It was revealed in Senate Estimates this week that Gungahlin’s growth has caught Telstra on the hop. When asked why 60% of Gungahlin RIM boxes were too small to house ADSL broadband enabling technology (“minimuxes”), Telstra replied that the suburb is “atypical”, containing a large number of RIMs that are already filled to capacity. Telstra [...]
Monthly Archives: May 2003
Alston’s dot.com fantasy: $4M is just the start
The huge cost blow-out to the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts $4 million website was the result of a quixotic attempt by the Department to commercialise it, a Senate Estimates committee has heard. Departmental representatives explained how a plan to sell the website technology to other departments and agencies led to massive [...]
Sports Commission should be tough on sports too
Under questioning in Senate Estimates, the Australian Sports Drug Agency (ASDA) said some sports had not fully complied with the Government’s Anti-doping assessment program for National Sporting Organisations (NSO’s), however ASDA did not reveal which sport/sports. Surprisingly, the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) contradicted the ASDA evidence, saying in their view there were no sports that [...]
$2 billion: the cost of Telstra’s neglect
Telstra has revealed that it would cost $2 billion to replace the pair gain (line splitting) technology it has used throughout Australia. This line splitting technology was used by Telstra to reduce its capital expenditure. Unfortunately, “pair gains” mean that over 1.2 million Australians have slower dial-up internet connection speeds as a result. They also [...]
Australian company wins Government IT outsourcing contract! – Am I dreaming? Pinch me!
I congratulate Volante Systems on being awarded the contract to provide information technology equipment, maintenance and onsite support to Senators’ and Members’ Electorate Offices across Australia. At last, after 7 years of the Howard Government, an Australian information technology small to medium enterprise (SME) has been considered for a Government contract, something rarer than a [...]
Alston and Telstra: working together to give you slower internet
The Minister for Information Technology, Senator Richard Alston today told Australian internet users frustrated by slow dial-up speeds that they will have to keep waiting to be guaranteed even minimal internet speeds. The Estens Report recommended that the Government require Telstra to guarantee a minimum internet speed of 19.2 kilobits per second, but Senator Alston’s [...]
Canberra’s own and world’s best – Michael Milton awarded Laureus
I congratulate Michael Milton, champion Paralympic skier and Canberra local, who was last night named the 2003 World’s Best Athlete with a Disability at the prestigious Laureus awards in Monte Carlo. Michael Milton is an inspirational role model for athletes around the world, and his story is one steeped in determination, hard work and proof [...]
Senator Kemp and friends out of touch again
At today’s Sport Needs More Women forum, Minister for Sport, Senator Rod Kemp, demonstrated just how out of touch he and his colleagues are with both the sporting community and the broader issues facing women generally. In opening the forum, Minister Kemp stated that “Women’s sport needs to be well resourced” and yet all we [...]
Canberra Capitals to represent Australia at World Cup in Russia
Congratulations to the Canberra Capitals, who have been invited to compete at the inaugural FIBA Women’s World Cup against seven other teams in Russia between 14-19 October 2003. As reigning League Champions, they will be representing the Australian Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL). I know that the Capitals will not only do Canberra proud, but [...]
ICT gets nothing from the 2003 budget
Yesterday’s budget shows that the Coalition has no vision for the ICT sector and is not interested in creating high-wage, high-skilled jobs for the future. There was not even any reference to any of the recommendations contained in either the Framework for the Future report, or the Broadband Advisory Group Report, which is further evidence [...]
