The ACCC has cleared, provisionally, the proposed deal between Optus and NBN Co under which Optus is to be paid around $800m to shut down its HFC network and transfer customers onto the NBN.

The Government has acted quickly to implement one recommendation of the Regional Telecommunications Review: it has extended eligibility for the subsidised broadband satellite service to remote schools, health clinics and local government facilities.

Communications minister, senator Stephen Conroy, has released the Regional Telecommunications Review Committee report saying it has confirmed that the NBN will be vital for regional Australia, but ignoring its call for the government to facilitate expanded mobile coverage where it is not commercially viable.

The New South Wales Government has released a second round of funding under its Collaborative Solutions program, this time putting up $1 million to encourage development of new mobile solutions for the public sector.

A “light touch” cloud certification programme will be introduced by the Federal Government. Although no timeframe has been revealed, Glenn Archer, the first assistant secretary of the Australian Government Information Office (Agimo), today confirmed that the Government would move forward with its cloud certification plans.

The Department of Human Services will later this year start trialling delivering video services to citizens in regions with National Broadband Network connections. According to Senator Stephen Conroy, minister for broadband, communications and the digital economy, video consultations will be available for people seeking information and advice about Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support services.

Peak telecoms consumer body the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) has received a tick of approval from the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE) in its first review, midway through its four year funding cycle. However, the relatively new body has been told to lift its game in a number of areas, including a suggestion to modify its adversarial approach to industry.

A deal has been done between the federal government’s Department of Human Services and WorkVentures, whereby the government will supply laptops to the not-for-profit company to be refurbished and sold at a discount price to Centrelink concession card holders, low income earners, schools and other not-for-profit organisations.

ICANN has named Alain Pellet, a former chairperson of the International Law Commission, to the curiously titled role of 'Independent Objector' for its new generic top-level domain program.

Despite the federal government’s budget cuts, including a significant cut to overall public service staff numbers and cuts to capital expenditure and the increased efficiency dividend, one leading technology analyst firm strikes a positive note, believing that there will also be some big opportunities for government CIOs flowing from the budget.

Electronic Frontiers Australia is calling for organisations to be required to notify data breaches where personal details of individuals are compromised.

The 2012 Federal Budget is a “budget of opportunity” for IT vendors – as long as they can follow the money.

The winners from Wayne Swan’s Budget 2012 are Australia’s battling classes. Technocrats got less of a look in.

The aged care and disabled sectors are in line for two of the biggest IT programmes unveiled in Treasurer Wayne Swan’s Budget 2012 which was otherwise fairly light on in terms of new ICT initiatives.

Not content with investing $36 billion just to build the National Broadband Network, the Federal Government has set aside additional funds in the 2012-13 Budget to demonstrate its capabilities.

In 2011 the Bureau of Meteorology attracted more than 3.3 billion page views – more than some porn sites. Not surprisingly the Government wants its cut of the digital dollar.

Just one in every ten Australians is expected to opt for a personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR) over the next two years, despite the Government’s hefty $467 million investment in the programme.

The government has released its review of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman calling for regular independent reviews and greater accountability but stopping short of calling for direct government oversight.

Four plum ICT jobs with salaries of more than $199,000 each are on offer in the NSW Government as the State works out how to implement its brand new ICT strategy which was unveiled in Sydney on Friday.

The final report of the Government's Convergence Review has called for the creation of a new regulator to replace the Australian Communications and Media Authority: one that would be free from the ministerial oversight under which the ACMA operates.