NBN deal is worth $300m to DY company

Posted by . , Tuesday, January 18, 2011 11:26 PM

DEE Why company Prysmian has been awarded a contract of up to $300 million to supply fibre-optic cables for the National Broadband Network.

The new $43 billion network will provide internet speeds 100 times faster than those currently used by most households and businesses and its wireless and satellite technology will be able to deliver 12 megabits per second or more to people living in remote parts of rural Australia.

However, the contract has been awarded in an overwhelmingly Liberal Party-voting area, where the Federal Opposition has been strongly opposed to the construction of the new network.

Warringah MP and Federal Opposition leader Tony Abbott has opposed the network from the outset and on Tuesday told a press conference the Federal Government cannot afford it in the wake of the Queensland floods.

“The National Broadband Network is a luxury that Australia cannot now afford,” he said.

“The one thing you don’t do is redo your bathroom when your roof has just been blown off.”

The network will provide a high-speed internet network for Australia, in line with the leading international standards such as networks in Korea and Japan.

According to the Federal Government, every person and business in Australia, no matter their location, will have access to affordable, fast broadband at their fingertips.

For the Dee Why company, the five-year contract will mean job certainty for about 125 existing staff, with up to 50 extra jobs to be created, in areas including transport, logistics and training.

Prysmian was the leading supplier of ribbon cable to the Verizon FiOS project in the US, a project of similar scale to the NBN.

Source http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/nbn-deal-is-worth-300m-to-dy-company/

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Flock to Facebook for flood updates

Posted by . , Wednesday, January 12, 2011 2:53 AM

Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have brought together Queenslanders hunting for up-to-the-minute information on the devastating floods afflicting the sunshine state.

As Queensland Police work around the clock to keep the public informed on the movement of flood waters, they have also turned to these popular sites to publish updates and combat myths and rumours, as citizens post photos, updates and words of encouragement to one another.

Although Queensland is issuing information through its State Disaster Management Service website, some web services have been disrupted with Brisbane City Council's flood flag map unable to cope with the high demand for updates on road closures and evacuations.
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As a consequence, Facebook and Twitter have become a crucial lifeline as Queensland Police publish regular bulletins about the flood waters, warnings of road closures, and evacuation procedures.

The official Queensland Police Service Facebook page is also serving as a noticeboard for those with local information.

On the page, desperate requests for new information on affected areas are being answered by those with firsthand knowledge, while others have offered lodgings to evacuees, and posted messages of support and advice on everything from which bridges are closed to safe locations for leaving evacuated pets.

“I have no money to give. I do have a dry house and a spare room (my 3 yr old will bunk in with us and you can have her queen bed),” wrote one on the QPS page.

The same official police updates are also being relayed via Twitter, which many private citizens and media outlets have retweeted, adding their own comments and photographs of the unfolding disaster under various hashtag categories including #qldfloods #thebigwet and #bnefloods.

Posts such as: "Been told to go home from Eagle St office," and "People going nuts swarming grocery stores to 'stock up,"' give outsiders a small glimpse into events as they unfold. Other posts caused unnecessary panic in the afternoon after relaying false information, leaving Queensland Police to undertake a mythbusting exercise.

Some of the false reports included a panicked message that Brisbane CBD was being evacuated and the public transport system closed down.

Other Twitter users also attempted to stem the panic.

“People saying 45 minutes until Brisbane CBD underwater! Please stop causing unnecessary panic,” wrote one.

"Incorrect tweets about Brisbane transport and airport closing have caused needless panic. Please be responsible", said another.

In spite of the confusion, most tweets that were posted sought to help rather than hinder with some even offering neighbours free access to their WiFi networks, according to technology website itnews.com.au.

Flooding has also affected some landline and mobile telephone services in parts of Queensland. “One of the biggest issues we're facing is the damage caused by flood water. In some cases we simply cannot gain access to sites to repair damage and will have to wait for flood waters to recede so we can safely access some parts of the network,” said Telstra on its website.

Source http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/flock-to-facebook-for-flood-updates-20110111-19mfr.html

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9,000 get on the Vodafone class action bus

Posted by . , Wednesday, January 5, 2011 12:12 AM

Local law firm Piper Alderman today claimed to have collected the details of some 9,000 customers who were interested in taking part in a class action lawsuit against mobile telco VHA over its troubled Vodafone network hiccups over the past few months.

The firm only called for registrations of interest early last week, in the wake of enduring public interest in VHA’s problems, spurred by online forums such as Vodafail.com. Since that time, the company has apologised several times over the problems and committed to upgrading its Vodafone network and targeting trouble spots.

But class action veteran Piper Alderman seems determined to push ahead.

“To date, approximately 9,000 Vodafone customers have registered their interest,” it stated in an update to its web site today. “In the next five to ten business days, we will be sending group members a request for further information relating to their specific circumstances. Upon receipt of this information, we will process it and take the matter forward.”

In addition, the firm may extend the action to customers of VHA’s ’3′ brand.

“Due to the number of enquiries we have received from 3 customers, we will investigate potential claims against 3. When we ask you for further information, we will ask you to identify yourself as either a 3 customer or a Vodafone customer,” Piper Alderman wrote.

One key issue in the firm’s prosecution of its case against VHA will be obtaining what the legal profession refers to as ‘litigation funding’. On its site, Piper Alderman noted it would need to apply for such funding, which would be used to fund the legal costs of taking a case to court. Such funds are often reimbursed by the target of a lawsuit in the case that the prosecution is awarded what the court calls “costs”.

“Usually, upon a successful outcome, the litigation funder will be entitled to reimbursement of the legal fees it has paid plus a percentage of any compensation to which group members are entitled,” wrote the firm. “This commission is usually in the range of 25 to 40 percent of that compensation If litigation funding is obtained successfully, you will be asked to enter into a litigation funding agreement with the funder.”

Ultimately, the firm noted the entire process could take between 12 to 24 months to achieve a result.

VHA has previously indicated it was aware of the potential lawsuit. “The most important thing we can do is to remain focused on improving our customers’ experience of our network, and keep working with our customers, individually, to understand their experience, resolve it and make it up to them,” a spokesperson said late last month.

“There’s no higher priority than making sure customers are happy with their service and I am very sorry that some have not been happy recently. We are also in contact with the ACCC and other consumer groups to advise them of what we are doing to improve network performance and service to our customers, and are keeping our customers across changes through our website.”

Source http://delimiter.com.au/2011/01/05/9000-get-on-the-vodafone-class-action-bus/

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