#telstra

“The Australian Electoral Commission is planning on using Elon Musk’s Starlink services as back up for transmitting #voting results information in the upcoming federal election.

In a contract published late last year, the #AEC appointed #Telstra responsible for the agency’s fixed line and #Starlink services until mid-2027, in a deal worth $1.38m. A spokesperson for the AEC confirmed Starlink could be used in the upcoming election for *sensitive election data*.”

The question I ask myself is why?

<https://theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/13/elon-musk-starlink-australia-election-voting-results-aec-contract>

Telstra and Ericsson launch programmable 5G Advanced network https://www.telecomstechnews.com/news/telstra-and-ericsson-launch-programmable-5g-advanced-network/ #ericsson #telstra #mobile #developers #telecoms #networks #ai #5g #tech #news #technology

Why I quit: kernel developer Con Kolivas (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20110807150951/http://apcmag.com/why_i_quit_kernel_developer_con_kolivas.htm
#ycombinator #Notebooks #smartphones #phones #mobiles #Windows #Mac #Apple #iPod #iPhone #NSW #VIC #QLD #TAS #New_South_Wales #Queensland #West_Australia #South_Australia #Tasmania #Northern_Territory #Victoria #dual_boot #dualboot #dual_booting #how_to #APC_Magazine #Vista #Windows_7 #computer_help #Intel #AMD #NVIDIA #telstra #optus #computer_shop #best

Ericsson, Telstra, and Qualcomm shatter 5G uplink speed record https://www.telecomstechnews.com/news/ericsson-telstra-qualcomm-shatter-5g-uplink-speed-record/ #ericsson #qualcomm #telstra #connectivity #mobile #telecoms #networks #5g #tech #news #technology

#Telstra has partnered with #Starlink to be able to send #SMS from anywhere in #Australia, this be great for rural people with no cell coverage.

https://www.telstra.com.au/exchange/telstra-to-bring-spacex-s-starlink-satellite-to-mobile-technolog

Seriously, #Australia's #2G & #3G #Shutdown and #IMEI-based #Blocklisting WILL inevitably kill people

And the only "tool" there is is #Telstra's Website and just teting random IMEIs only yields two possible results:

'We don't know this device at all'
"'We've not blocklisted it'*

Even when testing it with obvious #2Gonly & #3Gonly devices that certainly don't support #VoLTE...

#GreatFirewallOfAustralia

@Deanosim

I saw in some place that there are more than 2 million roaming devices connected to the #Telstra network. What will happen when someone dies because one of those devices is unable to make a call to 000 because the 3G network is shutdown?

The incompetence of the Australian Government is criminal.

The shutdown of 3G in Australia is mere days away, so I’ve updated my guide as to what’s happening and why with a few more specifics — and some issues that have emerged for some buyers of supposedly “new” phones, too…

#3G #Australia #Telstra #Optus

https://alexreviewstech.com/3g-shutdown-in-australia-whats-happening-and-why-and-what-you-need-to-do/

Also I wounder if the folks at @GrapheneOS and other #custom #Firmware (#CFW) #developers are aware of the fact that #Australia basically is going to #ban them...

Or at least #Telstra in their infinite wisdom of doing things differently...

Seriously, #VoLTE is a #shitshow worse than #ISDN in the #USA!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPlTz-3estM&t=560s

A #PSA for anyone living, staying, entering or even travelling to/from #Australia:

Apparently, #Australia decided to mandate it's #GSM systems to be shutdown because some #GalaxyBrainChair wanted to yeet #2G & #3G and demand everything to use #4G & #5G when in fact #VoLTE support is spotty at best and #EmergencyCalling oftentimes is explicitly hardcoded to not use #WIFIcalling or VoLTE as providing #triangulation and #LocationData via #SS7 is a desired feature when someone calls EMS, Fire Dept or the Police for help...

So essentially #tourists and anyone who hasn't an explicitly fully VoLTE-functional device they tested and verified to also do #EmergencyCalls via VoLTE are fecked with no reception when they need it the most!
This WILL KILL PEOPLE!!!

As much as we want to bitch about #GSM & #GPRS / #UMTS being #outdated and #inefficient, there are reasons to at least keep 2G available - ranging from lower power consumption to higher resilience in emergency situations.

#NewZealand for example does shutdown non-#EmergencyCalls during severe #Earthquakes so that people trapped and/or in need of urgent assistance can get through to dispatch operators and everyone else has to get in line and take a number aka. use #SMS or if existing #Internet to say "I'm fine!"...
If the Ozzies really need that juicy #UHF #SubGHz #Spectrum it's totally feasible to instead change the #allocations and reconfigure #CellularNetworks to use lesser bandwith for 2G (i.e. only keeping the absolute mininum of channels available for any service) and thus clear up space...

And to add insult to injury, Australia passed a #NorthKorea|n-alike #CellPhone #ImportBan for any device that doesn't do i.e. the bespoke proprietary garbage that i.e. #Telstra, #Vodafone and #Optus do with the #baseband modems of their #branded devices...

Seriously, which #TechIlliterate dickhead decided it's a good idea to do that #3Gshutdown in Australia without even a basic 2G network up and running at all?

At least #Switzerland [AFAIK] still has #3G up and running (tho it would've been wiser to do it like #Germany and keep #2G as emergency fallback with it's functions like #CellBroadcast....

How do the telco’s iPhone 16 trade-in deals compare? I’ve crunched the numbers — more than 150 different prices — to help you work out if trade-in is the right way to go for an older iPhone over at Whistleout — so go check it out!
#iPhone16 #Australia #Telstra #Optus #Vodafone

https://www.whistleout.com.au/MobilePhones/Guides/iPhone-trade-in-deals-and-plans

I have bought a pump. Its job is to spray the house all over with water when a #bushfire comes. There's only so much water, so it needs to be timed right, otherwise the house will dry out before the heat arrives.

So, attached to the pump is a controller made by the thoughtful and nice Graham and Matt at Small Farm Services. (https://smallfarmservices.net.au).
I send it a 'start' over SMS and it starts. Later it sends me status messages. Marvelous.

The trouble, of course, is that #mobile #networks get turned off and/or fail during bushfires.

#Optus, #Telstra, any chance you could give me an indication of failure modes during fires? No, I didn't really think you would. <rolls eyes>. Did you know that #Optus funded a CRC into bushfires at ANU? It did/does really good stuff. (https://brcoe.org). Optus has issued press releases like this: https://www.optus.com.au/about/media-centre/media-releases/2023/11/optus-invests-to-protect-bushfire-prone-communities.
I cannot find out what MY base station's remaining vulnerabilities are, nor understand it's dependancies. Can *that one* last 20 hours without power? Can it's upstream links? Can I send an SMS over it if it is disconnected from Optus' authentication, authorisation and billing systems? What about Telstra? Coverage of both is good and I can see both towers - an advantage of living on a hill.

Without solid answers, I am looking to add some backup communications channel. I have an existing #LoRaWAN setup, and am wondering about firming it up and extending it out to very long range. The safe place I will be during the fire is about 10km away. Maybe that is the best independent path? But, maybe I should use some UHF data medium instead of LoRa? Something plainer, more commonly understood and dull?

Questions:
Anyone have resilience information for 4G SMS networks?
Should I buy a #Telstra or Optus #SIM?
Backup medium? What is the most solid thing for, say 10km?

What does The Department of #Radio Mastodon think please?

#RF #4G #data #LoRa #SMS #packetRadio

I don't know why I moved my mobiles to #telstra - Can barely even load Mastodon on the Telstra mobile network.

#Telstra prepaid not being able to roam to Italy is peak #Australia. Total banana republic bullshit.

1/2
#Telstra #BoostMobile doing the standard customer fuckage.

I try to recover my account.
Page says an email will be sent.
No email arrives.
I wonder why, try alternative address, retry original etc, etc

So eventually I contact Support.

See next Toot for why I never received the promised emails.

#FuckTheCustomerOver

#Telstra's #PrepaidMobile subsidiary #BoostMobile tells me my current plan $230/170Gb/365days has been discontinued.
The only reasonable replacement is $300/365days.

And today I find that, contrary to what technical support told me, voicemail has not been switched off. So I had multiple messages that I hadn't responded to. [guillotine emoji]

I've got some 10 months to find a less-ripoff mobile phone provider.

#ConsumingIn2024 #Churn

The fact that it's 2024 and #telstra still think it's okay not to send out invoices for their services annoys me.

Does it annoy me enough to churn somehwere else? Maybe, but where would I go?

#Optus and their dodgy security etc?

Headed out to buy a $2 SIM.
Nearest retailer as per #BoostAustralia website doesn't stock 'em.
More driving. Success at #Woolworths.

At home I try logging into Boost.
Try to reset password.
But 2FA code never arrives.
Request a new one.
Never arrives. ...
"You have reached the limit. Please try again in 20 minutes."

Yay #Telstra, thanks for being your usual crappy crappy company. My expectations have been met.

#ConsumingIn2024

Had to recharge my #Optus #Prepaid account.

#ForcedToUseTheirApp as prepaid customers can't use their website.
Such a grotty company.

But the 2FA code never arrives.
Though a 0.5 second box flashes by with "version" as one of the words

I go to Playstore.
But no update for #OptusApp is listed.

Tried app again, "Use DigitalID" or something similar gets an Update App on Playstore to appear.

A crappy crappy company.

Off to get a #Boost sim now. Low expectations - #Telstra.

#ConsumingIn2024