Category: Uncategorised

BUSINESS INSIDER, 14 November, 2017 – The boss of the National Broadband Network has revealed the government and his organisation are considering telling each customer the maximum speed that their home or business is capable of.

The result would allow customers to make more informed choices about the best plan to buy, and avoid situations like those experienced by Telstra and Optus which have been forced to refund customers for making false promises on speed.

With the retail internet providers – such as Optus, Telstra and TPG – being the “interface” to the end consumer, the NBN, as the wholesaler, has always been reluctant to publicly disclose the figures.

But as retailers continue to withhold that information, NBN chief Bill Morrow indicated his patience is running out and that intervention was being discussed.

“The government is looking at, if the retail service providers don’t volunteer to do this, the NBN actually step forward to consider [disclosure],” he said.

“It comes with mixed feelings – we don’t want to confuse the consumer more than they already are. We want the retail service providers to publish this information, quite frankly.”

Morrow told media at the company’s quarterly results briefing that, due to the unpredictable nature of the performance of copper at each premises, the exact maximum capability is not known until it’s actively connected to the NBN. But once connection takes place, the NBN can perform a “sync rate” test which provides precise data on what the connection is capable of.

That data is then passed onto the retailer, which, theoretically, is supposed to let the consumer know in order to tailor the monthly plan according to what their premise is physically capable of and the customer’s usage needs.

NBN contractor, meet customer

In another reach-out initiative from the wholesaler directly to the customer, Morrow indicated that NBN contractors and home owners would be allowed to contact each other if there are any problems or delays with their installation appointments.

Until now, retailers, as the sole face to the customer, were the only ones authorised to speak to the customer. This has led to communication bottlenecks, triggering complaints about NBN contractors not showing up without notice or customers unable to flag their unavailability, leading to a higher than acceptable rate of “missed appointments”.

“[Currently] there’s too many people involved and too many systems involved… So we’re completely revamping that to where we want the technician in the field, the third party contractor, to have direct contact with that end user,” said Morrow.

“We’re also making sure we have more availability, better training in the field, and we’re able to predict more about the actual length of the job may take so we can do our workforce management better.”

The NBN, as of the end of September, had 6.4 million Australian premises in “ready for service” and 6.1 million “ready to connect”. Almost 3 million premises had actively connected to an NBN service.

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(2017), The NBN may soon tell Australians how fast the maximum speed of their internet is, Business Insider, viewed 14 November 2017, <https://www.businessinsider.com.au/nbn-internet-maximum-speed-2017-11>.

ITWIRE, 6 November, 2017 – Hot on the heels of ACCC investigations into the NBN and the market, NBN Co has announced new initiatives for improving customer service for small businesses and the accelerated launch of NBN Co’s wholesale enterprise product.
Details on NBN Co’s wholesale enterprise product is here.

As for small businesses, NBN Co says it has a number of initiatives “set to improve the connection and issues resolution process for business on the nbn broadband access network”.

Noting how the rollout is “now more than halfway complete” and how “around 20,000 new businesses currently connecting to the nbn access network each month, we’re told the company “has developed a team dedicated to supporting the needs of Australian businesses.”

Why this team wasn’t established from the very start isn’t explained, which makes you wonder if the coffee from all those coffee machines at NBN Co has been accidentally delivered in decaffeinated format.
Indeed, it is a “newly formed team” that is “working alongside phone and internet providers to deliver an improved customer experience and develop additional wholesale product and service offerings purpose-built for businesses”.

Again, why this has only been established in 2017, long after NBN Co’s founding, is unfathomable, but it is the reality we live in. At least, at long last, such a team has been established.

Perhaps one should be established for the consumer end-user side of the business too, because if there is one already there, we certainly don’t hear much about them or from them.

So, what do NBN Co’s extremely belated business initiatives include?

Improved connection and resolution process – business connection process set to be improved with rescheduled appointments and complex orders prioritised and case managed by NBN Co and the phone and Internet provider.
Industry engagement – a new partner programme targeted at the ICT industry, which will offer training and accreditation for technology providers and local consultants to educate business customers about what they need to do to connect to the new network as well as information on applications which can support their business over fast broadband.
Tailored pricing – increased flexibility on NBN Co’s wholesale business products (NBN Co’s Traffic Class 2 product) with a new capped pricing model designed to increase competition in the market.
Business education campaign – a new integrated communications program launched this week, which aims to educate Australian businesses on how to connect as well as the impact of the NBN Co network on important business services such as EFTPOS, ATM and fax machines.
Regional business boost – introduction of wholesale fixed wireless and satellite enterprise products on the nbn access network to be launched in 2018 with the aim of helping regional businesses increase efficiencies and access new markets.
NBN Co’s chief customer officer, Business, John Simon, said: “We’ve been scaling our dedicated business team and working closely with service providers to optimise our processes and systems in order to lift the customer experience for Australian businesses connecting to the new network.

“Businesses often require a different level of service, which is why we’ve been developing custom-built wholesale product and service offerings and a targeted communications program in order to make the transition to the new network as smooth as possible.

“As the rollout continues to scale, we want to enable businesses of all sizes to embrace fast broadband and tap in to a whole range of applications such as high definition video conferencing and cloud-based tools, which were once only in the domain of larger organisations.

“Connecting a business to the new network may take some time and preparation. With the rollout set to be complete over the next three years, we recommend businesses get in touch with their phone and internet provider as soon as possible to make a plan to move their services over to the new network.

“The rollout of the NBN network is one of the most complex and ambitious initiatives to be undertaken in any telecommunications market across the world – we understand there is no silver bullet in improving the experience of people who connect to the network but we’re confident these new initiatives will boost the experience of businesses who sign-up.”

Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia (COSBOA) chief executive Peter Strong said: “In recent months, COSBOA has raised a number of concerns from our members with NBN Co regarding difficulties encountered by small business in securing reliable and affordable, high speed broadband services.

“We congratulate NBN Co on these customer service and product enhancements and believe that they will go a long way to addressing the problems being experienced by small businesses in Australia.

“COSBOA will continue to work co-operatively with NBN Co to enable small businesses in Australia to leverage the full benefits of the national investment in the NBN access network.”

More information about NBN Co’s wholesale business products and services as well as how to connect to the network is at the NBN Co website.

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(2017), NBN launches new team to improve customer experience for Australian small businesses, ITWire, viewed 6 November 2017, <https://www.itwire.com/telecoms-and-nbn/80671-nbn-launches-new-team-to-improve-customer-experience-for-australian-businesses.html>.

ITWIRE, 16 October, 2017 – The pace of the national broadband network rollout has picked up as connections hit the three million mark, but with the operator, NBN Co, cautioning that the increase in connections and activations presents new customer connection and experience issues.
NBN Co’s chief network engineering Peter Ryan says that while three million connections have now been completed at a rate of more than 40,000 premises every week — and one million activations in the last six months alone — the increase has put extra pressure on the “customer service experience”.

“We know the vast majority of NBN access network users are connected without an issue and go on to have a great experience on the network but, unfortunately, that’s not the case for everybody,” Ryan says.

“Indeed, in some respects the speed of the build is one of the key reasons behind some of the challenges we’re facing in terms of customer experience.

“When NBN Co was activating around 3000 to 4000 premises per week across the country — which was pretty much the case until mid-2016 when our FttN activations really kicked in — activation issues could be easily managed.
“Fast forward to now and we’re regularly activating more than 40,000 premises every week, which means we’re pretty much activating a city the size of Canberra every single month. This huge increase naturally puts pressure on the customer service experience.”

But, while admitting there are customer issues to be dealt with, Ryan says the “good news” is that NBN Co is “already hard at work doing what we can to improve the connection experience and the online experience once people are connected”.

He says that in terms of getting customers connected, NBN Co is now focused on what it calls “aged tickets” within the NBN system – or customers who’ve been waiting too long to connect to the NBN access network.

“Aged tickets happen when something out of the ordinary occurs that means we cannot connect the premises to the NBN access network. It can be something as crazy as an unclaimed car being left for months right on the exact spot where we need to conduct some civil works. Yes, really,” he notes.

But according to Ryan, NBN Co is “now working flat out to resolve aged tickets older than four weeks out of the system”.

“We want these premises connected to the network as soon as possible,” he says.

“At the same time, we’re also turning our attention to making sure that these aged tickets don’t appear in the first place by working with our delivery partners and Internet providers to ensure we’re all properly aligned in the activations process and know exactly what is going on with each premises.

“Our ultimate aim is to stop customers getting ‘ping-ponged’ between NBN and RSPs to solve a problem – we know this has to stop.”

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(2017), NBN under pressure to maintain pace as connections hit 3 million mark, ITWire, viewed 16 October 2017, <https://www.itwire.com/telecoms-and-nbn/80368-nbn-under-pressure-to-maintain-pace-as-connections-hit-3-million-mark.html>.

ITWIRE, 14 September, 2017 – Australian companies need to improve collaboration between IT professionals and find ways to successfully leverage technology across the business in the current highly competitive environment, according to a newly published report.
According to the report from recruitment firm Robert Half, the implementation of Development Operations (DevOps) is at the heart of the optimisation of collaboration between those in IT departments.

And the recruiter says Australian companies need to build, test, and roll out new or updated solutions to customers faster than ever before.

“With IT being a very large functional area with many specialisations, the key to successfully leverage technology across the business depends highly on the level of effective collaboration that exists within the IT department,” the firm says.

Independent research commissioned by Robert Half has revealed that Australian chief information officers rate the collaboration of IT professionals within their department an average score of 7 out of 10 – indicating what the recruitment firm says is a need for more enhanced departmental collaboration in certain companies.
According to Robert Half, the ambition to optimise IT collaboration is leading many businesses to implement DevOps – a software development and delivery process that, it says, brings increased efficiency and collaboration within IT teams.

Andrew Morris, director of Robert Half Australia, says the research revealed, however, that almost one in three (31%) Australian CIOs still don’t have a DevOps approach in place in their IT departments, which may hinder their ability to keep up with 63% of CIOs who are already building solid foundations for further innovation by successfully implemented DevOps.

“The increasing complexity of technology means IT departments are juggling many different functions and specialist skills, creating potential challenges when it comes to delivering products and services to customers in the most cost-effective and timely way,” Morris says.

“Because of this, DevOps was created to promote a culture of collaboration by breaking down barriers within traditionally siloed IT departments and introducing an infrastructure that allows for integration between product management, software development, and operations with the recognising the big IT picture and maximising’s its potential for the wider business.”

According to the survey, one of the biggest DevOps challenges companies face is sourcing IT professionals with the right skillsets as stated by 41% of the Australian CIOs, “a further indication of the impact the IT skills shortage is having on the industry”.

Other challenges relating to DevOps implementation highlighted by the survey include lack of DevOps strategy (38%), lack of central governance (36%), changing company culture/traditional hierarchical structures (36%) and enhancing collaboration within the IT team (27%).

“With digital evolution outpacing the supply of new IT skills, most of the challenges experienced by companies in relation to DevOps directly relate to a lack of talent in the area and overcoming these challenges will be pivotal to leverage its success,” Morris observes.

“While this puts job-seekers with DevOps experience and skills in a favourable position, companies must take proactive measures to attract as well as retain the best candidates, including hiring a mix of temporary and permanent professionals, offering competitive remuneration or putting solid career development plans in place before they start.”

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(2017), IT collaboration, DevOps a key to business success, says Robert Half, ITWire, viewed 14 September 2017, <https://www.itwire.com/strategy/79904-it-collaboration,-devops-a-key-to-business-success-says-robert-half.html>.

COMPUTERWORLD, 23 August, 2017 – Some 6 million households and businesses are able to connect to the National Broadband Network, NBN announced this morning.
On average 100,000 premises were made ready for service each week of the last three months, NBN said.

“The pace and scale of this project is unparalleled anywhere in the world and this latest milestone – 6 million ready for service – is testament to this fact,” NBN CEO Bill Morrow said in a statement.

“Very few operators have built a network as fast as we are building the NBN with more than 1.1 million premises made serviceable over the last three months. We are extremely proud of everyone who has helped us to this point.”

Some 2.7 million end users have active NBN services, the company said, with about 40,000 more signing up every week. Morrow said earlier this month that the company is seeing better-than-forecast take-up of services in areas where the copper network has been switched off.

End user experience on the NBN, including problems relating to performance and the activation process for new services, have recently been in the spotlight, with the Australian Communications and Media Authority tasked by the government with scrutinising the issue and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission pushing retail service providers (RSPs) to change their approach to marketing NBN services.

The government yesterday announced that participants in an industry roundtable had agreed to work together to improve the experience of migrating to the new network.
The roundtable was attended by representatives from industry group Communications Alliance, NBN, Optus, Telstra, TPG and Vocus, as well as the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, the ACMA and the ACCC.

“The industry has committed to tackling the key migration issues for consumers including confusing information, handballing customer complaints, lead times for connections and rescheduled appointments,” said a statement released by the government’s communications minister, Senator Mitch Fifield.

Industry will back NBN’s process improvement initiatives and help produce information to help consumers understand the migration process and how to deal with sub-par services.

The government said the participants had also committed to contractual changes to support appointment-keeping, installation completions and complaint handling.

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(2017), NBN hooks up 6 million homes and businesses, Computerworld, viewed 23 August 2017, <https://www.computerworld.com.au/article/626315/nbn-hooks-up-6-million-homes-businesses/>.

ITNEWS, 21 August, 2017 – The Australian competition watchdog has published guidance on how retailers should promote fixed broadband speeds in an effort to shift the industry away from advertising based on maximum peak performance.

The ACCC has been working to crack down on broadband performance marketing since July last year following a big rise in the number of complaints about slow speeds to the TIO.

In February it released six principles for internet service providers (ISPs) to follow to ensure they aren’t misleading consumers with unrealistics data speed claims.

The principles were the precursor to the broadband speeds advertising best practice guide published today.

The ACCC is also undertaking a $7 million broadband performance monitoring program over the next four years.

In its new guidance, the ACCC says ISPs need to clearly identify typical minimum speeds during peak periods – in particular between 7pm and 11pm – in their marketing material.

Each retailer should adopt a standardised labelling system that covers basic evening speed, standard evening speed, standard+ evening speed and premium evening speed to allow consumers to easily compare plans.

Standard+ and premium refer to plans that can support ultra-high definition streaming services or apps requiring similar bandwidth during the busy evening period.

The ACCC wants ISPs to test their network utilisation each quarter to ensure these figures remain accurate.

Remedies should be provided to customers with a network connection that means they can’t access the speeds their plan typically provides. This could be through refunds, reductions, or fee-free contract exit options, the ACCC said.

ISPs should also ‘prominently and clearly’ disclose in advertising and product descriptions that FTTB and FTTN users may not be able to obtain typical plan speeds, it said.

The ACCC will monitor ISPs and review the guide in 12 months. The last time it published guidance on broadband speed marketing was back in 2011.

The new guide is intended to address complaints from customers who have signed up to a broadband plan without proper understanding of its performance capabilities, as well as those who have purchased an appropriate plan but are still experiencing speed and performance issues.

It applies to TV, radio, online, print, and billboard advertising as well as service channels where customers could “reasonably expect” to have information disclosed to them.

“The prevailing practices of describing and promoting broadband plan speeds using ideal, theoretical and non-busy conditions, and/or using ambiguous, RSP-specific descriptors of ‘speed’ should be discontinued,” the ACCC said.

“Consumers should be provided with good quality information about their particular service and its speed and performance characteristics, including improved pre and post sale information … [as well as] prompt and effective remedies in the event that their particular service does not meet the typical performance of the service as it was promised to them.”

The guide is voluntary. However the ACCC said it hoped ISPs would “immediately” implement its suggested measures “given the significant consumer detriment currently being reported in relation to these issues”.

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(2017), ACCC tells ISPs to ditch maximum speed claims, ITNews, viewed 21 August 2017, <https://www.itnews.com.au/news/accc-tells-isps-to-ditch-maximum-speed-claims-471326>.