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Martin Kovacs

Further Dick Smith Store Closure Dates Revealed

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Further Dick Smith store closure dates across Australia and New Zealand have today been announced.Towards the end of February, Dick Smith receivers Ferrier Hodgson had announced that the remaining Dick Smith and Move stores (excluding airport locations) in Australia and New Zealand would close.

The closure of the four Move airport stores located at Sydney International Airport was subsequently announced at the beginning of March.

Last month, Ferrier advised that it had notified 35 stores of their exact closure date, stating that it was anticipated that the remaining stores would be closed by April 30.

Ferrier has today revealed the final dates for the closure of 53 Australian stores and all 55 remaining New Zealand stores.

The stores are set to be closed progressively between April 23 and April 26 in Australia, and April 24 and April 30 in New Zealand.

Ferrier had announced the purchase of the Dick Smith online retail business by online retailer Kogan in mid-March, with Kogan to run the Dick Smith businesses as an online-only consumer electronics retailer in Australia and New Zealand.

D-Link Launches Dual-Band Wireless Outdoor Access Point In Oz

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D-Link ANZ has brought its DWL-8710AP outdoor dual-band wireless AC1200 access point, designed for small-to-medium business or enterprise environments, to the local market.The DWL-8710AP, sporting a weatherproof IP67-rated plenum housing, supports Power over Ethernet (PoE), and is decked out with dual gigabit LAN ports, while a detachable antenna design provides for flexible configurations.

Designed to be centrally managed by a wireless controller, it also supports both standalone operation as well as operation within a cluster.

“Boasting next-generation connectivity, blazing speeds and advanced management tools, this new wireless access point from D-Link provides IT and network administrators with smooth and stable Wi-Fi performance in every environment,” D-Link states.

“Featuring powerful central processing units (CPUs), beamforming for greater coverage and enhanced band steering for managing traffic, the versatile DWL-8710AP integrates seamlessly into existing network

infrastructure and can be easily scaled to meet future demands.”

The DWL-8710AP includes dual-band support for 802.11ac devices, while all network interfaces are protected against electrical surges, with it “designed to offer reliable Wi-Fi service even whilst withstanding harsh weather conditions”.

It provides maximum wireless signal rates of up to 300 Mbps over the 2.4 GHz band and 867 Mbps over the 5 GHz band.

Priced at $1,399.95 RRP, further information on the DWL-8710AP can be found here.

DWL-8710AP features:

– Next-generation connectivity – designed for small-to-medium businesses right the way up to enterprises, with dual-band support for 802.11ac devices and over 1 Gbps combined speed for reliable connections.
– Versatile management – simplify access point deployment with a self-configuring cluster mode and RF resource management for detecting weak signal strength.
– Wi-Fi multimedia support – prioritises time-sensitive traffic in the event of a network data congestion; when multiple access points are in close proximity, the access points will refuse new association requests once its resources are fully utilised, ensuring no single AP is overburdened by balancing traffic.
– Unparalleled performance – smooth and stable performance with a powerful CPU, beamforming for greater coverage and band steering for managing traffic.
– Lifetime limited warranty – D-Link offers a lifetime limited warranty on the DWL-8710AP.
– Supports up to 32 virtual access points – provides administrators with the flexibility to easily assign access to different classes of users.
– Flexible Wi-Fi QoS schemes – offers controlled and balanced quality of service access based off flexible policies.
– Power over Ethernet – PoE simplifies and expands installation options, with no supplemental power cabling required.

ACCC: Consumers Benefiting From Telco Sector Competition

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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) states that its annual reports on the telecommunications sector for 2014-15 show that consumers are continuing to benefit from competition in the sector.The ACCC has noted that an increase in data demand has seen investment in fixed and mobile networks, while data allowances increased by over 70 per cent for DSL internet services and more than doubled for postpaid mobile services during 2014-15.

“Consumers are reaping the benefits of competition in the form of increased data allowances, new services and lower prices,” ACCC chairman Rod Sims commented.

“Consistent with the trend in recent years, consumer demand for data is continuing to increase and is affecting both fixed and mobile networks. On fixed networks, data consumption grew by 40 per cent to 1.3 million terabytes (TB) of data. On mobile networks, data consumption increased by 35 per cent to 110,000 TB.

“The increase in demand for data is largely due to the popularity of audio-visual streaming services, including the introduction of subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services, such as Netflix, Presto and Stan.”

Meanwhile, in real terms, overall prices fell by 0.5 per cent in 2014-15.

Sims noted that this was a smaller reduction than in the previous eight years, seeing a 3.3 per cent fall each year on average, indicating “that competition on factors other than price has been a feature of the market”.

Recent industry consolidation could reflect “a desire to grow not only in response to increasing data traffic, but also to the growing presence of the National Broadband Network (NBN)”, the ACCC noted, stating that “the scale and complexity of the multi-technology mix NBN and its implications for competition and consumers” continues as a major area of interest for the ACCC.

“The communications sector faces a number of challenges in the transition to the NBN and as network operators manage increasing data traffic,” Sims commented.

“We will continue to watch these developments closely and work to ensure that consumers continue to benefit from competition.”

IoT Cybersecurity Presents Booming Opportunities

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Booming opportunities exist in the IoT cybersecurity market, which will be the next big market for the cybersecurity industry, according to ABI Research.The market remains fragmented and has yet to consolidate, and the ecosystem is expanding, with vendors finding their way into three groups, ABI has found.

These three groups broadly comprise hardware, firmware/software and applications, across sectors including automotive, smart home, healthcare and energy.

“There is growing interest and requirement for improved levels of security to be designed into products, devices and networks to protect data, combat fraud and prevent criminal hacking,” Michela Menting, ABI Research research director, commented.

“While there is no one ‘go-to’ company, with so many IoT and security vendors making a stake, the prospects for successfully penetrating the market are high for new players and entrenched leaders alike.

“Promising opportunities, and undeniably challenges, will centre on securing assets, protecting data and ensuring privacy.”

ABI notes that market players include: Qualcomm, Gemalto, G&D, ARM, Imagination Technologies, Deutsche Telekom, Symantec, Wind River, QNX, Green Hills, Freescale, General Dynamics, Commsignia, Covisint, Cryptosoft, Waterfall Security, Oracle, Intel, Harman (TowerSec), Bastille, Rambus, Escrypt, Inside Secure and ForgeRock.

While standardisation along with guideline developments is in the early stages, numerous groups are working on different aspects of security standards, ranging from areas such as hardware designs to network connectivity.

“When mapping out these new standards, it is important to keep in mind numerous considerations, such as small footprints, lightweight agents, low energy consumption, mobile assets and permeable networks,” Menting commented.

Optus Introduces Retail Assist Integrated Service

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Optus Business has introduced a new mobile point-of-sale capability, Retail Assist, which it states allows retailers to process sales, check stock availability, access customer information and support back-end operational requirements from a mobile device within store.Optus states that “Retail Assist integrates with a retailer’s existing systems to provide a seamless in-store customer experience”, designed to deliver increased efficiencies for retailers.

“Customers want staff to be able to provide stock availability quickly rather than check ‘out the back’,” David Caspari, Optus Business vice president, business technology & solutions, commented. “They want product specs and sizes, and the ability to buy the item wherever they are in-store.  

“Retail Assist delivers a win-win experience because it equips staff with the tools they need to deliver a great customer experience.”

Retail Assist supports end-of-day reporting, inventory management, sales performance data and daily activities such as ‘click and collect’, with Optus stating that it incorporates a range of retail applications and device options, integrating seamlessly with bank payment terminals.

“It is delivered across a secure, reliable network and can be hosted or integrated with retailers’ existing systems,” Optus states. “Optus Business supports and manages Retail Assist for customers on a 24-month plan, which includes ongoing upgrades.”

Caspari stated that Retail Assist was developed “in response to requests from retailers for better ways to service their customers”.

“We were mindful that retailers typically already had sizeable investments in various point-of-sale, customer management and other systems, so we designed Retail Assist to integrate all these systems, ensuring they complement rather than replace existing technologies,” he commented.

World Wi-Fi Day: Telstra To Provide Free Wi-Fi

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Telstra will be providing free access to its Telstra Air Wi-Fi hotspots around the country as part of World Wi-Fi Day.Launched by the Wireless Broadband Alliance earlier in the year, World Wi-Fi Day, which will take place on June 20, is “an initiative that will accelerate affordable wireless connectivity around the world”.

“The Wireless Broadband Alliance is encouraging cities, government bodies, fixed and mobile operators, technology vendors, internet giants and service providers, as well as retailers, to come together to deliver connectivity to everyone, everywhere,” the Wireless Broadband Alliance stated upon its launch.

Telstra will be offering free Wi-Fi from June 17 to June 20, Telstra (acting) head of Wi-Fi Dan Kelly has advised via a blog post.

Kelly has advised that “anyone with a Wi-Fi-enabled smartphone, tablet or other device will be able to surf, share or stream for free” at Air Wi-Fi hotspots around Australia.

Wi-Fi users will be able to access free Wi-Fi by connecting to “Telstra Free Wi-Fi” when in range of a participating Telstra Wi-Fi hotspot, accessing 30 minutes of free Wi-Fi, with users able to reconnect for successive 30 minute sessions.

Further information can be found here.

NBN Looks To Faster Speeds Over Copper With XG.FAST

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NBN Co is looking to the potential to deliver faster speeds over copper, with it set to launch XG.FAST broadband technology trials.NBN Co will become the third operator in the world to trial the technology, with its engineers to work alongside Nokia over the coming weeks, Dennis Steiger, NBN Co chief technology officer, has advised via a blog post.

Steiger notes that last October, BT in the UK conducted XG.FAST trials, hitting 5.6 Gbps over 35 metres of copper in laboratory trials, with Deutsche Telekom this February reaching 8 Gbps over 50 metres of copper in the laboratory, with both tests using technology from Nokia.

“We will be testing out XG.FAST over the coming weeks to see how this technology works over a range of different types of copper cable in order to get an idea of how XG.FAST might work in the field,” Steiger writes.

“We expect to see varying speeds during the lab trial, dependent on the type of cable being used.”

The trials follow NBN Co’s trials of G.Fast broadband technology last October, with Steiger writing that XG.FAST’s arrival “should not be taken as a sign that it will immediately supersede its predecessor”.

Steiger writes that NBN Co is “in the process of organising further field trials later this year”, with it remaining “very interested in deploying G.Fast on the NBN network”.

Meanwhile, XG.FAST’s potential deployment is still some time away, with Steiger writing that it “will not be ready for commercial deployment for several years”.

“To be absolutely clear, in order to deploy XG.FAST we would need to drive our fibre deeper into the network and move to a fibre-to-the-distribution-point (FTTdP) network architecture, with XG.FAST using only the last 30-100 metres or so of copper into a premises,” he writes.

“Our primary goal is to continue with our current deployment of the FTTN/B network in order to get Australians on board the NBN network as fast as possible, but once that is completed, we then have the potential to look at how we might push fibre deeper via FTTdP in order to deliver ultra-fast speeds via XG.FAST.”

NBN Co’s recently released Corporate Plan 2017 revealed a decreasing hybrid fibre-coaxial distribution and a growing fibre-to-the-node footprint.

IoT “Onslaught”: Organisations Must Address Network Access

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Organisations must update their network access policies to seamlessly address an “onslaught of IoT devices”, which will see IoT devices outnumber users with laptops, tablets or smartphones by more than three times by 2020, Gartner states.Gartner states that 21 billion IoT devices will be in use worldwide by 2020, of which close to 6 per cent will be in use for industrial IoT applications, with IT organisations having issues identifying these devices and characterising them as part of current network access policy.

“Having embraced a bring-your-own-device strategy, organisations must now get employee devices on the enterprise network and start addressing the 21 billion IoT devices that we project will want access to the enterprise network,” Tim Zimmermann, Gartner research vice president, commented.

“Whether a video surveillance camera for a parking lot, a motion detector in a conference room or the HVAC for the entire building, the ability to identify, secure and isolate all IoT devices – and in particular ‘headless’ devices – is more difficult to manage and secure.”

With devices attached to the network identified, IT organisations “must create or modify the network access policy as part of an enterprise policy enforcement strategy”, in determining “if and how these devices will be connected, as well as what role they will be assigned that will govern their access”.

“In order to monitor access and priority of IoT devices, I&O leaders need to consider additional enterprise network best practices,” Gartner states.

“These can be defining a connectivity policy, as many IoT devices will be connected via Wi-Fi; performing spectrum planning – many IoT devices may be using 2.4 GHz, but may not be using 802.11 protocols such as Bluetooth, ZigBee or Z-Wave, which may create interference; or considering packet sniffers to identify devices that may do something undesirable on the network.”

Gartner states that virtual segments will need to be created while more devices are added to an enterprise network, allowing network architects to separate all IoT assets from other network traffic, supporting each facilities management application or business unit process from other enterprise applications and users.

“As the concept of virtual segments continues to mature, the capabilities will allow network architects to prioritise the traffic of differing virtual segments as compared with the rest of the traffic on the network,” Gartner states.

“For example, security video traffic and normal enterprise application traffic may have a higher priority than LED lighting.”

NBN Rolls Out Faster Fixed Wireless

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NBN has upgraded its fixed wireless service, providing access to wholesale speeds of up to 50 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload.NBN states that more than half a million homes and businesses in regional and rural Australia will have access to the upgraded fixed wireless service by 2020, delivering broadband services to areas where there is often limited connectivity.

Around 300,000 homes and businesses in regional Australia can currently connect to fixed wireless, with the network employing LTE or 4G technology, engineered to deliver services to a fixed number of premises within each coverage area.

“By the time we complete the NBN network rollout in 2020, this world-leading broadband service will provide more than half a million homes and businesses living in regional and rural Australia with access to faster internet speeds that rival what their city cousins have available today,” Gavin Williams, NBN executive general manager, fixed wireless and satellite products, stated.

“Following the launch of Sky Muster, NBN’s first satellite, this milestone is yet another critical part of our plan to help bridge the nation’s digital divide.

“We’re closer than ever before to being on a level playing field between the city and the bush by providing kids in rural areas with access to digital textbooks, farmers with the latest technology and creating a world of new possibilities for regional small businesses.”

Telstra Adds To Enterprise Offerings With App-Developer Acquisition

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Telstra has acquired Australian application development and software-focused consulting and managed services provider Readify, adding to its suite of enterprise services.Readify provides enterprise cloud application solutions, big data and IoT solutions, which Telstra states will provide further scope for it to “drive digital transformation for its enterprise customers in domestic and global markets”.

Telstra executive director global enterprise and services Michelle Bendschneider stated that the acquisition will complement the telco’s recent acquisition of cloud migration services provider, Kloud.

“As we know, apps and software in general are playing an increasingly important role in businesses,” Bendschneider commented.

“Readify is recognised globally for its innovative software solutions and will further help us create software-led digital transformations with our customers.”

Bendschneider stated that the acquisition “will enable Telstra to add incremental value to customers in enterprise cloud applications, API-based customisation and extensions, as well as business technology advisory services”.