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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Unlocking slowly continues as we all emerge blinking into the sunlight, wondering what is left of the world we once knew.
In Digital Health there has been some change with telehealth etc. which is good. Time will tell what else has wrought some permanent change!
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Amazon intensifies push into Australian pharmacy with trademark application
By Dominic Powell and Emma Koehn
June 1, 2020 — 3.55pm
Retail giant Amazon has intensified its push into Australia's highly competitive pharmaceuticals sector, brushing off industry opposition with a fresh trademark application for a range of private-label over-the-counter medications.
Amazon filed the application for the 'BasicCare' trademark on Friday and refers to Amazon-branded medication which shoppers can buy directly from the e-commerce giant. The move comes as Amazon faces a fight with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia over a previous application for the trademark 'Amazon Pharmacy', which it filed in January this year.
The guild, which lobbies on behalf of pharmacy owners across the country, has filed an objection with IP Australia arguing the multinational has no right to own the words "Amazon Pharmacy". The group said tight regulation of pharmacy operators meant such a trademark could only be used by trained pharmacists.
"Under Australian state and Territory law, only a pharmacist can own a pharmacy and consumers are entitled to be sure when they deal with a pharmacy that it is a pharmacy and not a business entity purporting to be a pharmacy," a spokesperson for the guild said.
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Coronavirus: Breakthrough blood monitor allows patients to be treated at home
Doctors around the nation will be able to measure the blood oxygen levels of coronavirus patients remotely after clinicians at the Royal Melbourne Hospital developed a platform that monitors symptoms at home.
The platform uses a device, known as a pulse oximeter, that clips onto the finger and shines a light through the fingertip to determine the saturation of oxygen flowing in the blood. Oxygen levels are one of the key markers of illness in COVID-19 patients, and if doctors can monitor oxygen levels remotely, patients are more likely to be able to recover from the illness at home, taking pressure off hospitals.
The RMH oximeter program, which was originally set up to assist with anticipated pandemic numbers of COVID-19 patients, is the brainchild of emergency physician Martin Dutch. It’s now set to be used by hospitals around the country to remotely monitor COVID-19 patients.
“The problem when you have a pandemic illness (is that) if you adopt that traditional strategy of admitting large numbers of people to hospital to look for that smaller subset who deteriorate, you rapidly run out of beds and human resources,” Dr Dutch said.
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https://www.healthcareit.com.au/article/bendigo-health-re-evaluate-role-telehealth-post-covid-19
Bendigo Health to re-evaluate the role of telehealth post COVID-19
Dean Koh | 03 Jun 2020
Over a six-week period in April and May this year, Bendigo Health in regional Victoria conducted roughly 2700 telehealth outpatient appointments across the Loddon Mallee region. Compared to a year prior to the six-week period, only 187 telehealth appointments were conducted.
The departments that contributed to this huge increase include Oncology (1010 appointments), Child and Acute Mental Health Services (352 appointments), Outpatient Rehabilitation (220 appointments), Speech Pathology (103 appointments) and Midwife Services (78 appointments).
As such, Bendigo Health plans to re-evaluate the role of telehealth in its model of care after a huge uptake in the service during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also recently surveyed the telehealth experience of 41 oncology patients and 76% indicated they would like telehealth to be an ongoing option for certain appointments.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/govt-to-pay-back-721m-wrongly-raised-through-robodebt-548745
Govt to pay back $721m wrongly raised through robodebt
By Justin Hendry on May 29, 2020 4:01PM
Finally bites the bullet.
The federal government will refund $720 million extracted from welfare recipients under the guise of 'debts' that were created and collected under the reviled robodebt program that was subsequently found not to be legal.
In a statement on Friday, Government Services Minister Stuart Robert said “470,000 debts raised wholly or partially using income averaging of Australia Tax Office data” would be repaid.
“Refunding of eligible debts will commence in July and will continue through the 2020-21 financial year,” he said.
“The total value of refunds including fees and charges is estimated at $721 million.”
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JobKeeper website closed for maintenance on final day to apply
On the final day companies could apply for the government’s under-fire JobKeeper payments, the site was down “for maintenance”.
Samantha Maiden@samanthamaiden
news.com.au June 2, 20206:58pm
Employers have accused the Morrison Government of a fresh JobKeeper bungle after it closed down the main website to apply “for maintenance” on the final day to lodge applications.
Less than a fortnight after the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg revealed a stunning $60 billion underspend in the program, some companies are worried they could miss out after the scheme closed early.
More than a million casuals were already excluded from the scheme, that was originally forecast to cost $130 billion but has now been revised down to $70 billion before it ends on September 27.
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How legacy operating systems and firmware could endanger patients
By Steve Hunter*
Friday, 15 May, 2020
The recent increase in demand on the healthcare system as a result of COVID-19 has led to the rapid adoption of digital technologies in an attempt to maintain continuity and productivity.
With 61% of healthcare providers not having effective central systems and processes for patient life cycle management, healthcare organisations will have to consider the interoperability between emerging technologies and legacy systems to ensure a seamless integration.1
As organisations leverage the Internet of Medical Things to ease the COVID-19 strain and improve organisational and patient outcomes, the subsequent increase in connected devices adds to the complexity of networks. Connected healthcare devices such as patient tracking and identification systems, infusion pumps and imaging systems, as well as infrastructure devices like building automation systems, physical security systems, uninterruptible power supplies, backup generators and other operational technology systems, all play a critical role in the continuity of the healthcare system.
While cloud adoption provides an increase in visibility and control of these crucial devices, it equally provides an increased attack surface, with the constant connectivity giving bad actors a gateway to exploit vulnerabilities. Additionally, with many healthcare facilities relying on a combination of cloud and legacy operating systems (OS), risk is further increased as the use of dated equipment provides the opportunity for old vulnerabilities being exploited, as evident from the BlueKeep exploit.
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Small but mighty: The ASX health small caps aiming to beat the government in the innovation game
Health & Biotech
3 June, 2020 | Nick Sundich
Almost all of the ASX’s health small caps have visions as ambitious as the Australian and state governments’ broader health objectives for society as a whole.
The combined market caps of all ASX health companies under $500m is approximately $9bn.
Until small caps generate enough revenues to be self-sustaining, they have to rely on investor dollars to support their vision and hope everything goes according to plan.
In contrast, governments appear more powerful, spending big on healthcare.
Australia’s federal government spends over 10 per cent of Australia’s GDP on healthcare. The most recent concrete figure for a fiscal year was 2017-18, when it spent $185.4bn, which equates to $7,485 per person.
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Registrar hacked court computer to create fake intervention order
By Adam Cooper
May 29, 2020 — 4.48pm
A judicial registrar hacked into a court's computer system and created a false intervention order against a friend's ex-partner, and entered a magistrate's identification to have it issued.
Sara Borg was working at Werribee Magistrates Court on October 25, 2018 when she insisted a colleague take a lunch break and then locked the court room.
Borg used two registrars' log-in details to create an intervention order against a woman, and typed in a magistrate's judicial number to issue the order, the County Court heard on Friday.
The hack was done to help a friend involved in a custody dispute with his former partner over their daughter.
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https://itwire.com/security/ransomware-group-takes-mybudget-name-off-site,-reason-unknown.html
Wednesday, 03 June 2020 11:31
Ransomware group takes MyBudget name off site, reason unknown
The saga surrounding Australian money management firm MyBudget is yet to end, with the ransomware group which infiltrated its servers now removing the company's name from the site where it advertises the names of victims who have not acceded to its ransom demands.
The gang that had used the Mespinoza/Pysa Windows ransomware to attack MyBudget — a fact the company confirmed to iTWire on 29 May — had put up the company's name, with no data files below it at the time that story was published (graphic below).
But today, security sources have told iTWire that the attackers have now removed the company's name from their website.
iTWire contacted MyBudget to seek details on this development, but the company is yet to respond.
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Thursday, 04 June 2020 10:10
Home Affairs' new biometric system to monitor borders goes live
A new biometric identity system built by Unisys and IDEMIA for the Home Affairs Department, for use in securing the country's borders, has gone live, the two companies who built the system say.
The Enterprise Biometric Identification Services is based on Unisys Stealth multi-factor identity management and authentication solution, and uses IDEMIA's facial and fingerprint recognition algorithms.
The system will be used to match facial images and fingerprints of those, like visa applicants and citizenship applicants, who seek to travel to Australia.
The contract for the system was signed in March 2018 and was said to be worth $44 million at the time. Unisys also built and supported the previous biometrics matching system for the last 12 years.
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CBA targets abusive messages through online banking
Paul Smith Technology editor
Jun 4, 2020 – 10.23am
Commonwealth Bank has enacted new rules to close accounts of customers it says have been using its online banking services as a messaging platform to harass and intimidate other users.
In an announcement on Thursday morning the bank said it had become aware that some users of its online applications were sending small transactions to other users and using the field for a transaction description to send abusive messages, with more than 8000 customers targeted in just three months.
A three month CBA investigation found 8000 customers received abusive messages in the description field of small transactions.
It has now changed the bank's acceptable use policy to say that it will refuse transactions or could close a perpetrator’s accounts entirely.
CBA's General Manager of Community and Customer Vulnerability Catherine Fitzpatrick said the bank had conducted a three-month analysis of the problem after noticing disturbing messages in the account of a customer experiencing domestic and family violence.
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Advent Partners taps ex-Telstra exec for GP software investment
Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Tim Boyd
Jun 4, 2020 – 3.30pm
Melbourne-based buyout firm Advent Partners has secured its "healthtech" target; medical practice software company Medtech.
Advent will buy a controlling stake in the trans-Tasman business and plans to instal former Telstra Health general manager Geoff Sayer –who also held senior positions at HealthLink and MedicalDirector – as its new chief executive officer. Street Talk foreshadowed the looming deal last week.
Medtech was founded 30 years ago and is a provider of SaaS practice management software to doctors and allied health operatives in Australia and New Zealand.
The company has about 18,000 practices on its books and its software is used for core practice management and administration, SMS reminders to patients, cloud hosting and integrations with third-party providers.
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Ambulance care summaries to be sent electronically to GPs for patients treated in the community
Approximately one in six people who receive ambulance care are managed in the community without requiring transfer to a medical facility. In these cases, the patient receives a handwritten Ambulance Care Summary (ACS) Advice Sheet, with a code which they, or their general practitioner, can use to access their full ACS report online*. However, in many cases this information "slips through the cracks"
The RNZCGP reports that from 19th June†, 2020 St John and Wellington Free Ambulance services will send an electronic ACS to a patient's general practitioner, even when the patient is not transported to a medical facility (including patients who are deceased). The ACS includes the history, details of the clinical problem, treatment and recommendations provided to the patient. It will be transferred directly into the practice's patient management system via Healthlink.
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https://www.hinz.org.nz/news/509597/GPs-flock-to-NZePS.htm
GPs flock to NZePS
Tuesday, 2 June 2020
eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
More GPs have started using the NZ Electronic Prescription Service since the arrival of Covid-19, as signed up for the service since it first became available in 2013.
Ministry of Health figures show that 700 practices are now using the online service, compared with 293 in December 2019 and just 137 in December 2018.
Around 300 GPs signed up in April alone, meaning 70 percent of practices in New Zealand are now sending prescriptions electronically to pharmacies and 97 percent of pharmacies are using NZePS and able to receive them.
In April 2020, more than a third of all prescriptions were sent via the electronic service, a significant jump from just 12 percent in March last year.
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https://www.hinz.org.nz/news/509596/Sustaining-change-in-electronic-prescribing.htm
Sustaining change in electronic prescribing
Tuesday, 2 June 2020
eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
Canterbury has expanded use of its eReferral service under Covid-19 lockdown to allow GPs, hospitals and other providers to send electronic prescriptions directly to pharmacies. Now it’s working on integrations and making the change sustainable.
Electronic ordering and prescribing have become critical to the ability of health providers to continue to provide care during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In order to stem the spread of the virus and keep people safe at home, general practices and other community services have rapidly switched to a digital first approach when caring for patients.
Hospital outpatient appointments have also engaged with telehealth in numbers never seen previously.
But implementing telehealth is not simply about choosing a video conferencing tool, to be effective it needs essential services such as ordering tests and writing prescriptions to also be available online.
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https://www.miragenews.com/new-cpd-module-to-support-pharmacist-shared-medicines-list/
New CPD module to support pharmacist shared medicines list
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia 05/06/2020
The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) has developed a dedicated CPD module in partnership with the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA), equipping pharmacists and pharmacy staff with training on clinical documentation and use of the Pharmacist shared medicines list (PSML).
The PSML is a new clinical document type supported by the My Health Record System and contains detailed information about medicines a patient is known to be taking.
The list includes both prescription and non-prescription medicines, including ‘over-the-counter medicines and complementary medicines such as vitamins and herbal products and can only be prepared and uploaded to a patients My Health Record by a pharmacist.
PSA National President Associate Professor Chris Freeman said the delivery of information, education and awareness for pharmacists will help ensure the successful implementation of the PSML.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/dta-wraps-up-digital-id-pilot-on-mygov-548747
DTA wraps up digital ID pilot on myGov
By Justin Hendry on Jun 2, 2020 6:50AM
Takes stock as myGovID identities near 1.3m.
The Digital Transformation Agency has completed a month-long pilot of the federal government’s new digital identity credential on the myGov online services portal.
The pilot, which came to an end last week, saw a small group of users authenticate using the Australia Taxation Office’s myGovID app instead of the portal’s existing two-factor system.
myGovID allows citizens to create a digital identity that can be reused across a range of online services and will be the government’s go-to identity credential moving forward.
It currently works like a digital equivalent of the 100 point ID on a selected number of services, verifying identity documents like passports, driver’s licences and Medicare cards in real-time.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/son-of-mygov-platform-build-price-climbs-again-548863
Son-of-myGov platform build price climbs again
By Justin Hendry on Jun 2, 2020 5:30PM
Deloitte gets another $3.5m.
A multi-million dollar contract with Deloitte for the government’s new Facebook-inspired digital service platform has climbed for the second time in less than a month after briefly disappearing from view last week.
The value of the seven-month deal for the beta build of the government’s new digital experience platform (GOVDXP) jumped from $19.5 million to $23 million on Tuesday, just three weeks after the contract more than doubled in value.
Deloitte has been busy developing the platform - which is expected to eventually replace the existing myGov portal with a single, tailored view of citizen’s interactions with the government - since it was handed an initial $1 million to build the initial prototype in February.
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Friday, 05 June 2020 12:09
GreyScan, University of Tasmania collaborate to develop COVID-19 environment mobile trace detection tool
Australian technology company GreyScan is partnering with the University of Tasmania to develop a mobile trace detection tool to "rapidly and accurately detect" coronavirus and other surface viruses in the environment.
GreyScan - which was formed out of the Grey Innovation Group of companies - said on Friday that the project involved the "use of the science of trace detection" to provide proof-of-concept for a “world first” mobile virus detection device (GreyScan’s TVD-1) through laboratory research that will develop the chemistry needed to identify SARS-CoV-2 in the field.
The initial study is supported by $260,000 in co-funding from GreyScan and the CSIRO Innovation Connections Grant scheme.
GreyScan Chief Executive Officer Samantha Ollerton said the research represented the first step towards developing the TVD-1, which could be used to detect the virus in airports, public transportation systems and places of mass gatherings, as well as being deployed in the testing of people.
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Friday, 05 June 2020 11:14
Southern Cross team develops tech to heal wounds faster without stitches
Scientists from the Southern Cross University have developed new technology that may be able to heal wounds in days, rather than weeks, without the need for stitches.
The Rapid Repair wound dressing technology changes the way molecules repair themselves, enabling skin to heal quicker, and potentially removing the need for stitches, staples of glue in many cases.
The project is led by Dr Rosemary Craig and includes biomedical researcher Dr Nedeljka Rosic and business consultant Gerard Criss. They recently presented the technology to a NASA's Ignite the Night iTech Event panel online, and won the round to move into the August semi-finals.
Dr Craig got the idea while recovering from a surgical procedure, when she developed a device that appeared to heal full thickness skin cuts much sooner than usual.
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NBN build '99 per cent complete'
The company building the National Broadband Network says the network build is 99 per cent complete, with the company reaching its end of financial year targets a month early.
In a statement to The Australian, communications minister Paul Fletcher said that 11.5 million homes and business could now access the NBN network, with the build almost fully complete despite recent bushfires, floods and COVID-19.
The remaining 1 per cent of addresses, described as 'complex connections' such as culturally significant and heritage sites, will be completed as soon as practicable he said, with bushfires and the coronavirus delaying some connections. Some 80 per cent of those would be completed by the end of 2020, the minister said.
“The resilience the NBN has shown in recent months, with more people working and studying at home, underlines the network’s strength and adaptability. The NBN has cemented its place as the nation’s digital backbone for productivity, connectivity and social cohesion," Mr Fletcher said.
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Vocus says NBN pricing still not fit for purpose
By Zoe Samios
June 5, 2020 — 12.00am
Vocus Group chief executive Kevin Russell says NBN Co needs to put the extra $4.1 billion in debt finance it secured last month into fixing its wholesale price structure and upgrading the National Broadband Network.
"There is a pricing structure to the NBN that is not fit for purpose," Mr Russell said.
"How the NBN prices in the market is variable in nature which doesn’t match up with fixed price subscriptions." "The second question is there is a need to upgrade the performance of parts of the NBN network. Both of those need to be addressed and both of those will require funding flexibility to address,” he added.
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Friday, 05 June 2020 01:07
Telecommunications customer satisfaction resilient in ‘turbulent times’
Despite significant impacts on telecommunications services and infrastructure - including the impact of the COVID-19 crisis - telco customer satisfaction has remained steady over the past three quarters, according to a new survey published by Australian telecommunications industry peak body, Communications Alliance.
The most recent three waves of the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction survey - undertaken on a regular basis since 2013 - and published on Thursday by Communications Alliance (CA), took place in October 2019, January 2020 and April 2020, and reflects the impacts of the floods and bushfires on telecommunications infrastructure, and the increased network demand generated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The survey found that the percentage of telecommunications customers surveyed who were satisfied/neutral about their overall customer experience remained steady. Having been 83-84% in the 4 quarters prior, it was 83%, 82%, and 83% for Oct 2019, Jan 2020 and April 2020, respectively.
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Thursday, 04 June 2020 11:56
Increased broadband demand pushes NBN satellite connections past 100,000 mark
More than 100,000 Australian homes and businesses now receiving fast broadband through the National Broadband Network’s the Sky Muster satellite service, with increasing demand for the service as new customers are added to the network.
The Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, Paul Fletcher said on Thursday that Government welcomed the NBN milestone showing that the demand for NBN Sky Muster services has been increasing in recent months, with a new customer in Exmouth, Western Australia taking the number of Sky Muster customers above 100,000.
“The NBN Sky Muster satellites are a critical component of the NBN providing fast broadband to people living across Australia’s sparsely populated 7.7 million square kilometre landmass. They deliver connectivity to the most difficult to reach locations where other broadband offerings are often limited,” Minister Fletcher said.
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NBN extends data giveaway
NBN Co is extending the extra capacity it's giving for free to providers until August, with Australia's internet usage remaining high even as COVID-19 lockdowns lift.
In March the company first announced it would give up to 40 per cent more capacity to retails where required, so they could handle increased COVID-19 related demand.
On Thursday NBN Co said it would extend that offer until August 19, and that more than $40 million worth of capacity credit had been doled out since the beginning of the program.
Peak downloads are still about 12 per cent higher than their pre-COVID levels.
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https://itwire.com/telecoms-and-nbn/nbn-co-extends-internet-data-capacity-offer-to-august.html
Thursday, 04 June 2020 11:19
NBN Co extends Internet data capacity offer to August
The operator of the National Broadband Network NBN Co has extended its offer to provide Internet providers with additional data capacity at no extra cost until August in a move it says supports national broadband needs, as social restrictions are starting to ease across Australia.
The NBN offer on extra capacity has been extended to 19 August this year and will have run for more than five months at completion in August, resulting in NBN Co “providing more than $40 million so far in financial relief to Internet providers and helped support increased levels of data use during COVID-19”.
NBN Co has also extended its offer to increase download data limits for its standard Sky Muster service to 90GB of data on average until the end of August. The offer, which came into effect at the end of March, provides an additional 45GB for each standard Sky Muster service at no additional cost to Internet providers.
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Thursday, 04 June 2020 11:56
Increased broadband demand pushes NBN satellite connections past 100,000 mark
More than 100,000 Australian homes and businesses now receiving fast broadband through the National Broadband Network’s the Sky Muster satellite service, with increasing demand for the service as new customers are added to the network.
The Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, Paul Fletcher said on Thursday that Government welcomed the NBN milestone showing that the demand for NBN Sky Muster services has been increasing in recent months, with a new customer in Exmouth, Western Australia taking the number of Sky Muster customers above 100,000.
“The NBN Sky Muster satellites are a critical component of the NBN providing fast broadband to people living across Australia’s sparsely populated 7.7 million square kilometre landmass. They deliver connectivity to the most difficult to reach locations where other broadband offerings are often limited,” Minister Fletcher said.
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Wednesday, 03 June 2020 11:43
TasmaNet rolls out NBN business enterprise ethernet to Tasmanian schools
Tasmanian communications provider TasmaNet has helped Catholic Education Tasmania (CET) overcome slow and unreliable Internet in remote areas with the rollout of NBN business enterprise ethernet across the State.
TasmaNet says the high-speed Internet service over dedicated fibre can deliver speeds of nearly 1 Gigabit per second for both uploads and downloads, even to remote schools, with 36 of 38 CET schools so far reaping the benefits.
According to TasmaNet the enterprise ethernet solution has improved CET’s ability to centrally manage 26 schools’ connections across its complex, multi-site network in regional Tasmania - and the organisation is now able to roll out updated enterprise, cloud-based systems for student information and finance, with the same benefits available for every school.
“Importantly, being on business nbn Enterprise Ethernet helps level the playing field for students at CET schools,” TasmaNet said.
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Tuesday, 02 June 2020 16:01
NBN Co admits to misleading Canberra consumers over need to move to NBN
NBN Co, the operator of the National Broadband Network, has admitted to Australia’s competition watchdog, the ACCC, that it misled Canberra consumers who lived in areas where the NBN was operating into thinking that their telephone and Internet services supplied over the TransACT Network would be disconnected if they did not move to the NBN.
NBN Co has admitted in a court-enforceable undertaking to the ACCC that between January and 11 July 2019, it sent multiple letters to consumers and businesses across Canberra stating that they needed to move to the NBN or they would face the prospect of losing services.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the ACCC said this advice was incorrect for more than 20,000 premises connected to the TransACT VDSL2 Network.
As part of the undertaking, NBN Co has committed to reimburse the early termination costs paid by consumers and businesses that moved to NBN Co before 10 July 2019, and then chose to return to the TransACT Network.
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NBN Co must pay TPG, Canberra VDSL2 users for disconnection notice bungle
By Ry Crozier on Jun 2, 2020 4:19PM
Mistakenly told users to switch to NBN.
NBN Co must compensate TPG and a subset of customers of TransACT’s VDSL2 network in Canberra that it mistakenly told would be disconnected from the internet if they did not switch to NBN.
The network builder made a court-enforceable undertaking [pdf] to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) after sending over 20,000 households connected to TransACT’s VDSL2 network a final disconnection notice mid last year.
While most internet users in Australia must move from existing services to the NBN once the latter becomes available, there are exemptions in areas that are already served by certain types of fixed-line infrastructure.
The incident made headlines last year when the notices caused confusion for residents, who can remain on VDSL2 if they wish to.
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ACCC threatens ‘high penalties’ as NBN Co admits it ‘misled customers’
NBN Co has admitted to misleading Canberra consumers that their phone lines would be disconnected unless they moved to the NBN, according to Australia's consumer watchdog.
The ACCC alleged that between January and July 2019, NBN Co sent more than 20,000 letters to consumers and businesses in Canberra using the TransACT VDSL2 Network, declaring they needed to move to the NBN or lose their phone and internet services.
In a court enforceable undertaking announced on Tuesday, NBN Co admitted to breaching consumer law and said it would reimburse early termination costs paid by consumers and businesses that moved to the NBN 10 July 2019, and then chose to return to the TransACT Network.
It will also publish corrective notices in newspapers, Facebook and its own website, and will keep a voluntary register on its website of competing networks that will continue to operate alongside the NBN.
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Tuesday, 02 June 2020 11:47
Government lauds ‘critical role’ of NBN in fight against Covid 19
The Federal Government says the growing shift to use of online services by Australians during the COVID 19 pandemic demonstrates the critical role of the National Broadband Network (NBN) in boosting the nation’s productivity, connectivity and social cohesion.
The Government welcomed the new research showing that “the health and wellbeing of Australians is increasingly supported by digital services” and said “the access Australians have to broadband has played a significant role connecting people to each other and to essential services”.
As reported by iTWire, almost half (48%) of survey respondents who had a medical consultation in the past two months have had a telehealth consultation, while the number of respondents 65 and over saying that their household has accessed telehealth services doubled from one in eight (13 per cent) to one in four (27 per cent).
And around two thirds (63 per cent) of all respondents said they are now open to more frequently using telehealth services after COVID-19.
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Tuesday, 02 June 2020 11:14
Australians increasingly shift online to access services during COVID-19
Lifestyle habits of Australians have undergone a major shift since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, with record numbers of Australians exploring online substitutes for everything from access to health support services to exercise, skills training and entertainment, according to new survey by NBN Co, the operators of the National Broadband Network.
The survey - which investigated Internet usage habits before and during social distancing - was conducted by Venture Insights and commissioned by NBN Co, and found increased demand for key online activities, with 48% of respondents who have needed to access a health service during the crisis doing so using a telehealth service and almost two thirds (63%) of respondents open to considering using telehealth in the future.
NBN
Co says the change in healthcare habits has occurred across age demographics.
The number of over 65s accessing telehealth services doubled from 1 in 8 (13%)
to 1 in 4 (27%), and “the future looks bright for telehealth with those aged
25-34 most open to accessing these services in the future”.
The survey reveals that access to online services has played a significant role
in keeping Australians connected with 84% of respondents who have worked from
home during the crisis have beaten social isolation by connecting with family
through video calls.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/aussie-broadband-signs-2300-users-to-cheaper-gigabit-nbn-plans-548847
Aussie Broadband signs 2300 users to cheaper gigabit NBN plans
By Ry Crozier on Jun 2, 2020 11:23AM
First indication of demand for new affordable high-speed tier.
Aussie Broadband has signed up almost 2300 customers to NBN Co’s new gigabit plans since they launched at the end of last week, providing the first indication of demand for the services.
NBN Co launched new pricing for its up to 1000/50 Mbps residential service on Friday last week.
The services can be used across the fibre-to-the-premises footprint and - at least initially - on up to 7 percent of the hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) network.
Aussie Broadband is offering up to 1000/50 Mbps plans for $149 a month. It said today that “over 2289 new and existing customers have taken up, or upgraded to, the new tier”.
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Friday, 29 May 2020 12:03
NBN Co boosts broadband network speeds to satisfy ‘customer demands’ for higher speeds
National Broadband Network operator NBN Co has launched new higher speed Internet plans in response to what it says has been strong demand for higher speed services from new customers. The plans include a new “close to” 1Gbps service.
NBN Co said on Friday that to further improve residential customers’ NBN experience, it is “overprovisioning the downlink component” of the Home Fast and Home Superfast products by around 10 – 15%, where possible - with the exception of the new Home Ultrafast speed tiers.
“NBN Co is planning to overprovision most other existing wholesale fixed line speed tiers starting from between June and August 2020 (with the exception of the new Home Ultrafast speed tiers),” NBN Co said.
“The provision of additional download capacity at the wholesale layer is designed to accommodate protocol overhead, which includes the code used to help ensure the correct delivery of data packets, that otherwise impact a customer’s broadband speed.
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NASA resumes human spaceflight from US soil with historic SpaceX launch
By Joey Roulette on Jun 1, 2020 12:01AM
Two Americans in orbit from Florida.
SpaceX, the private rocket company of billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, launched two Americans into orbit from Florida on Saturday in a landmark mission marking the first spaceflight of NASA astronauts from US soil in nine years.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 3:22 p.m. EDT (19:22 GMT), launching Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on a 19-hour ride aboard the company's newly designed Crew Dragon capsule bound for the International Space Station.
Just before liftoff, Hurley said, “SpaceX, we’re go for launch. Let’s light this candle,” paraphrasing the famous comment uttered on the launch pad in 1961 by Alan Shepard, the first American flown into space.
Minutes after launch, the first-stage booster rocket of the Falcon 9 separated from the upper second-stage rocket and flew itself back to Earth to descend safely onto a landing platform floating in the Atlantic.
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Enjoy!
David.
