Archived News for IT Professionals - February, 2012

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has made a decision to declare the local bitstream access service. This declaration is intended to cover the ‘last mile’ of fibre to residences and small businesses on networks that are not owned by NBN Co and does not apply to mobile, wireless or satellite networks.

The first Digital Hub and Digital Enterprise services, which will be rolled out to help businesses and communities in the up-take of the NBN, have been launched in Townsville.

Victorian company GRG International Limited, through its 100 per cent owned Indian subsidiary GRG Banking Solutions Pty Ltd, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Madhya Pradesh Consultancy Organisation (MPCON) to supply ATMs and cash dispensers for eligible recipients to access payments using transaction cards that will also be issued by GRG.

Headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, GRG supplies and distributes GRG Banking ATMs and management software and additional banking products and services.

One of the key outcomes of the MOU will be a distribution system for payments made under India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

The Act provides a legal guarantee for 100 days of employment each year to rural households in return for public work – introduced with the aim of improving the purchasing power of rural people.

The Indian Government supplies around US$30 billion to the States for the scheme. Due to a lack of adequate distribution systems the States return only approximately 60 per cent to the central government.

The GRG system will provide a solution to this problem.

Subject to final contracts GRG expects to deliver 5,000 ATMs, 25,000 point- of-sale terminals and four million cards, to be deployed over three years under a 10-year agreement.

Mr Jeff Barrow, Chairman and Managing Director of GRG International, said that within the next quarter GRG anticipated securing its biggest contract to date through this joint venture.

“This is large scale and GRG has the resources and technical know-how to implement this new efficient welfare system,” Mr Barrow said.

“This project will substantially improve the efficiencies of government welfare. Identification and payments systems and records will be transformed from archaic to world’s best practice,” Mr Barrow said.

“This agreement is expected to create 50 new jobs in Victoria and $500 million in Victorian exports over the next 10 years.

GRG International is in partnership with GRG Banking of Guangzhou, the largest ATM manufacturer in China. GRG International was founded to distribute GRG Banking products in English-speaking markets. GRG International has exclusive rights to distribute GRG ATMs in the US, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom and Ireland and non-exclusive rights to the Mexican, South African and Indian markets. GRG Banking has the world's largest dedicated R&D centre for ATM technology development.

Telstra has announced it has lodged a revised Structural Separation Undertaking (SSU) with the Australian competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for final approval.

The South Australian Government is hosting an open industry briefing to provide industry representatives with inrformation regarding the next round of strategic ICT Procurements.

Initial SenseT projects will focus on Tasmanian communities most affected by the transition in the forestry industry.

QUT researchers are developing smart technology that combines 2D and 3D video images taken from a variety of challenging environments to make it possible to identify a person without the need to stand face on to a camera.

La Trobe University has signed a Memorandum of Understanding twith Indian ICT company, HCL Technologies o collaborate in research, development and commercialisation activities. The collaboration will focus on research and development for Intelligent Transport Systems.

Physicists at the University of New South Wales have created a working transistor consisting of a single atom placed precisely in a silicon crystal.

US-based data centre solutions company, Digital Realty, is planning to invest in and develop two new data centres in  Melbourne’s west. Digital Realty will invest $150 million in the project which will directly employ up to 33 staff.

New Zealand technology company SilverStripe has set up its Australian headquarters in North Melbourne, bringing  up to 50 new IT jobs to the state over the next four years.

Edith Cowan University (ECU) students have developed a new app which transforms a smartphone into an emergency beacon at the push of a button.

Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology are  developing new more reliable Global Positioning Systems (GPS) using camera technology and mathematical algorithms that would make navigating a far cheaper and simpler task.

Data solutions specialist Digital Reality has announced its plans to invest in and develop two new data centres in Melbourne, bringing an estimated economic benefit of around $365 million to the state.

The Federal Government has introduced legislation before parliament that, if passed, will see the introduction of an R 18+ category for video games.

Victoria will be home to one of Australia’s fastest supercomputers and the world’s greenest supercomputer, the IBM Blue Gene/Q, which will be housed at the Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative (VLSCI) hosted by the University of Melbourne, and is aimed at advancing the study of human disease.

The ACCC has 'declared' the wholesale ADSL service under section 152AL of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, arguing that this will promote the long-term interests of end-users of fixed-line broadband internet services throughout Australia.

Federal Minister for Science and Research, Senator Chris Evans, will lead an Australian delegation to China and Italy to promote Australia’s bid to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).

NBN Co has signed a contract with Space Systems/Loral for the delivery of two Ka-band satellites and associated tracking, telemetry and control systems, as part of the National Broadband Network (NBN) long term satellite service.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has released a supplementary consultation paper inviting further comments on the Special Access Undertaking (SAU) lodged by NBN Co on 5 December 2011.

The SAU sets out a range of regulatory commitments that NBN Co proposes shall apply until 30 June 2040.

“The SAU is a complex document that, if accepted, will be an important part of the telecommunications access regime that applies to NBN Co for a long period of time,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.

This supplementary paper continues the ACCC’s public consultation on the SAU that commenced in December 2011. A number of interested parties provided submissions to that paper and the ACCC has had regard to these submissions in preparing the supplementary paper. 

“At this stage of the process, the ACCC is seeking comment on a broad range of issues. Given that this is the first SAU submitted under the new telecommunications access regime, and in light of the proposed term of the SAU and the scale of the NBN investment, this should come as no surprise,” Mr Sims said. 

“It is not unusual for the ACCC to seek views on a wide range of matters in its preliminary analysis of an undertaking.”

Key issues on which the ACCC is seeking views include: