Hit fixed-lines only: Telstra

Original article by Mitchell Bingemann
The Australian – Page: 19 : 4-Sep-14

Telstra has lodged its submission to the Australian Government’s review of copyright infringement laws. The group argues that new requirements to warn off subscribers if they are caught illegally downloading content should apply to fixed-line services only, not to mobile ones. It also wants an exemption for business customers, claiming this will reduce the complexity of the new measures. Telstra seeks indemnity against any legal action by rights holders, and a contribution by them to the cost of the new scheme

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS

Tablet vs PC: nearly 1 in 2 Australians now have both computers – so which is used for what?

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Aug-14

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 48 per cent of Australians aged 14+ now own a tablet computer. However, 97.7 per cent of tablet owners also own a desktop or laptop PC. The survey also shows that 68 per cent of Australians who own both a tablet and PC used the latter for email in an average four-week period during the year to June 2014, while 34 per cent used a tablet. Meanwhile, 48 per cent of Australians use a PC for general internet browsing, while 29 per cent use a tablet

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Metadata to be defined under planned new data retention laws

Original article by Ben Grubb
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 5 : 28-Aug-14

Australian Attorney-General George Brandis has conceded that the definition of "metadata" is currently too ambitious and vague. He has pledged that new legislation to force telcos and ISPs into storing the information for as long as two years, in order to aid anti-terrorism investigations, will now contain clear details on what types of data are covered. An internal discussion paper has already excluded unified resource locators and destination internet protocol addresses

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ELECTRONIC FRONTIERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, SKYPE TECHNOLOGIES SA, WHATSAPP INCORPORATED, VIBER MEDIA INCORPORATED, BITTORRENT INCORPORATED

Half of the bandwidth to be provided by the NBN will go to waste, report finds

Original article by Vanessa Desloires
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 27-Aug-14

Consultants Robert Kenny and Tom Broughton have issued new data on internet usage in Australia, for the Vertigan Panel reviewing the roll-out of the national broadband network. They claim that most households will require a download speed of 15 megabytes per second (Mbps) by 2023, and just 5% will use 43Mbps. This is still far below the 100Mbps to be offered by the new infrastructure. Growth areas are online video streaming and internet TV

CORPORATES
NBN CO LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE NATIONAL BROADBAND NETWORK

Perked-up SEEK aims to complete JobStreet bid in weeks

Original article by Madeleine Heffernan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 21-Aug-14

Australian-listed SEEK has posted a 2013-14 underlying net profit of $A179.7m. The online job advertisement website operator had revenue of $A756.4m for the financial year, while shareholders will receive a dividend of $A0.16 per share for the second half. Meanwhile, the group has advised that it expects to pay $A636m for JobStreet, with the deal likely to be finalised in September 2014

CORPORATES
SEEK LIMITED – ASX SEK,JOBSTREET CORPORATION BERHAD,SINGAPORE. COMPETITION COMMISSION,CITIGROUP PTY LTD,LINKEDIN LIMITED,MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED,CARSALES.COM LIMITED – ASX CRZ,REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA

Start-ups focus for Telstra offshoot

Original article by David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 19-Aug-14

Australian telco Telstra is pursuing a strategy under CEO David Thodey of diversifying into technology start-ups, to prepare itself for the loss of revenue from the traditional telephony business. It has set up the muru-D incubator in Sydney and lifted its stake in US-based online video software provider Ooyala from 23% to 98% for $US270m ($A289m). Both will now be housed in the newly-incorporated Telstra Software Group entity, where the board consists of global enterprise and services group executive Brendon Riley, strategic finance group MD Cynthia Whelan and muru-D co-founder Charlotte Yarkoni

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, TELSTRA SOFTWARE GROUP PTY LTD, MURU-D PTY LTD, OOYALA INCORPORATED, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED – ASX SGT, SINGTEL INNOV8 PTE LTD, GARTNER GROUP INCORPORATED, WHATSAPP INCORPORATED, SKYPE TECHNOLOGIES SA, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Telstra ready to splash cash

Original article by Mitchell Bingemann
The Australian – Page: 17 : 15-Aug-14

Telstra has announced a 2013-14 full-year net profit of $A4.28bn, on a revenue rise of 3.4% to $A25.1bn. The best result in close to 10 years comes as the Australian-listed telco invests in new acquisitions to boost its footprint in the media content sector, after offloading the CSL mobile telephony asset in Hong Kong. The final distribution is up $A0.005 to $A0.15, for a 12-month payout of $A0.295. CEO David Thodey also announced a stock repurchasing scheme worth $A1bn, and on 14 August 2014 the shares closed at a price of $A5.56 last witnessed in 2002

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, OOYALA INCORPORATED, HONG KONG CSL LIMITED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, ALPHINITY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, SENSIS PTY LTD, PLATINUM EQUITY HOLDINGS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Expedia buyout spares shareholders of ‘lucky’ Wotif

Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 13-Aug-14

Wotif.com has posted a 2013-14 net profit of $A43.2m, which is 15.4 per cent lower than previously, while booked room nights were down by 10.8 per cent. CEO Scott Blume expects the decline in room bookings to continue as a result of competition in the sector, and he concedes that Wotif.com would find it challenging to turn this around if the takeover bid from US-based Expedia does not succeed

CORPORATES
WOTIF.COM HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX WTF, EXPEDIA INCORPORATED, PRICELINE.COM, BOOKING.COM BV

Start-ups key as change batters the big four

Original article by Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 15 : 4-Aug-14

Consultants at Ernst & Young and KPMG warn that large companies must seek strategic alliances with small start-ups in order to safeguard against digital disruption. A major sector in need of such an approach is that of banking in Australia, and the four main lenders are already facing competition by online payments businesses such as PayPal. However Brian Hartzer, CEO Australian financial services at Westpac Banking, argues the banks can themselves behave like start-ups. Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, group executive institutional banking and markets at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, also says they have an advantage in the shape of large stores of customer data

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, PAYPAL INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, KPMG, ERNST AND YOUNG

iiNet says NBN key to its growth

Original article by David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 20 : 1-Aug-14

The newly appointed CEO of iiNet, David Buckingham, has unveiled his plans for the group. He would like the Australian-listed ISP to expand in the business technology and mobile service markets. Buckingham also wants the company to be more active in the roll-out of the national broadband network. The company has about one million subscribers and a market capitalisation of $A1.23 billion

CORPORATES
IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, NBN CO LIMITED, SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED – ASX SGT, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, M2 GROUP LIMITED – ASX MTU