Monday, February 21, 2022

Weekly Australian Health IT Links – 21 February, 2022.

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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PRODA and its ramifications for GP’s seems to be the big news this week and it is vital for billing! It needs software upgrades so that might be exciting etc!

The new CEO for Telstra Health is also in the news!

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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/gps-must-sign-govt-online-system-next-month-claim-medicare

GPs 'must sign up' to govt online system by next month to claim Medicare

The change is supposed to offer GPs easier access to information online

16th February 2022

By Siobhan Calafiore

GPs and practices are being warned to register with the Federal Government’s PRODA system by next month or risk losing access to Medicare.

Services Australia is introducing its new web services system that changes the way doctors submit Medicare claims and how they access other online services, like the PBS, My Health Record and the Australian Immunisation Register.  

The change requires GP software vendors to upgrade their practice management software.

However, both practices and GPs will also need to be registered with the government’s online authentication system PRODA — officially Provider Digital Access — to use these services.

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https://www.telstrahealth.com/content/telstrahealth/en/home/media-and-events/Elizabeth-Koff-to-become-Managing-Director-of-Telstra-Health.html

Elizabeth Koff to become Managing Director of Telstra Health

14 February 2022

Telstra has today announced the appointment of Elizabeth Koff as Managing Director of Telstra Health, effective from 1 July 2022. 

Elizabeth will succeed Professor Mary Foley AM who has decided to retire from full-time executive roles. Mary will join the Telstra Health Board as a Non-Executive Director and serve as a Special Adviser to the business. 

Elizabeth is currently Secretary for NSW Health, a position she has held since May 2016. NSW Health is Australia’s largest health system with 228 hospitals and 127,000 staff with an operating budget of $30 billion.  In her time as Secretary, Elizabeth has overseen a number of key initiatives and changes across the NSW Health system including:

  •  Leadership and management of NSW Health system through the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Development of Value-Based Healthcare at scale across the NSW health system
  • eHealth transformation with data and analytics reform to drive clinical care improvements and business intelligence
  • Transformation of NSW Ministry of Health to agile and flexible work practices

Prior to her role as Secretary for NSW Health, Elizabeth was the Deputy Secretary for Strategy and Resources at NSW Health, and Chief Executive of the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network. 

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NSW Health secretary stepping down to join Telstra Health

She will leave her present role on 4 March.

By Adam Ang

February 14, 2022 03:27 AM

Elizabeth Koff, secretary of NSW Health, is set to resign from her post to move to Telstra Health, the digital health arm of listed telecommunications firm Telstra corporation. 

Telstra Health announced today that Koff will succeed Mary Foley as their managing director effective from 1 July. Foley is retiring from her executive roles but will still serve as a special adviser and a non-executive director of the Telstra Health Board.

WHY IT MATTERS 

Koff has spent more than three decades in the state health department. Over the past six years, NSW Health, which manages 228 hospitals and around 127,000 staff, went through significant changes under her leadership, such as the system's digital transformation through data and analytics reform, development of value-based healthcare at scale, and the implementation of flexible work practices. 

She will be most noted for leading the health system through the COVID-19 pandemic. "She has led and supported the most outstanding executive health team and broader health teams at times of great pressure," said NSW Health Minister Bradley Ronald Hazzard in a separate statement.

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https://www.themandarin.com.au/181340-nsw-health-secretary-resigns-joins-digital-health-business/

NSW health secretary resigns, joins digital health business


By Jackson Graham

Monday February 14, 2022

The secretary of NSW Health has resigned after helping to shape the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is due to join Telstra Health.

Elizabeth Koff has spent more than 30 years at the department, which she led for the past six years, but will leave the post in early March. 

NSW health minister Brad Hazzard said Koff had made an “enormous contribution” while leading the 170,000 public servants in the state’s health response. 

“She has led and supported the most outstanding executive health team and broader health teams at times of great pressure,” Hazzard said in a statement. 

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https://itwire.com/people-moves/elizabeth-koff-to-become-managing-director-of-telstra-health.html

Wednesday, 16 February 2022 11:28

Elizabeth Koff to become Managing Director of Telstra Health

By Chris Coughlan

Telstra announced the appointment of Elizabeth Koff as Managing Director of Telstra Health, effective from 1 July 2022.

Telstra said that Elizabeth Koff will succeed Professor Mary Foley AM who has decided to retire from full-time executive roles. Mary will join the Telstra Health Board as a Non-Executive Director and serve as a Special Adviser to the business.

Koff is currently Secretary for NSW Health, a position she has held since May 2016.

Telstra CEO Andrew Penn said Elizabeth was an outstanding health executive and he was delighted she was joining the team.

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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/more-computerbased-exam-malfunctions-physician-trainees

More computer-based exam malfunctions for physician trainees

Around 100 registrars experienced glitches during the exam run on Monday

17th February 2022

By Antony Scholefield

Around 100 trainee physicians experienced IT glitches during their make-or-break divisional written exam, forcing some into resits next month.

It’s the same exam run by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) that was aborted in 2018, affecting over 1200 registrars.

A college spokesperson said this time around 100 trainees faced  "logon delays or other IT issues" for one of the two examinations it ran on Monday.

It's unclear how many will have to resit the exam in full.

The exam — which costs $2031 to sit — was being held at 21 exam centres in Australia and New Zealand.

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https://developer.digitalhealth.gov.au/events/are-your-products-nash-sha-2-ready-25-february-2022

Are your products NASH SHA-2 ready? (25 February, 2022)

Friday, 25 February 2022 - 1:00pm to 1:30pm

Online Webinar

Register to attend

About this event

Healthcare organisations are currently renewing their NASH certificates before 13 March so they have continued access to digital health services like electronic prescribing and My Health Record.

To support your customers during this transition, please ensure your software is SHA-2 ready by following this step-by-step developer guide. We will then include it in the NASH SHA-2 readiness register, which is publicly available for all healthcare organisations who need to transition to SHA-2 ready software.

The Australian Digital Health Agency has developed additional resources to support you and your customers during the renewal process:

  • Webinars – Invite your support teams and customers to attend a webinar and be guided through the renewal process. Register here (Times are AEST)
  • FAQs – For healthcare organisations requesting or renewing their NASH PKI certificate. 

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https://www.chnact.org.au/for-health-professionals/digital-health/time-critical-changes-to-nash-and-online-claiming/

Time critical changes to NASH and Online Claiming

Did you know that your NASH certificates and your practice management or dispensing software needs to be upgraded BEFORE 13 March 2022? If it’s not, you will need to revert to manual claiming (e.g. Medicare, PBS Online, Aged Care services) and your digital health systems will cease functioning (e.g. MHR, Secure Messaging, Electronic Prescriptions).

From 13 March 2022, the way that medical professionals interact with online claims and the National Authentication Services for Health (NASH) Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Certificates will be changed. Both of these changes will have implications in general practice, aged care, specialists and pharmacies.

NASH SHA-2 Certificate Upgrades

The National Authentication Service for Health (NASH) is updating on 13 March 2022 to NASH SHA-2. In order to continue to receive and publish information in the Digital Health services, all practices will need a NASH SHA-2 Certificate.

From 13 March 2022, you’ll need a NASH SHA-2 PKI certificate to authenticate to these channels:

  • My Health Record
  • Healthcare Identifiers (HI) Service
  • Electronic Prescribing
  • Secure Messaging

Services Australia will no longer be issuing NASH SHA-1 PKI Certificates.

What do you need to do next?

The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) has provided a thorough explanation of the NASH SHA-2 PKI Certificates and next steps for practitioners and practices. Please visit their website here for a complete run down of the process and how to prepare for moving from SHA-1 to SHA-2. The page also includes a registry of software vendors who are ready to upgrade, which will be updated regularly. To ready your software and update your practice for the installation of the SHA-2, you will need to coordinate with your software vendors. Your software vendor will also tell you if additional files must be downloaded and installed when you renew or request for a new NASH certificate.

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https://themarketherald.com.au/beamtree-asxbmt-sees-91pc-boost-in-revenue-2022-02-15/

Beamtree (ASX:BMT) sees 91pc boost in revenue

ASX:BMT      MCAP $101.3M

Jessica De Freitas Markets Reporter 

jessica.defreitas@themarketherald.com.au

15 February 2022 14:49 (AEDT)

  • Beamtree (BMT) has reported a 91 per cent boost in group revenue to $7.1 million for the first half of FY22
  • The health data analytics company saw all of its customers renew their ongoing contracts which it says is a testament to their loyalty and the value of its products
  • Importantly, Beamtree expanded its presence with new partnerships in South Africa and New Zealand as well as with Adelaide-based CALHN to implement new products
  • Beamtree says it became Australia’s largest health data and AI decision support platform after acquiring and integrating two new companies to increase its capabilities
  • Company shares are down 8.38 per cent to trade at 41 cents

Health data analytics company Beamtree (BMT) has reported a 91 per cent boost in group revenue to $7.1 million for the first half of FY22.

Of this, total recurring revenue accounted for over 85 per cent which the company said was a testament to customer loyalty. In line with this, 100 per cent of Beamtree’s customers renewed their contracts during the half-year.

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InterSystems Recognised As Best in KLAS for Interoperability Platforms and Acute Care EMRs (Asia / Oceania)

InterSystems HealthShare® Unified Care Record and TrakCare® garner continued recognition

SYDNEY, Australia & SINGAPORE, February 17, 2022 – InterSystems, a creative data technology provider dedicated to helping customers solve the most critical scalability, interoperability, and speed problems, today announced that KLAS Research has recognised two of its healthcare solutions in the 2022 Best in KLAS: Software & Services report.

As a direct result of feedback from healthcare providers, InterSystems HealthShare® Unified Care Record has been recognised a total of nine times across categories since 2006 and InterSystems TrakCare® unified healthcare information system is the 2022 Best in KLAS award winner in the Asia/Oceania Region for Acute Care EMR for their sixth time.

“Each year, thousands of healthcare professionals across the globe take the time to share their voice with KLAS,” said Adam Gale, CEO of KLAS. “They know that sharing their perspective helps vendors to improve and helps their peers make better decisions. These conversations are a constant reminder to me of how necessary accurate, honest, and impartial reporting is in the healthcare industry. The Best in KLAS report and the awards it contains set the standard of excellence for software and services firms. Vendors who win the title of Best in KLAS should celebrate and remember that providers now accept only the best from their products and services. The Best in KLAS award serves as a signal to provider and payer organisations that they should expect excellence from the winning vendors.”

According to a recent report from Sage Growth Partners, only 20 percent of healthcare organisation (HCO) executives fully trust the data they rely on to make decisions. This highlights the critical need for HCOs to be equipped with the technology and resources to collect, normalise, analyse, and apply data from disparate sources to make timely clinical and business decisions. InterSystems HealthShare Unified Care record enables HCOs to connect providers, patients, and payers with patient records and analytics. As a result, HCOs can capture information, share it in a meaningful way, aid understanding and, ultimately, drive transformative action across organisations and communities.

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https://www.tenders.gov.au/Cn/Show/03b6765f-dd7e-4af9-ab2a-6eebb9168964

CN ID:  CN3822114

Agency:  Australian Digital Health Agency

Publish Date: 22-Oct-2021

Category:  Corporate objectives or policy development

Contract Period: 8-Oct-2021 to 30-Sep-2023

Contract Value (AUD):  $231,000.00

Description:  Corporate objectives or policy development

Procurement Method:  Limited tender

Limited Tender Condition:

10.3.d.ii. Supply by particular business: with no reasonable alternative or substitute: to protect exclusive rights or proprietary information.

ATM ID:  DH3656

Agency Reference ID:  4500145056


Supplier Details

Name:  SOUTH EASTERN MELBOURNE PRIMARY HEALTH NETWORK LTD.

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Software Developer Community Announcement

HIPS Mobile v2.0 Released

HIPS Mobile allows clinicians in the hospital setting to have mobile device access to patient My Health Record information while engaging with patients in ward and bed-side settings, or remotely off-site.

Clinicians in public and private hospitals already widely rely on mobile devices (smart phones and tablets) for accessing their patients’ clinical information, so HIPS Mobile will add My Health Record patient data access to their repertoire.

HIPS Mobile v2.0 is the next major release, featuring the following major improvements and defect fixes.

The new key features of the application are:

  • Introduction of an emergency contact details view for displaying these details from a patient’s My Health Record.
  • Introduction of ‘gain emergency access’ functionality to enable access to a patient’s My Health Record when the selected patient needs emergency care and is not capable of giving or communicating consent.
  • Rebranded the application from HPA to HIPS Mobile.
  • General improvements to user experience and usability of the application.
  • Improved hardening of security posture.

Who will this affect?

  • Public and private hospital organizations
  • Diagnostic service provider organizations
  • System integrators
  • Software vendors

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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/anz/roundup-royal-melbourne-hospital-enables-remote-heart-device-interrogations-mater-adopts

Roundup: Royal Melbourne Hospital enables remote heart device interrogations, Mater adopts QuestManager, and more briefs

Also, the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital is upgrading its radiotherapy systems to serve more cancer patients.

By Adam Ang

February 18, 2022 12:21 AM

Royal Melbourne Hospital introduces remote heart device interrogation amid lockdowns

The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), a public hospital in Victoria has turned to remote interrogations of cardiac implanted electronic devices (CIED) to continue checking up on patients amid COVID-19 lockdowns.

Remote device interrogation kiosks have been set up at local pharmacies where patients can show up and connect their devices. Data from devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators are then sent to the Cardiology CIED team at RMH for review. 

These device interrogations can take up to five minutes with prompt feedback from RMH cardiologists expected to come soon afterwards. Shannon Watt, RMH's chief cardiac physiologist, shared that since deploying the technology, their colleagues from other states have inquired about their latest care model. 

"I think we feel that this has a real potential to change the model of care, not just for our institution, but for others," she said.

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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/anz/dexcom-g6-added-australias-cgm-subsidy

Dexcom G6 added to Australia's CGM subsidy

It will replace the previous version of the CGM device which is being phased out due to supply issues.

By Adam Ang

February 14, 2022 01:27 AM

The Australian government has expanded the subsidised access to the latest generation of Dexcom's continuous glucose monitoring device, Dexcom G6, for diabetic Australians.

This comes as the previous version of the CGM device, Dexcom G5, is being phased out in the country by local distributor AMSL Diabetes due to international supply chain issues.

Dexcom G6 features a one-touch applicator; a touch screen receiver that displays real-time glucose data; and a sensor and a transmitter that is different to the G5  – its transmitter has the same three-month lifespan but the G6 sensor lasts for 10 days.

WHY IT MATTERS

In Australia last year, more than 120,000 people were diagnosed with diabetes, bringing the country's total diabetic population to about 1.8 million.

The CGM initiative started in 2017 to provide people with type 1 diabetes with fully subsidised access to CGM products. It is part of the National Diabetes Services Scheme operated by Diabetes Australia.

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https://medicalrepublic.com.au/no-relief-from-12-month-telehealth-rule/63056

15 February 2022

No relief from 12-month telehealth rule

By Holly Payne

No dice: the RACGP’s call for exemptions to the 12-month face-to-face telehealth rule will go unanswered, with the Department of Health confirming that no such plans are on the cards. 

Last week, the college published an open letter to the DoH seeking changes to the existing relationship rule so that immunocompromised GPs could continue to bill Medicare for telehealth consults even if they have not seen a particular patient face to face in over 12 months. 

This would allow vulnerable GPs to continue self-isolating as the pandemic drags into its third year. 

Telehealth represents about 30% of GP services delivered so far in 2022, up from 23% of services in all of 2021.

“While telehealth services have increased in response to the emerging challenges of the Omicron variant, the majority of GP services continue to be provided in person, which remains the preferred standard of care,” a spokesperson for the department told The Medical Republic. 

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https://itwire.com/strategy/breastscreen-victoria-picks-rimini-street-to-manage-its-database-software.html

Wednesday, 16 February 2022 10:47

BreastScreen Victoria picks Rimini Street to manage its database software

By Kenn Anthony Mendoza

Breast cancer organisation BreastScreen Victoria has switched to Rimini Street Support for its Oracle Database software, liberating additional capacity within its internal IT team, limiting costs for expanding staff, and reducing annual enterprise software support fees.

By selecting Rimini Street, BreastScreen Victoria’s IT team can now focus on more initiatives such as data centre migration project.

BreastScreen Victoria provides free mammograms to eligible women in Victoria. The government funds the organisation and has performed more than 230,000 breast screens in the last financial year from its 43 permanent screening clinics and two mobile service units across Victoria.

The organisation runs its operations centrally leveraging a system largely built on Oracle Database software.

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https://www.hinz.org.nz/news/595742/Shared-care-record-for-Covid-patients.htm

Shared care record for Covid patients

Tuesday, 15 February 2022  

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

A new shared care record has gone live across the country for clinicians involved in the care of Covid patients in the community.

The
Border Clinical Management System was developed for use in Managed Isolation and Quarantine Facilities and is a modified version of the indici practice management system.

It has been adapted for the community and renamed the Covid Clinical Coordination Module (CCCM).

President of the Royal NZ College of GPs Samantha Murton says, “CCCM is a coordinated system that holds information about patients who have Covid and how they are managing. It’s a shared care record that’s nationally consistent and can be accessed by clinicians involved in that person’s care.”

Often this will be their GP during the day, but may be Whakarongorau – National Telehealth Service, or an out of hours service at other times.
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https://www.hinz.org.nz/news/595747/Digital-tool-to-identify-low-and-high-risk-Covid-patients.htm

Digital tool to identify low and high-risk Covid patients

Tuesday, 15 February 2022  

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Positive Covid-19 cases will be notified by text message and asked to fill in an online form to assess whether they can self-manage safely at home, or will need some monitoring and support.

The Ministry of Health’s
new self-reporting tool, developed by Abletech, is being used more widely as part of phase two of the government’s Omicron response.

Any positive Covid-19 cases will receive a text notification with an access code and link to the
Covid-19 contact tracing form which takes around 30 minutes to fill out and asks about symptoms, household contacts and high-risk locations.

Director general of health Ashley Bloomfield said at a media briefing on February 16 that positive cases were previously notified via a phone call, but the large number of daily cases (which have hit more than 1000) necessitates digital tools being used to reduce pressure on the health system.
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https://www.zdnet.com/article/accc-chair-says-nbn-should-be-treated-as-sunk-cost-in-any-effort-to-recoup-costs/

ACCC chair says NBN should be treated as sunk cost in any efforts to recoup spend

ACCC maintains the 25-50Mbps down and 5-20Mbps up Fixed Wireless Plus plan is sufficient for most households.

Written by Campbell Kwan, Journalist

on February 18, 2022 | Topic: NBN

Australia's competition watchdog chair Rod Sims has given his two cents on how the NBN should approach recovering its costs, saying that the NBN should be viewed as a sunk cost and decisions should flow from that starting point.

"Now that [the NBN's] built, I think it's appropriate to treat its cost as sunk and therefore, what matters for Australia is getting the best use out of the NBN," Sims told Senate Estimates yesterday.

The ACCC chair was speaking to the NBN's efforts to recoup costs, wherein the company responsible for running the network has previously said it needs to eventually have an average revenue per user of AU$51 to avoid a potential write-down. 

In NBN's FY22 first-half results posted last week, the company said its average revenue per user finally shifted from AU$45 to AU$46.

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/telstra-ceo-says-nbn-customer-migration-nearly-complete-576191

Telstra CEO says NBN customer migration nearly complete

By Richard Chirgwin on Feb 17, 2022 12:54PM

Looks ahead to restructure of NBN Co's pricing.

Telstra is celebrating the approaching end of its NBN customer migration.

While announcing strong first-half 2022 financial results, the telco said the cost of migrating customers (and their associated fixed lines) to the NBN fell by $190 million, and that cost will fall again in the second half with fewer customers left to migrate.

The carrier reported total revenue decline of 4.4 percent to $10.5 billion, with profit down 34 percent year-on-year to $743 billion.

Part of the revenue decline also related to the NBN, as CEO Andrew Penn said.

“Our reported total income includes declines of around $450 million in one off NBN receipts and $200m in NBN commercial works”, Penn said.

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https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/telstra-s-earnings-slide-as-nbn-payments-hit-bottom-line-20220216-p59x1z.html

Telstra’s earnings slide as NBN payments hit bottom line

By Zoe Samios

February 17, 2022 — 9.25am

Telstra’s operating earnings have slid almost 15 per cent in the December half, with chief executive Andy Penn blaming the fall on a one-off reduction in payments from the national broadband network (NBN).

Earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) declined by 14.8 per cent to $3.47 billion in the six months through December, the nation’s biggest telecommunications company said in a statement to the ASX on Thursday mo. Net income slumped 34 per cent to $743 million and total income excluding financial gains fell by $1.1 billion to $10.9 billion in the period.

The results were below analyst estimates of $11.4 billion in total income and EBITDA of $3.57 billion for the first half. But Telstra reaffirmed its fiscal year 2022 profit forecasts, saying the earnings fall in the December half was due to expected declines in significant one-off items.

Underlying EBITDA - the metric Telstra prefers to use to measure its performance - climbed 5.1 per cent to $3.5 billion, driven by strong growth in its mobile business, the company said.

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-wants-to-test-how-much-extra-users-will-pay-for-100mbps-576126

NBN Co wants to test how much extra users will pay for 100Mbps

By Ry Crozier on Feb 16, 2022 10:52AM

Over an initial two-year period.

NBN Co is hoping to use a proposed new pricing model to test how much more it can acceptably charge users for a 100Mbps service.

The company is proposing to introduce flat-rate wholesale prices on its 100Mbps tiers and above.

This would mean it does away with the unpopular connectivity virtual circuit (CVC) bandwidth charge on these tiers, but in doing so it removes a variable cost that brought in additional revenue.

To compensate for the loss of revenue, NBN Co has proposed to increase the cost of flat-priced plans once a year, using a new construct of “CPI plus three percent”. 

With CPI at current levels, that could mean a 6.5 percent a year price rise - which at least one retailer believes is “not going to fly” and could result in repercussions at a government level.

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-thinks-a-micrometeorite-knocked-its-satellite-off-orbit-in-december-576105

NBN Co thinks a micrometeorite knocked its satellite off-orbit in December

By Ry Crozier on Feb 15, 2022 10:42PM

Also reveals why 573 users couldn't reconnect for weeks after.

NBN Co believes an outage on December 21 that knocked about 40 percent of Sky Muster users offline for about seven hours was caused by a micrometeorite colliding with one of its two satellites.

The network operator was hit by a pair of outages to parts of its Sky Muster satellite network through December and early January. 

The first outage started at 8.30am on December 21 when Optus - which “effectively flies our satellites”, NBN Co’s chief development officer for regional and remote Gavin Williams said - “confirmed an off-orbit condition of our second satellite, which we call our 1B satellite.”

Maxar Technologies, which owns SSL, the builder of the Sky Muster satellites, delivered its own post-incident report which Williams said pointed to a brush with a micrometeorite.

He said the satellite is equipped with optical recognition technology “that saw some meteorite activity”, which appeared to confirm Maxar’s theory.

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-reveals-just-20-fttn-premises-upgraded-to-full-fibre-in-trial-576107

NBN Co reveals just 20 FTTN premises upgraded to full fibre in trial

By Ry Crozier on Feb 16, 2022 12:05AM

With 31 more waiting, out of hundreds of possible trial spots.

NBN Co has upgraded just 20 premises from copper connections to full fibre as part of a trial, filling less than five percent of the available places.

The number was revealed at senate estimates on Tuesday night and came after the company had repeatedly avoided disclosing the trial take-up numbers.

The trial upgrades, from either fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) or fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC) to full fibre, have been shrouded in secrecy since they were announced late last year.

Initially, NBN Co said that 10,000 FTTN premises would be involved in the trial, but this was later revised down to 500 FTTN premises, and an additional 25 FTTC premises.

While there’s been feverish interest in participation in the trial among users, it’s been unclear how to do so, or even which retail service providers (RSPs) are participating.

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-faces-calls-to-expand-fixed-wireless-network-576063

NBN Co faces calls to expand fixed wireless network

By Ry Crozier on Feb 15, 2022 11:14AM

Into areas currently served by satellite.

NBN Co is being urged to make “holistic upgrades” to its fixed wireless network, including to extend the reach of the network into areas currently mapped for Sky Muster.

The recommendation is the latest regional telecommunications review [pdf], a process that is undertaken every three years.

At the heart of its NBN-related findings is a desire to see rural and remote users benefit from billions of dollars of upgrades that NBN Co is making to its fixed-line network.

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https://itwire.com/telecoms-and-nbn/nbn-co-s-financial-worries-far-from-over,-says-telco-expert-budde.html

Friday, 11 February 2022 13:45

NBN Co's financial worries far from over, says telco expert Budde

By Sam Varghese

The NBN Co's continuing bid to placate regulators, retailers and consumer organisations means its financial worries are far from over, independent telecommunications consultant Paul Budde says.

His comments came following the company's release on Thursday of its results for the six months from June to December 2021, showing an increase of $1 in its average revenue per user to $46, though red ink still remains on its balance sheet, with a loss of $857 million for the six-month period.

Budde pointed out that in the search for more subscriber s to increase its income, the company had announced it would start rolling out its latest rebate campaigns in April under the names Step Up and Light Up.

These rebates only apply for six months and then the full price cuts in and are provided to the retail service providers who can then make offers to their customers.


The offers in question are:

  • Upgrade from 12Mbps to 25Mbps and receive an $8 rebate;
  • Upgrade from 12Mbps to 50Mbps, or the 25-50 tier for FttN/FttB and get a $10 rebate;
  • Upgrade from 25Mbps to 50Mbps or from fixed wireless to Wireless Plus and get a $2 rebate; and
  • In May, a second package will be made available for upgrades to 100/40 services.

Outlining the issues faced by NBN Co, Budde said: "The company has been plagued by ongoing requests from its regulators, retailers and consumer organisations to come up with better pricing schemes.

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Enjoy!

David.

 

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