He comes from South Australia and has been in Parliament since 2007. So he has been around!
https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=HWK
David.
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
Mark Butler Is The New Federal Health Minister
Commentators and Journalists Weigh In On Digital Health And Related Privacy, Safety, Social Media And Security Matters. Lots Of Interesting Perspectives - May 31, 2022.
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This weekly blog is to explore the news around the larger issues around Digital Health, data security, data privacy, AI / ML. technology, social media and related matters.
I will also try to highlight ADHA Propaganda when I come upon it.
Just so we keep count, the latest Notes from the ADHA Board were dated 6 December, 2018 and we have seen none since! It’s pretty sad!
Note: Appearance here is not to suggest I see any credibility or value in what follows. I will leave it to the reader to decide what is worthwhile and what is not! The point is to let people know what is being said / published that I have come upon.
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Google Australia revenue surges $2bn, tax bill little changed
4:13PM May 27, 2022
Google Australia’s tax bill edged up only slightly last year despite the tech titan booking an extra $2bn in revenue.
The Australian arm of Alphabet, which manages payments for its advertising reseller business, cloud services and hardware sales, booked $7.2bn in gross revenue in calendar 2021, up from $5.2bn the previous year, with the vast majority coming from its online advertising business.
The company says in its annual financial report, lodged this week, that $6.1bn was generated from advertising reseller revenue, with the rest split between cloud reseller revenue, service revenue and hardware revenue.
But given that Google processes its advertising revenue offshore through Singapore under its Google Asia Pacific arm, its revenue reported to the Australian regulator was $1.71bn — the amount it was paid as a reseller of services — up from $1.39bn.
Net profit jumped by 77.8 per cent from $185.5m to $329.9m, while the current tax charge was $84.9m, up from $76.5m, up just 10.9 per cent.
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Roundup: Pen CS names ex-AMA official as chief medical advisor and more briefs
Also, New Zealand's Pharmaceutical Management Agency has developed an assessment tool to guide clinicians in issuing COVID-19 antiviral treatments.
By Adam Ang
May 26, 2022 10:51 PM
Pen CS appoints former AMA official as chief medical advisor
Health informatics firm Pen CS has named Dr Kean-Seng Lim as its new chief medical advisor.
Dr Lim is a general practitioner at Mt Druitt Medical Centre in western Sydney. He previously held leadership roles as president of the New South Wales chapter of the Australian Medical Association from 2018 to 2020, as well as a board member of the Western Sydney Primary Health Network.
In 2015, he was named the GP of the Year by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
According to a media release, Dr Lim will provide clinical governance and oversight to the Pen CS ecosystem of health technology solutions for primary care and population health.
He will head both of the company's clinical advisory and data governance committees while also guiding the design of Pen CS's product roadmap.
Commenting on his appointment, Pen CS CEO Edweana Wenkart said: "Dr Lim has a unique view of primary care, in that, he understands both macro and micro requirements – for technology it is clinical workflow and patient activation – to achieve a value-based healthcare system. His experience at the population, provider, and patient levels is matched to the Pen CS ecosystem".
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‘Dystopian’: Govt-endorsed education apps surveilling Australian children
Denham
Sadler
National Affairs Editor
26 May 2022
A number of education apps and websites endorsed by Australian governments and used throughout the pandemic have been surveilling and tracking children and sending their data to advertisers, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.
The New South Wales and Victorian governments have announced inquiries into the education technologies (EdTech) used in schools in the states in response to the report, released on Wednesday.
The NSW Privacy Commissioner has also confirmed they are making “further enquiries” into the issues raised in the report.
The Human Rights Watch report examined 164 EdTech products – apps and websites – and found that 146 (89 per cent) appeared to engage in data practices that put children’s rights at risk, contributed to undermining them, or actively infringed on these rights.
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https://www.hinz.org.nz/news/606538/Kiwi-AI-tool-launches-in-India.htm
Kiwi AI tool launches in India
Wednesday, 25 May 2022
NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
An Artificial Intelligence retinal screening tool,
developed in New Zealand, is being used in 20 eye clinics in India and is about
to launch in the United States.
THEIA has been created by Toku Eyes and provides diabetic screening to detect signs of eye
disease. Clinical trials were held at Counties Manukau DHB in its central and
satellite units, as well as a private optometrist in Palmerston North.
Co-founder Ehsan Vaghefi says the company has been working hard over the past
year to convert the AI from a research tool into a medical product and it is
now registered in India and the United States as such.
The medical product includes the development of a special camera to take the
necessary images, clinical audit functionality and a platform to capture
patient information and present the results to clinicians.
The new technology is now being used in the largest eye hospital chain in the
world, Aravind in India, which sees around four million patients a year and
performs around 500,000 eye surgeries.
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Meta updates privacy policy with more detail about what data it collects
The social media giant assured it's not collecting any new data, but just wants to make its privacy policy easier to understand.
Meta said after being "inspired" by user feedback and privacy experts, the company has rewritten its privacy policy "to make it easier to understand".
The updated policy, formerly referred to as its data policy, now provides examples of what information is collected, and how it is used, shared, retained, and transferred, including with the type of third parties. New controls to manage who can view a post and the topic users want to see ads about has also been included.
Meta has also used illustrations, a video, and a table to present the information, instead of relying on a giant wall of text.
"Our goal with this update is to be more clear about our data practices … At Meta, we've always set out to build personalized experiences that provide value without compromising your privacy. So, it's on us to have strong protections for the data we use and be transparent about how we use it," Meta product chief privacy officer Michael Protti said in a blog post.
Protti also assured while the text might look slightly different, Meta is "not collecting, using, or sharing data in new ways …. and we still do not sell your information".
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Doctors aren't formally taught to write medical letters - some are telegrams, others literary masterpieces
Dr Oliver is a GP in Sydney, NSW. You can find her blog on Twitter @thatladydoctor.
27th May 2022
Having recently been the subject of correspondence between my GP and several specialists, I’ve been reflecting on the slightly archaic art of medical letter writing.
I don’t remember ever being formally taught to write letters. I think maybe you just pick it up from sidelong glances at other doctors’ letters.
Who among us doesn't remember our first few weeks wrestling with the dictaphone as the entire office of admin staff, nurses and other doctors listen in?
After gliding over the address, list of recipients and specialties with complete poise, you come to that first line: “Dear Margaret, I saw Fred today in clinic with his wife, Jean. He…” and then all comes apart, and you begin adding your own wear and tear to the stop and rewind buttons.
When the letters come back from the typist, you can see your stream of medical consciousness in unpolished print. And you’re embarrassed because that’s what it must sound like when you actually speak.
Some letters are pieces of literature.
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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35612152/
A Log Analysis Exploring the Predictors of Electronic Health Record Access by Clinicians for Consumers Aged ≥65 Who Present to the Emergency Department
Alexandra Mullins 1 2 , Helen Skouteris 3 4 , Heather Morris 3 , Joanne Enticott 1
Affiliations
- PMID: 35612152
- DOI: 10.3233/SHTI220531
Abstract
Electronic health records are widely implemented, yet little is understood around adoption and use in the ED setting. Older patients (≥65) are a cohort likely to benefit from use. The primary outcome (MHR access) was explored using logistic regression of 9 independent variables. 28.33% of patients had their MHR accessed within 3 days of presenting. Access is more likely when patients arrive via urgent ambulance and/or are triaged as critical.
Keywords: My Health Record; electronic health record; emergency department; hospital; medical system.
LinkOut - more resources
· Full Text Sources
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https://itwire.com/business-it-sp-511/business-it/medcart-hits-$10-million-in-annual-sales.html
Thursday, 26 May 2022 11:38
Medcart hits $10 million in annual sales
Health and medical start-up Medcart has achieved annual sales of close to $10 million in less than 12 months with the help of tech platform Marketplacer.
“We spotted a gap in the market for high-quality PPE items in Australia,” comments Medcart founder Phil Leahy. “Thanks to the power of the Marketplacer team, we were able to design the portal and have it up and running in just one month.”
“Ongoing fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic was causing strong demand for PPE. Many health facilities and care providers have struggled to obtain sufficient stock of everything from face masks and protective visors to scrubs and gloves,” Leahy said.
“There was no mechanism in place to assist staff to locate manufacturers and place PPE orders,” Leahy added.
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https://www.health.gov.au/news/music-therapy-ehealth-supporting-people-with-dementia
Music therapy eHealth supporting people with dementia
A music therapist and a human-computer interaction expert help carers use music to calm people with dementia.
Date published: 26 May 2022
Type: News
Intended audience: General public
Music therapy
‘Music therapy helps to calm people with dementia if they experience states of agitation,’ says Professor Felicity Baker, University of Melbourne. Felicity’s research shows that singing to people with dementia improves their symptoms. ‘This is amazing because dementia is a degenerative disease,’ she says.
‘Music also generates autobiographical recall. If someone with dementia listens to music they know, it stimulates their memories. That helps to calm the person.’
Felicity wants the benefits of music therapy to be widely available. She created the Homeside study, used in countries around the world. This program guides carers to use music to help people with dementia complete everyday tasks.
Computer music therapy
But carers cannot always be present. So Felicity’s team is working with Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, to develop an eHealth music therapy application.
Dr David Silvera, Australian eHealth Research Centre, CSIRO, is one of the project’s technical leads. He is an expert in autonomous systems and human-computer interaction. David’s team will design the algorithm that chooses what music to play to the person with dementia.
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https://medicalrepublic.com.au/without-data-healthcare-is-a-game-of-chance/69815
25 May 2022
Without data, healthcare is a game of chance
By Wendy John
What happens when a GP turns into a data analyst? Fewer ‘unlucky’ patients and a bridge across the equity gap.
Dr David Dembo says that data is full of signals that can help transform healthcare.
That data might be a fluctuating heart rate, or the fact a teenager is listening to Barry Manilow – it all has a story to tell, we just need to listen.
A former GP, Dr Dembo now heads up Health Catalyst Australia and New Zealand. In this episode of The Tea Room he speaks about how to use patient engagement tools, such as automated communication and remote monitoring, in a non-invasive way to augment care and maintain visibility before, during and after treatment periods.
“Modern medicine is far too complex for humans unaided by technology to practise safely. That means you need data-informed decision-making at the point of care delivery. And the data is there, it just needs to be aggregated, read, cleansed and repurposed in a meaningful way,” Dr Dembo said.
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Opportunities for women in digital health to lead a new frontier (and why it’s worth celebrating)
24 May, 2022
Last year, the inaugural Brilliant Connected Women in Digital Health awards demonstrated how women in digital health have led us through a period of vast uncertainty in recent times, and while we may be turning a corner on the COVID-19 pandemic there remains considerable scope for women in this sector to lead a new frontier.
Professor Mary Foley AM, Managing Director at Telstra Health notes for example a big opportunity to minimise the gender gap in the ICT sector as more women rise in digital health.
“Digital health has enormous potential to lead the ICT sector in the representation of women in influential roles, securing the benefits of gender diversity in improving technology and improving patient outcomes,” she says.
However, one of the most pressing issues facing the digital health sector in Australia remains attracting and retaining the best talent. To ensure the sector is continually evolving and innovating, it’s critical that women are afforded the right pathways from clinical roles and supported holistically to stay.
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Facebook ‘prepared for months’ for news ban
4:22PM May 22, 2022
Facebook was preparing internally for Australia’s landmark news bargaining code for at least five months, despite later blaming a “technical error” when it blocked charities, government services and critical health organisations amid bushfires and the pandemic.
Changes made by Facebook to its user terms of service announced publicly on September 2, 2020 show that the tech giant was working behind the scenes to limit any legal fallout from Australia’s impending news media bargaining code, which became law in February 2021, forcing tech companies including Facebook to pay millions of dollars to news publishers.
The addition, which was effective from October 1, 2020 and remains in Facebook’s terms of service, reads: “We also can remove or restrict access to your content, services or information if we determine that doing so is reasonably necessary to avoid or mitigate adverse legal or regulatory impacts to Facebook.”
In February 2021, a week before the parliament vote on the media bargaining laws, Facebook said it would remove news from its platform. However, the pages that were removed included hospitals, charities, emergency services and even the government. Whistleblowers earlier this month came forward alleging the take-down was a deliberate tactic to wreak havoc and maximise leverage in its fight against the federal government, while Facebook claims its failings were “inadvertent.”
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Facebook’s conduct is ‘inexplicable’, says Rod Sims
12:01AM May 23, 2022
Australia’s former competition tsar Rod Sims has taken aim at Facebook’s unwillingness to engage with legitimate publishers under the terms of the news media bargaining code, and warned that the social media giant could face sanctions if it continues to thumb its nose at the legislation.
In a report to be published by the Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism on Monday, Professor Sims, who was chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for almost 11 years until March this year, says it is “inexplicable” that Facebook has “arbitrarily” decided that it no longer wishes to engage with Australian publishers and news content providers who would be eligible for payment under the news media bargaining code.
Last year, around 20 media businesses, including News Corp (publisher of The Australian) struck commercial deals with Google and Facebook to ensure the digital giants paid a fair sum to news companies for the use of their content.
The news media bargaining code came into effect in March 2021, with the understanding that Google and Facebook would continue to negotiate and strike deals with news publishers where appropriate.
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https://medicalrepublic.com.au/healing-healthcare-strain-and-inequity-with-data/69457
23 May 2022
Healing healthcare strain and inequity with data
Advanced analytics, AI and automation can help the system cut waste and use every dollar well.
The strain on Australia’s healthcare sector will not diminish, but continue to compound. While it’s positive to see different sides of politics make health system performance a priority, it’s crucial to move away from short-term fixes.
Instead, we need to resolve the root causes of existing constraints, and these are largely clinical variation, limited care coordination and insufficient early intervention. The long-term performance of the sector depends on it.
With the election behind us, there are major opportunities to convert pre-election discourse into outcomes for healthcare, and for the benefit of all Australians, by expanding the use of data and automation to overcome the aforementioned challenges.
Healthcare funding was predictably a focal point of the election campaign. The reality is there is likely to be sufficient funding in our healthcare budgets provided we can identify and remove waste from the system. Healthcare waste accounts for up to half of all healthcare expenditures. They arise from workflow inefficiencies, poor communication, inappropriate treatment, missed treatment opportunities and insufficient meaningful information exchanges.
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David.
Monday, May 30, 2022
Weekly Australian Health IT Links – 30 May, 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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Big news from Tassie this week – with some ambitious plans!
Otherwise wondering (still) who the Health Minister will be and what it will mean for Digital Health.
I am sure the DOH is working hard to push the lemon that is the #myHR.
For some reason there seems to be a lot on the NBN. Election related?
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/what-to-expect-from-the-incoming-labor-government-580352
What to expect from the incoming Labor government
By Justin Hendry on May 23, 2022 12:23PM
Analysis: Ambitious agenda for tech, telco.
After nine years in opposition, Labor has been returned to government, and is increasingly likely to form a majority.
But while the exact composition of the incoming government remains unclear, the impact on the tech sector could be profound, with a swag of pledges unveiled during the campaign.
Here’s what to expect from a first-term Labor government:
Critical technologies
Quantum technology, AI and robotics are among the critical technologies that Labor intends to bankroll through its $1 billion Critical Technologies Investment Fund.
Focused on building local industry, the fund – part of the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund – will provide investment support through loans, equity investments and loan guarantees for business.
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eHealth NSW is using AI to detect sepsis in hospital admissions
By Justin Hendry on May 25, 2022 6:58AM
Clinical pilot underway at one emergency department.
eHealth NSW has begun a clinical pilot of a sepsis prediction system that uses Amazon SageMaker to detect the life-threatening condition in patients arriving at hospital emergency departments.
Senior data scientist at eHealth NSW, Mostafa Shaikh, told the AWS Sydney Summit last week that the project had recently reached “clinical go-live” at one unnamed hospital.
The pilot, which will run until August, is a precursor to a wider rollout if eHealth NSW, the digital arm of NSW Health, can demonstrate “significant improvements” in the early detection of sepsis, he said.
eHealth NSW has been working on a predictive sepsis detection system since at least 2019 to identify the people at risk of sepsis in emergency department (ED) waiting rooms from their vital signs.
Sepsis is a condition resulting from an infection that triggers an extreme immune system response, and can cause shock, organ failure or death.
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Health database announced in budget to streamline Tasmanian medical services
Updated May 26 2022 - 7:51am, first published 7:00am
'Overdue' health database to eliminate duplication of tests
Doctors and general practitioners have welcomed the establishment of a "long overdue" integrated health database for Tasmania.
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Multimillion dollar spend announced for health care
25 May 2022 JR RHH
Doctors are welcoming a sizeable Tasmanian Government investment into the state's archaic health IT systems.
It includes an initial spend of $150 million over four years for upgrades, the total cost $475 million over a decade.
The funds will help launch a new state-wide fully integrated care platform that will help our hospitals, GPs, community health, allied health, and other specialist providers to seamlessly communicate and share information with each other.
In the first four years, Public Health will trial a new centralised and secure Electronic Medical Record system and launch a statewide patient record viewer that connects all public and private health and care providers.
Existing virtual care technologies, including telehealth will be upgraded so more patients can receive care in their home or in their community.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/tasmania-puts-150m-towards-digital-health-upgrades-580597
Tasmania puts $150m towards digital health upgrades
By Justin Hendry on May 27, 2022 5:29PM
Plans new statewide e-health record for patients.
The Tasmanian government has set aside $150 million in its 2022-23 budget to modernise the state’s public health IT infrastructure, including through a single electronic medical record.
The funding, to be provided over the next four years, will allow the Department of Health to commence a 10-year digital health transformation program set out in a new digital health strategy.
As much as $475 million is expected to be allocated to the project over its lifetime to “drive further adoption of digital health technology to improve patient, clinician and support staff experiences”.
“Digital health will allow for increased care to be provided at home and across Tasmania’s geographically dispersed population,” budget documents state.
“It will deliver a fully integrated patient-centric healthcare system that will seamlessly share critical health information across critical and organisational boundaries.”
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https://medicalrepublic.com.au/prescription-monitoring-rolls-out-statewide/69968
27 May 2022
Prescription monitoring rolls out statewide
SafeScript NSW won’t be a panacea, but it will help bridge the gap between prescribers and dispensers.
From Monday, doctors and pharmacists across NSW can access the state’s real-time prescription monitoring software, which will flag high-risk prescribing scenarios.
Both prescribers and dispensers will be notified if a patient has received prescriptions for monitored medicines from four or more prescribers within 90 days, has an average daily dose of opioids exceeding 100mg oral morphine equivalent over a 90 day period or is being concurrently prescribed potentially harmful substances (e.g. fentanyl and methadone).
The integrated clinical software, SafeScript NSW, is similar to that used in Victoria – also called SafeScript – but won’t be mandatory to use.
It has already been available in some parts of the state since last year but can now be accessed by doctors and pharmacists anywhere in NSW.
Prescribers in NSW can register and access the patient database through the SafeScript NSW portal. Data stretches back to early April 2021.
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Google works with the Garvan Institute for faster sequencing for 14,000 genomes
12:00AM May 21, 2022
Google and the Garvan Institute have collaborated to develop radically faster genome sequencing, bringing more accessible and cheaper gene-based diagnosis to millions of Australians.
Associate professor Sarah Kummerfeld, from Australia’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research, said it took 20 years and cost $3bn to sequence the first genome.
However, the collaboration between the institute and Google led to 14,000 genomes being processed, or understood, in less than two weeks. This was unprecedented in Australia, she said.
Google has provided the Institute with cloud infrastructure and links to computers that can process the genome faster.
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/anz/garvan-partners-google-cloud-large-scale-genome-sequencing
Garvan partners with Google Cloud for large-scale genome sequencing
The research institute claims to have processed the largest genome data set in Australia to date.
By Adam Ang
May 24, 2022 03:55 AM
The Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney has teamed up with Google Cloud to process a data set of about 14,000 genomes to drive early diagnosis of rare genetic disorders.
According to a press statement, Garvan has processed what could be the largest genome data set in Australia to date by storing genomics data on Google Cloud and leveraging the Terra workflow and data management system by the Broad Institute.
WHY IT MATTERS
Garvan and Google Cloud's collaboration sought to resolve big issues in biomedical research, specifically in storing, analysing, and sharing genomic data. According to Google Cloud, doing such requires expertise and investment in population genomics.
"We know that solving some of the world’s biggest challenges doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” said Alister Dias, VP for Google Cloud Australia and New Zealand. "Google Cloud’s scalable and secure infrastructure enabled Garvan to analyse massive amounts of biomedical information at unprecedented speed," he claimed.
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Access your patient's medical records
How to access and get information if you’re a registered health professional.
If you’re a registered health professional, you can get information on your patient’s health care by logging into the Health Provider Portal. You may also know the portal as 'the Viewer'.
You can also get your patient’s health care details from the Clinical Information Access department.
Health Provider Portal
If you're involved in the care of a patient, you can access the following information electronically:
- discharge summaries
- pathology reports
- medical imaging reports
- outpatient letters
- medication list.
Some of this information may also be available on My Health Record.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/how-text-messages-virtually-eliminated-missed-stemis
How text messages 'virtually eliminated' missed STEMIs
Australian researchers report that rural hospitals that automatically alert coronary care nurses of suspected MI patients can plug gaps in diagnoses
26th May 2022
By AAP
A text message system linking Australian rural hospitals to specialist coronary care nurses "virtually eliminated" the chances of a missed diagnosis of ST-elevated MI, a study finds.
The Australian research, published in JAMA Cardiology, explored why one-third of patients presenting to hospitals with a ST-elevated MI (STEMI) do not receive appropriate care.
The study included 29 rural hospitals that operate without emergency medicine specialists.
Researchers randomly assigned 15 facilities to a system that automatically sent a text to a coronary care unit nurse at a tertiary hospital when a patient presented with symptoms of acute coronary syndrome.
The nurses reviewed test results to diagnose or rule out cardiac emergency and helped the rural hospitals triage patients.
The remaining 14 hospitals operated as normal, with the option to use an existing system allowing rural doctors to contact specialists at major facilities.
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https://www.lgbtiqhealth.org.au/your_data_your_privacy_using_my_health_record_securely
Your data, your privacy: Using My Health Record securely
Published May 24, 2022
Consultant in LGBTIQ+ ageing and health Teresa Savage looks at how everyone, especially older LGBTI people, can keep their My Health Record data safe and secure
Do you use My Health Record? Are you worried about your privacy?
My Health Record is an online summary of your key health information. It is available to you and your healthcare providers whenever it’s needed, including in an emergency. It can hold a summary of your medical history, a record of your vaccinations, test results, prescription information, and your advanced care planning documents.
My Health Record has the potential to be very useful for older LGBTI people. Having your records in one place can be invaluable when you have multiple care providers. Your record can help you and your healthcare providers keep track of your health information
But many older LGBTI people are concerned about the security of their data. We’ve all heard about data breaches from big online systems, and the dangers of our personal details getting into the wrong hands.
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https://blog.dvuln.com/blogs/servicensw-digital-superbad
ServiceNSW’s Digital Drivers Licence Security appears to be Super Bad
By Noah Farmer · May 17, 2022
In November 2019, the New South Wales government (ServiceNSW) introduced the digital drivers licence or “DDL” for short, as a means to make it easy for people to access a digital version of their driver licence.
Upon the launch of ServiceNSW’s Digital Driver License there were multiple security researchers who publicly reported a number of security issues including but not limited to the ability to manipulate Digital License data and create fraudulent digital identities.
As far as we can see, there appears to be no formal public response from ServiceNSW regarding the acknowledgement or remediation of such issues.
As of February 2022, according to the Minister for Customer Service there have been 3.9 million people who have opted-in for the Digital Driver Licence.
To put this into perspective, we can assume around 70% of people in NSW use and trust the digital driver's licence as a means of identification and verification in their day to day lives.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/top-five-rsps-ask-accc-to-set-nbn-prices-580520
Top five RSPs ask ACCC to set NBN prices
By Ry Crozier on May 26, 2022 8:41AM
As confidence and patience in negotiated process is lost.
NBN Co’s top five retail service providers - Aussie Broadband, Optus, Telstra, TPG Telecom and Vocus - have asked the ACCC to directly intervene and set prices for NBN services.
The five want to see NBN Co regulated by an access determination - either on an interim or final basis - by the end of the year.
The escalation is a clear indication that RSPs have lost patience with NBN Co to come up with an agreeable pricing model for the future on its own, or in collaboration within the industry.
A restructucture of NBN Co’s price model has been on the cards since early 2021, with the ACCC being called upon to lead the process in April last year after NBN Co and RSPs could not reach agreement.
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NBN claims Musk’s Starlink is wrecking its business, as telcos slam price hikes
By Zoe Samios
May 26, 2022 — 12.30am
The company operating the National Broadband Network has claimed competition from wireless services including Elon Musk’s Starlink is threatening the viability of its business, as retail internet providers hit out at its plans to sharply raise prices.
NBN Co’s plans to raise prices surfaced this week in a redacted proposal to revise its special access undertaking, which was released by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
The framework determines how much it can charge wholesale customers including Telstra, Optus and TPG Telecom. The proposal was criticised by the ACCC, which claimed it would result in a doubling of the cost of entry-tier internet plans over the next decade and ongoing price rises until 2040.
In the redacted documents, NBN blames the planned price increase on several factors, including competition from companies that run low-earth orbit satellites - such as Elon Musk’s Starlink - and the rise of 4G and 5G fixed wireless services from Telstra, TPG and Optus. It said these competitive pressures meant it needed a sophisticated pricing model to ensure it could recover its costs over time, or otherwise its business might not be sustainable.
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Telstra, Optus, TPG, Vocus and Aussie Broadband slam NBN over planned price hikes in rare joint letter to ACCC
May 25, 2022
Australia’s largest telcos – Telstra, Optus, TPG, Vocus and Aussie Broadband – have written a rare joint letter to Australia’s competition watchdog, attacking NBN Co’s proposed price hikes and calling for a new regulatory probe for what they describe as the nation’s digital backbone.
The retailers said that should NBN Co’s proposed changes be accepted, there is a real risk that the network will become even more under-utilised, causing harm to consumers, the market and the economy.
The extraordinary missive comes after the ACCC earlier this week published a submission from NBN Co, known as the special access undertaking (SAU), that proposes locking in prices until 2040, and doubling the price of entry-tier plans over the next decade, along with other changes.
The ACCC is mulling a shake-up to NBN’s pricing structure that would shape the future of the $50bn project over the next decade.
“Australia has an opportunity to grow into a leading digital economy and digital society. The National Broadband Network is an important part of the telecommunications infrastructure that is the backbone of a future digital Australia,” the telcos write in the joint letter.
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NBN prices ‘already the world’s highest’: Telstra
7:43PM May 24, 2022
Telstra has joined a growing chorus of retailers criticising NBN Co’s plot to increase prices, describing the plans as a failure and a wasted opportunity after rival telco TPG called the plans ‘a slap in the face’ for consumers.
NBN Co wants to lock in price rises until 2040, and double the price of entry-tier plans over the next decade, it revealed in a redacted submission published by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Monday.
The figures show that by applying NBN Co’s current forecasts the cost to retailers to acquire the entry level speed tier would double by around 2033, and continue to increase towards $104 per month in nominal terms by 2040.
“NBN’s wholesale prices are already the highest in the world among comparable countries and they’ll get worse with the proposed price increases,” a Telstra spokesman said.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-to-cut-160-applications-under-200m-it-simplification-580391
NBN Co to cut 160 applications under $200m IT simplification
By Ry Crozier on May 24, 2022 12:06PM
First savings from the program realised.
NBN Co is expecting to realise the first savings from a near $200 million IT simplification program this financial year, starting at $5 million and growing to $41 million a year by mid-2025.
The company provided new details of the transformation in a supporting submission [pdf] to a regulatory inquiry.
It also indicated separate impending changes to outsourced IT helpdesk arrangements.
The $200 million transformation was first revealed back in December 2020 as the “largest IT transformation” that the company had ever undertaken, though little else was known.
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Optus calls on Labor to intervene in NBN pricing reforms
Lucas Baird Reporter
May 23, 2022 – 5.23pm
Optus has called on the newly elected Labor government to overhaul NBN Co’s priorities, believing proposed pricing reforms released on Monday do not go far enough to reduce costs for retail internet providers.
NBN Co has formally proposed to regulators an end to its dreaded capacity charges for high-speed home internet plans, but stood by a bid to retain the fees on low and mid-tier products. The government-owned corporation has floated a revenue cap and limits on price increases that match inflation too.
Optus vice president of regulatory affairs Andrew Sheridan said the pricing proposal “would hit everyone’s hip pocket” as it left telcos “no choice but to pass proposed cost increases on to our customers”.
“The new government has an opportunity to refocus NBN Co’s priorities towards its core objective of ensuring all Australians have access to fast broadband, at affordable prices, and at least cost,” Mr Sheridan said.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-cos-basic-broadband-price-could-double-by-2040-580367
NBN Co's basic broadband price could double by 2040
By Ry Crozier on May 23, 2022 6:39PM
If ACCC signs off on a price model change.
NBN Co’s 50Mbps product would cost as much as its 100Mbps product - $70 wholesale - “within only a few years”, while its cheapest products would double or more in price by 2040 if a new pricing model is waved through unchanged by the ACCC.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) sounded a warning that price hikes could be realised even sooner than that, because the commission doubts some of the broadband utilisation assumptions that NBN Co uses.
The modelling [pdf], produced by the ACCC, is the centrepiece of a consultation it has opened on a proposed new pricing model for the NBN, which would be enshrined in a revised special access undertaking (SAU).
It is the first substantive public input from the ACCC on NBN Co’s pricing proposal, which is largely unchanged since being first floated last year.
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NBN Co sizes up six-figure customer exodus a year to fixed wireless
By Ry Crozier on May 24, 2022 6:30AM
Ratchets up regulatory pressure.
NBN Co is expecting an exodus of customers from its network to alternative 4G and 5G fixed wireless services of at least 250,000 a year for the next two years.
The network operator revealed the figures in a lengthy submission [pdf] to the ACCC in support of revisions to its special access undertaking, the key document that governs price and non-price terms through to 2040.
“Increasing competition from 4G and 5G network operators is driving sustained and increasing net churn off the NBN,” the company said.
“Based on contemporary market conditions, net churn for FY22 is forecast to be 3.1 percent or 263,000 customers.
“In FY23 nbn expects net churn to be higher still at 3.3 percent or 283,000 customers.”
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Monday, 23 May 2022 10:25
Labor needs to make high-speed broadband more affordable: Budde
By Sam Varghese
The Australian Labor Party's pledge during the election campaign to offer 90% of broadband users in the country higher speeds will not have the intended effect unless the price of the technology is lowered, the independent telecommunications analyst Paul Budde says.
He made the statement on Monday as Labor edged closer to towards governing in its own right following Saturday's elections, with the party having picked up its 75th lower-house seat, according to the Australian Electoral Commission.
"...there is a commitment to extend fibre deeper into the market," Budde pointed out. "However, the real problem is the high costs of the NBN; this makes the wholesale price higher and, therefore, also the retail price.
"Australians love high-speed broadband, they took it on when it was available on a special offer, but as soon as the offer ended they dropped back to lower speeds - a clear indication that it has everything to do with affordability.
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Enjoy!
David.
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