Telstra drops Big Pond brand, launches WAP bankingTelstra has dropped its Big Pond Internet service branding in favour of a new all encompassing portal site, Telstra.com.
Combining Telstra's existing Internet service, Big Pond, with other online initiatives including the White and Yellow pages, Telstra.com provides customers with online information including news, personalised content and applications, as well as Telstra services such as billing and payments.
Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://www2.idg.com.au/atug.nsf/date/NT000038B2BT weighs in with lightweight satellite systemBT has launched a portable satellite communications system with support for a mix of data, Internet, voice and video services in a lap top package weighing less than 4 kg.
The company said its Satelan system takes less than five minutes to set up and can be used almost anywhere in the world.
Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://www2.idg.com.au/atug.nsf/date/NT000038CEWAP Forum predicts 80 million WAP users next yearAn estimated 80 million GSM WAP (wireless application protocol) enabled phones will be in the hands of global consumers by March next year, according to a member of the WAP Forum .
The WAP Forum originally forecast 80 million users would be reached by 2000, but due to delays by handset manufacturers to ship WAP enabled phones, Q1 is a more realistic timeframe, Staffan Pehrson, Ericsson WAP Forum member said.
Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://www2.idg.com.au/atug.nsf/date/NT000038C6AT&T outage disrupts e-businessAT&T'S major outage of dial-up Internet access last week, which pointed up the fragility of some Internet connectivity methods, may have implications not only for remote workers who rely on WorldNet service, but also for corporate adoption of AT&T's virtual private network offerings.
AT&T's WorldNet service on December 1 was crippled - for the better part of a business day - because of faulty routing information provided by another ISP, company officials confirmed.
Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://www2.idg.com.au/atug.nsf/date/NT0000388EE-commerce tariffs key issue at WTOThe World Trade Organisation (WTO), which met in Seattle last week, was expected to extend the moratorium on tariffs for cross-border electronic transmissions, keeping e-commerce free of a regulatory burden that could stunt its growth.
While tariffs are paid on products physically shipped to foreign countries, the WTO moratorium - established last year - prevents countries from applying tariffs to goods that arrive electronically, such as software, music and videos.
Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://www2.idg.com.au/atug.nsf/date/NT00003892Seven applicants bid for 1.8Ghz spectrumThe Australian Communications Authority has received seven applications for the auction of spectrum licences in the 1.8GHz band.
Hutchinson Telecommunications, One.Tel, Cable & Wireless Optus, Primus, Siemens, Telstra and Vodafone each lodged applications for the auction which is expected to be held in January next year.
Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://www2.idg.com.au/atug.nsf/date/NT000038A6Draft mobile number portability framework released for commentThe Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF) is hoping to be in a position to propose a suitable timeframe for the implementation of mobile number portability (MNP) by January, officials claim.
After just two months of development, ACIF yesterday released the draft Framework for the Introduction of Mobile Number Portability for public comment.
Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://www2.idg.com.au/atug.nsf/date/NT000038AATelcos step into the ring Telecommunications giants Telstra and AAPT are facing up in Federal Court this week in a $700 million damages claim and counter-claim.
Telstra, which claims AAPT owes it more than $123 million for services provided between 1994 and 1997, initiated the proceedings, which are expected to last until late next year.
Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://www2.idg.com.au/atug.nsf/date/NT000038AEFree ISPs to grow in US, says JupiterBy 2003, more than 13 million US households will be accessing the Internet through free ISPs, according to a new study.
Out of that number, 8.8 million will use a free ISP as their primary connection to the Internet, making up 13 per cent of the US online population, according to the study, released by Jupiter Communications.
Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://www2.idg.com.au/atug.nsf/date/NT000038B6Microsoft makes the move to WAP with MMEMicrosoft formally threw its hat into the WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) phone market yesterday with the announcement of its Microsoft Mobile Explorer (MME) software platform for Internet-enabled wireless devices.
MME is basically a repackaging of the company's microbrowser and Windows CE operating system for mobile phones, said Rebecca Thompson, the product manager for Microsoft's productivity appliances division. But it also sets the stage for Microsoft's joint venture with L.M. Ericsson Telephone -- also announced yesterday -- to develop and market wireless Internet software and products.
Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://www2.idg.com.au/atug.nsf/date/NT000038BEMotorola, China team up on 3G mobile servicesMotorola has announced a deal that will let the company tap in to the burgeoning brainpower of China's academic community to develop third-generation (3G) mobile data technology.
Motorola's Network Solutions Sector (NSS) will cooperate with China's Research Institute of Telecommunications Transmission (RITT) to better understand what the Chinese market demands from 3G wireless networks and devices.
Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://www2.idg.com.au/atug.nsf/date/NT000038CALucent, Nortel on Telecom NZ's CDMA ShortlistTelecom New Zealand expects to make a decision by Christmas on the strategic partner for its new $NZ160 million ($US81.5 million) to $NZ200 million CDMA (code division multiple access) cellular network, according to spokesman Glen Sowry.
The short-listed partners are Lucent Technologies and Nortel Networks. Telecom is still in negotiation with them, Sowry says. The final price of the network will depend on the amount of risk accepted by the successful vendor.
Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://www2.idg.com.au/atug.nsf/date/NT000038D2AT&T taps execs in reorganisation Forget about frame relay, ATM and Internet services all being housed in different organisations at AT&T.
As part of a wide-ranging reorganisation, AT&T chairman Michael Armstrong this week tapped two executives to head up a newly converged business unit handling all the company's enterprise networking services.
Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://www2.idg.com.au/atug.nsf/date/NT000038D6Ericsson, Microsoft joint venture causes stirThis week's news that Microsoft and Ericsson have formed a joint venture to develop and market wireless Internet software and products sent shock waves through the business and technology communities.
Following the announcement of the deal Ericsson was forced to release a separate statement saying it remains committed to Symbian. Symbian is the partnership between Psion, Nokia, Motorola and Matsushita Electrical Industrial founded to promote Psion's EPOC operating system for wireless information devices.
Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://www2.idg.com.au/atug.nsf/date/NT000038DATelstra launches portable satellite ISDN serviceTelstra yesterday launched a portable ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) satellite communications service in Asia, the company said in a statement.
The MiniSat multimedia system is designed to give mobile users in remote locations the ability to communicate at a data transfer rate of 64K bits per second. The system is initially expected to be used in industries like broadcast media, oil and gas, mining, aid relief, and offshore manufacturing, the company said.
Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://www2.idg.com.au/atug.nsf/date/NT000038C2