New fibre cable to link Australia and US - Internet Australia

A fibre optic cable linking Australia, New Zealand and the US is to be built for an estimated $US400 million ($A443.58 million).

The high network efficiency, 13,600km Pacific Fibre cable will be built jointly by Pacific Fibre Ltd and Asian telecommunication services provider Pacnet, both companies said in a statement on Wednesday.

The cable will land in Sydney, Auckland and Los Angeles and will be ready for service in 2013.

The companies will co-own the cable and share responsibility for the cable supply contract,operations and maintenance costs.

They said they would begin selecting a vendor to build the cable shortly.

Pacnet chief executive Bill Barney said the investment was an important part of the company's strategy to expand its subsea cable infrastructure into Australasia.

He said the cable would support Australia's proposed national broadband network (NBN).

"As Australia and New Zealand look towards deploying national broadband networks that will raise broadband penetration and access speeds, this new cable that we are building with Pacific Fibre will deliver the enhanced international connectivity that is essential to support these broadband initiatives," he said.

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iiNet pleased about agreement between government and Telstra (Internet Australia)

Internet Service Provider iiNet has recently stated that it welcomes the agreement between the federal government, NBN Co, and Telstra in connection with the National Broadband Network.

It was recently announced that an agreement had finally been reached between the federal government, NBN Co, and the communications giant Telstra with regards to the National Broadband Network. Internet Service Provider iiNet has stated that it is pleased that this agreement has been reached, adding that this will not only benefit consumers but will benefit the industry as a whole.

iiNet’s Chief Executive Officer Michael Malone said: “The NBN is the future of broadband in Australia and iiNet has always believed it will be better served by having Telstra involved rather than not. The NBN is the most significant reform to the Australian telecommunications sector in decades and will ensure all Australians will have access to fast, affordable and competitive broadband.”

He added: “From our initial examination of yesterday’s announcement, the agreement is consistent with the Federal Government’s earlier commitments of an open access network, structural separation and regulatory reform.”

Malone went on to state: “We are well placed to continue to grow under this new and exciting regime. We are NBN-ready and have already signed up our first NBN customers in Tasmania. As a market leader and innovator, we will now be able to compete on a truly open high speed network. Our customers will be the big beneficiaries of the NBN and today’s announcement brings those benefits closer.”

Source – iiNet

'Outright lie' that iiNet supports filter

"This is a policy that will be going ahead," he said.

But that drew an angry retort from iiNet today.

Chief executive Michael Malone said: "We do not and have never supported such a system.

"The proposed filter is fundamentally flawed, will not achieve its stated purpose and simply will not work.

"It is fundamentally bad policy. No western country opertaes a mandatory filter like this. This proposal lines Australia up with Burma, Saudi Arabia and China, and has rightly attracted criticism from technical experts, the industry, child safety groups and even the US government."

While iiNet had been involved in the government's consultation process, "any claim that our participation... is support for the government's policy is an outright lie", Mr Malone said.

"Our position is unchanged. This proposed filter is a waste of money that should be instead spent on additional law enforcement and education resources," he said.

The filter legislation is not expected to go before Parliament until later in the year.

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