reached.
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Google, Nine agree commercial terms for news content
By Zoe Samios
February 17, 2021 — 8.46am
Google has agreed to pay Nine Entertainment Co more than $30 million in cash annually for the use of its news content, in a major breakthrough for the search giant and media company ahead of the introduction of new bargaining laws.
Industry sources familiar with the talks, who spoke anonymously because of non-disclosure agreements, said Nine had signed a letter of intent with Google overnight for a deal worth more than $30 million in cash annually for five years. A final commercial agreement could be struck in the next fortnight and is expected to be larger than the deal Kerry Stokes’ Seven West Media struck with Google earlier this week.
Nine is the owner of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/facebook-pulls-news-content-for-australia-561183
Facebook pulls news content for Australia
By Juha Saarinen on Feb 18, 2021 6:47AM
Will restrict sharing and viewing of Aussie and international news.
Facebook will stop Australian users and organisations from sharing and viewing local and international news in response to the government's proposed media bargaining code.
Both Google and Facebook have threatened to partly withdraw service offerings in Australia if the government forces them to pay news publishers.
Facebook managing director for Australia and New Zealand, Will Easton, said in a blog post that the proposed legislation penalises the social network for content it did not take or ask for, instead of encouraging innovation between digital platforms and news organisations.
"The proposed law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content," Easton wrote.
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Thursday, 18 February 2021 06:49
News Corporation cuts global three-year deal with Google
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has struck a global three-year deal with Google in return for what the publisher has described as "significant payments".
The announcement, on Wednesday US time, was made by the publisher's New York head office and includes the development of a subscription platform, the sharing of ad revenue through Google's ad technology services and "the cultivation of audio journalism and meaningful investments in innovative video journalism by YouTube".
The agreement covers The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch and the New York Post in the US; The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun in the UK; and The Australian, news.com.au, Sky News, The Daily Telegraph, the Herald Sun, The Courier Mail, and The Adelaide Advertiser in Australia.
It comes a day after Nine Entertainment announced a deal with Google which is said to be worth in excess of $30 million. This leaves only the ABC, SBS and Guardian Australia among the better-known media organs in Australia which are yet to announce deals with the online advertising behemoth. Seven News Media signed up on Monday.
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Facebook ban on Australian news sweeps up emergency sites, government services
Facebook is moving to remove restrictions on a range of pages after health services, fire services, political figures, and charities were caught up in its sweeping ban on Australian news content.
The Bureau of Meteorology, the Australian Capital Territory and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services WA also fell victim to the ban on Thursday morning.
WA Liberal leader Zak Kirkup and Victorian Labor are among the political figures and institutions that have also had their social media posts wiped.
NSW Fire and Rescue has been caught in the crossfire of a Facebook decision to take down news content from its platform in response to the media bargaining code being pushed through parliament by the Morrison government.
SA Health and NSW Fire and Rescue are among those who have approached the social media giant to have their pages reinstated.
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RealThing brings AI to its RealSAM phones for the blind
Melbourne start-up RealThing achieved international success with its modified smartphones that read news from a hundred sources to blind and partially sighted people.
Now it is deploying artificial intelligence to add a range of new features. CEO Nick Howden told The Australian that the start-up. which also employs former military and aerospace staff on its AI effort, had recently received a $1 million grant from The Australian Government. RealThing, now RealThing Ai has written contracts with organisations helping the visually impaired in the UK and US.
The company began developing its technology about eight years ago. The Australian reported on the very early trials that took place in 2014.
After initial testing in Australia, several thousand RealSAM handsets were rolled out in the UK from 2017 through the Royal National Institute of Blind People.
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COVID vaccinations in Victoria to be tracked by new tech platform
By Cara Waters
February 17, 2021 — 7.30pm
Victoria’s coronavirus vaccination program will be tracked by the state government using a new technology solution.
The Victorian government has signed a deal with Microsoft, for an undisclosed amount, to provide a management platform to co-ordinate the logistics and scheduled delivery of the vaccines at clinics. According to Microsoft, the Vaccination Registration and Administration Solution (VRAS) program would also be used to support healthcare workers.
The vaccines, set to be rolled out from Monday, will be available at nine health centres with an initial focus on high-risk, priority people.
Government agencies, both state and federal, have had a patchy track record in using technology solutions to manage the pandemic. Victoria’s contract tracing efforts ran into trouble at the height of the pandemic last year, hamstrung by the lack of a cohesive technology platform. Meanwhile, the usefulness of the federal government’s COVIDSafe app has also come under fire.
However, Microsoft Australia managing director Steven Worrall was confident the tech giant’s platform should “optimise citizen experience” across the entire registration, vaccination and follow-up process.
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https://bpsoftware.net/my-health-record-vip-net/
My Health Record in Bp VIP.net – A Preview of Upcoming Enhancements
Our newest exciting release for Bp VIP.net – Topaz – is nearly ready to be released. It is currently undergoing a stringent beta testing process to ensure the new My Health Record enhancements are functioning correctly.
My Health Record in Bp VIP.net has been available for a number of years, however new functionality will make it easier for your clinic to view, download and upload patient clinical information.
You will be able to view uploaded letters, shared health summaries, prescription and dispensing records, pathology and diagnostic imaging overviews for your patients if they have opted in to My Health Record and they have given other providers their consent to share their clinical information.
Similarly for you as a health provider, if your patients consent to the uploading of information to My Health Record, you will be able to upload your specialist letters through My Health Record, and prescribing records using the eRx gateway.
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Email, SMS vaccine scams on the way: cyber experts
Tom Burton Government editor
Feb 16, 2021 – 4.34pm
Cyber experts and authorities are warning of an inundation of vaccine scams, as Australia prepares to distribute COVID-19 vaccines from February 22.
The roll-out of the vaccine in the US and Britain has inspired many vaccine-related scams, with a 300 per cent jump in vaccine-related website domains in the lead-up to the first jabs being distributed.
More than 5000 new domains were registered, according to the CEO of cyber research firm, Security in Depth, Michael Connory.
“We’ve been seeing in the US, but specifically in the UK, the large number – and it’s a huge number – of vaccine-related cyber attacks, primarily through phishing, with individuals and criminal organisations looking at obtaining credentials for individuals,” Mr Connory said.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/victoria-taps-microsoft-for-vaccine-distribution-platform-561229
Victoria taps Microsoft for vaccine distribution platform
By Justin Hendry on Feb 19, 2021 9:37AM
Enters $6m contract.
The Victorian government will pay Microsoft almost $6 million to use its Covid vaccine management platform, as the state prepares to immunise its first residents next week.
The newly-renamed Department of Health (DH) revealed details of the $5.8 million contract for a 'vaccination management tool' this week, which will run for an inital six months.
It comes three months after the then Department of Health and Human Services went looking for a cloud-based software solution in a quick-fire market approach.
First reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, the department will use Microsoft's recently annouced vaccination registration and administration solution (VRAS).
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Enabling aged care with technological innovation
Sunday, 07 February, 2021
Award-winning aged-care provider Whiddon employs more than 2700 staff, caring for more than 2100 older Australians in regional and rural NSW and Queensland. Via residential, community and retirement living services across 26 geographic locations, Whiddon provides holistic care and wellbeing, helping residents to stay active, connected and feeling part of the community. To achieve this goal, Whiddon sees a huge role for technology.
The organisation has faced several challenges: difficulty attracting new and younger staff; an overall reduction in technology investment due to the significant challenges regarding industry funding models, with the majority of rural, regional and remote providers operating at a loss; industry-wide lack of technological maturity and digital literacy; and ageing IT infrastructure that has inhibited Whiddon’s digital ambitions.
A 2020 aged-care financial performance report by StewartBrown found that, excluding the impact of one-off government grants, more than 50% of residential aged-care providers operated at a loss in the last financial year, rising to 66% in regional areas.
“We’re probably the only industry still reliant on the fax machine,” said Regan Stathers, Executive General Manager of Technology and Property at Whiddon.
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Disinfectant robot ready to roll into COVID quarantine hotels
By Cara Waters
Australian startup August Robotics, backed by Atlassian’s co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, as well as venture capital firm Blackbird Ventures is launching a disinfectant robot to clean up hotels involved in COVID-19 quarantine programs.
The fully autonomous robot to be launched this month uses high intensity ultraviolet light, which is used in hospital operating theatres. While exposure to intense UV can damage the human skin it is widely seen as one of the most effective tools for virus and bacterial disinfection.
August Robotics has secured $US9.3 million ($12.5 million) in funding from Mr Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures, Blackbird Ventures and Skip Capital, Mr Farquhar’s investment vehicle led by his wife Kim Jackson, to help develop the robot.
August Robotics chief executive and founder Alex Wyatt, 44, said the robot, called Diego, could be used to clean quarantine hotels and premises where there had been a close contact.
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Tuesday, 16 February 2021 19:19
Telstra blocking 1.5m scam calls a week, up from 1m a month previously
Telstra has announced the third element of its "Cleaner Pipes" initiative, ensuring that its smart pipes aren't dumb, and are as clean as possible from scam callers, safeguarding "millions of Australians in the process".
Manual scam call blocking was once the order of the day at Australia's biggest telco, Telstra, which was blocking one million scam calls per month, but thanks to the power of automation, this has grown to around 6.5m million scam calls per month on average.
This equates to around 1.5 million scam calls blocked per week, but Telstra advises that this can grow to 500,000 calls being blocked PER DAY across its network.
After all, as Telstra points out, "cyber criminals and scammers have not failed to notice that millions of Australians are now much more dependent on technology, so cyber-crime is on the rise again."
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/telstra-stands-up-automated-platform-to-block-scam-calls-561106
Telstra stands up automated platform to block scam calls
By Ry Crozier on Feb 16, 2021 12:20PM
'No mean feat', says CEO Andrew Penn.
Telstra said it is blocking up to half a million scam calls on its busiest days using a new automated platform, part of a “double down” of a broader crackdown effort against scams that transit across its network infrastructure.
CEO Andrew Penn said in a blog post that the telco previously blocked around 1 million calls a month using manual processes.
While volumes of scam calls fluctuated day-to-day, Penn said that numbers were generally increasing.
“We’re sometimes blocking up to 500,000 calls a day before they can potentially defraud our customers, which is a huge increase from the 1 million plus scam calls we were blocking on average per month previously,” he said.
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Friday, 19 February 2021 11:36
ACCC: 8.1m broadband connections now on the NBN, more than 5.5m are 50Mbps or better
There are now more than 8.1 million household and business services connected to the NBN, according to a new ACCC report.
The ACCC's (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) "Wholesale Market Indicators Report", released today, shows 3.6% growth in the December 2020 quarter, meaning an additional 279,347 new households and businesses connected to the NBN.
This coincided with the Minister for Communications declaring in late 2020 that the NBN build was complete and fully operational.
We're told that almost 5.5 million broadband connections, or 68% of all services acquired from NBN, are on higher speed tiers of "50Mbps and above, including about 16% of wholesale services acquired at speeds of 100Mbps or above."
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https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/outrageous-nbn-co-on-notice-over-80m-in-bonuses-20210218-p573ny
‘Outrageous’: NBN Co on notice over $80m in bonuses
Tom McIlroy Political reporter
Feb 18, 2021 – 3.43pm
Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has warned NBN Co not to give staff lavish corporate salaries after it was revealed the company paid $78 million in bonuses last year.
Blaming Labor for the corporate structure of the company charged with building and operating the national broadband network, Mr Fletcher said all government-owned businesses had a responsibility to manage public funds responsibly.
His office contacted NBN Co on Thursday, after documents given to the Senate showed executives received $4.3 million in so-called cash short-term incentive payments in the second half of 2020, including deferred bonuses from the 2017-18 financial year.
The figure includes NBN Co chief executive Stephen Rue and members of the executive committee.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/tpg-claims-top-sales-for-nbn-enterprise-broadband-services-561217
TPG claims top sales for NBN enterprise broadband services
By Ry Crozier on Feb 18, 2021 5:13PM
Based on limited set of monthly numbers supplied only to providers.
TPG Telecom has declared itself the “highest seller” of NBN enterprise ethernet services, based on market position data supplied by NBN Co to retail service providers each month.
Group executive for enterprise and government Elizabeth Aris said in a statement that the company’s strong performance came from its expertise and “customer-centric” approach.
Aris came into TPG late last year after previously leading TasmaNet.
She said the business case for NBN enterprise ethernet “is especially compelling when 90 percent of all businesses within the NBN fixed line footprint across Australia can now get a zero-cost fibre build on a three-year term.”
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https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/nbn-co-paid-staff-almost-80m-in-bonuses-in-2020-20210217-p573gs
NBN Co paid staff almost $80m in bonuses in 2020
Tom McIlroy Political reporter
Feb 17, 2021 – 6.09pm
The company running the national broadband network paid staff nearly $80 million in bonuses in the second half of 2020.
Just months after it was revealed more than 850 staff at NBN Co were being paid more than $200,000 a year and much of its workforce take home six-figure salaries, new data shows the total for bonuses paid between July and December 2020 topped $77.5 million.
Executives received $4.3 million in so-called cash short-term incentive payments, including deferred bonuses from the 2017-18 financial year.
The figure includes NBN Co chief executive Stephen Rue and members of the government-owned company’s executive committee.
Bonuses paid to the company’s more than 6000 employees totalled more than $73.2 million. Contractors are not eligible for bonuses.
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Aussie Broadband joins NBN criticism as earnings double
Lucas Baird Reporter
Feb 17, 2021 – 12.28pm
Key Points
- Revenue ($m) 157.7, up 89pc from year earlier 83.4
- Net loss ($m) 10.5 v 1.4
- Interim dividend nil v nil
Aussie Broadband joined rivals in haranguing NBN Co over its latest wholesale pricing review, saying more changes are needed so customers do not find their speeds hobbled or bills hiked as internet use advances.
Mr Britt’s attack came as his company reported an after-tax loss of $10.5 million in the half year to December 31 as expenses matched fattening revenues.
While NBN Co – the government-owned corporation tasked with building and managing the national broadband network – proposed a discount to maligned capacity charges known as connectivity virtual circuit, it did not suggest scrapping the levy in a review released on Monday but promised to examine alternative pricing structures suggested by the industry.
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Aussie Broadband brings in NBN users chasing a better experience
By Ry Crozier on Feb 18, 2021 6:50AM
Accounts for almost three-quarters of sign-ups.
Aussie Broadband’s growth in residential broadband is coming largely from NBN users “disenfranchised” with their existing provider and looking to make a switch.
Managing director Phillip Britt told the company’s inaugural half-year results briefing on Wednesday afternoon that almost three-quarters of sign-ups are existing NBN users.
“Whilst the NBN main rollout is now complete, ultimately we’re seeing over 70 percent of our orders coming from people that are switching from other providers,” Britt said.
“These are people that are already connected to the NBN that are disenfranchised with their current provider for whatever reason, and so we’re still seeing strong connection orders even right through in January and now of customers that are switching providers.”
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Wednesday, 17 February 2021 08:45
NBN Co pricing review will lead to $2 per customer price rise: Budde
The options offered by the NBN Co in its latest pricing review consultation will lead to a price rise of $2 per customer no matter which option a retail service provider chooses, well-known independent telecommunications analyst Paul Budde says.
In a blog post, Budde pointed out that the NBN CO had always said its average revenue per user was central to its breaking even and this new pricing move would increase the ARPU, taking it halfway to the target which is between $51 and $53.
At the moment, the ARPU is $45 and had been at that level over the last few years, making it clear that the company still had a financial problem, he said.
The NBN Co, the company rolling out the national broadband network, issued its pricing review consultation paper on Monday, saying that it was seeking to "to deliver value, certainty and simplicity to the telecommunication industry and customers".
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No joy for telcos as NBN Co stands firm on high bandwidth price
By Zoe Samios
February 16, 2021 — 12.01am
NBN Co has steered clear of giving telco service providers any substantial relief on wholesale prices, pushing back a review of its controversial pricing structure by another two years.
While NBN Co, the company building and operating the National Broadband Network (NBN), hasn’t taken the option of scrapping the contentious charge for bandwidth – Connectivity Virtual Circuit (CVC) – off the table, the telcos say they have been left to deal with wholesale prices that continue to trend upwards.
The CVC charge, which covers the amount of bandwidth telcos can make available to customers, has been criticised by the telco industry since the inception of the NBN. The greater the peak usage of customers, the more bandwidth telcos have to acquire, which means a higher CVC charge.
However, CVC is crucial to NBN Co’s effort to increase its residential average revenue per user (ARPU) from $45 to $49 by the end of financial year 2023. Rather than remove the charge NBN Co on Monday proposed a two-year extension of discounts on certain packages and promised to explore alternative pricing structures in due course.
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Monday, 15 February 2021 14:42
NBN Co begins consultation ‘with industry in two-part wholesale pricing consultation paper
NBN Co has released its “Pricing Review 2021 Consultation Paper 1”, which the company says “seeks to deliver value, certainty and simplicity to the telecommunication industry and customers.”
Before I start, the link to the NBN Co Pricing Review 2021 Consultation Paper 1 is here, and a reprinting of NBN Co's media release is further below, after some commentary of my own.
If there’s one thing Australians know about the NBN, is that it has been a mess, or at least, it has been so in the past. A mess of connection types, speeds, plans, wholesale prices for amounts of data being too expensive for providers who want to offer the unlimited plans that consumers expect, and more.
I mean, just ask people about their NBN experience, and you hear tales of woe, although that said, I know many people who are on the NBN and today, are happy with their connections. Some friends who connected to the NBN over the past couple of years expected problems with their connections and were pleasantly surprised when they were connected without any problems at all.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-hunts-more-residential-revenue-in-2022-561066
NBN Co hunts more residential revenue in 2022
By Ry Crozier on Feb 15, 2021 1:21PM
While delaying substantive pricing action until FY24.
NBN Co is pitching a $2 a month increase to the fixed portion of its 50Mbps-plus service prices from May next year, with substantive changes to its price strategy deferred until 2023.
The company released its latest pricing consultation to retail service providers (RSPs) and other interested parties on Monday morning.
From the outset, it is clear that the proposals have much to do with resuscitating NBN Co’s stalled residential average revenue per user (ARPU), which somehow needs to hit $49 by FY23; it is currently stuck at $45.
There are two options on the table from NBN Co at this time.
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‘Touchdown confirmed!’: NASA’s Perseverance rover lands on Mars
By Marcia Dunn
Updated February 19, 2021 — 7.48amfirst published at 7.44am
Cape Canaveral: A NASA rover streaked through the orange Martian sky and landed on the planet on Friday AEDT, accomplishing the riskiest step yet in an epic quest to bring back rocks that could answer whether life ever existed on Mars.
Ground controllers at the space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, cheered and exchanged fist bumps and high-fives in triumph — and relief — on receiving confirmation that the six-wheeled Perseverance had touched down on the red planet, long a deathtrap for incoming spacecraft.
It took a tension-filled 11 1/2 minutes for the signal to reach Earth. It landed at 7.55AEDT.
“Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance safely on the surface of Mars,” flight controller Swati Mohan announced.
The landing of the six-wheeled vehicle marked the third visit to Mars in just over a week. Two spacecraft from the United Arab Emirates and China swung into orbit around the planet on successive days last week.
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Enjoy!
David.
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