Digital Media Apps & Services

The first sectors to be affected by the digital economy include media and services. New technologies allow organisations to offer a product-as-a-service and to build whole new business models based on the digital-, connected- and sharing economy. Transformation processes and new innovations and developments are analysed and discussed.

Vocus-TPG Deal: Reshaping the Future of Australia’s Telecommunications Infrastructure

The recent acquisition by Vocus of TPG’s fibre network infrastructure, along with a substantial submarine cable portfolio, represents a significant shift in Australia’s telecommunications landscape. This move aligns with a global trend in the telecom industry: a transition from traditional vertically integrated models toward specialised, consolidated infrastructure ownership, often overseen by investment-focused entities. Through this

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The Netherlands: Europe’s Digital Powerhouse

From Norway I travelled to the country of my birth, the Netherlands (18 million inhabitants in a country half the size of Tasmania). I have followed the Duch market over several decades and I have organised government-led trade mission between our two countries in relation to broadband and smart cities. So, it was with interest

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More than 5 billion social media users – 62% of global population.

The latest Digital 2024 report, a collaborative effort between media intelligence provider Meltwater and creative agency We Are Social, unveils a wealth of data and insights shedding light on the current state of the digital realm. One of the most striking revelations from Digital 2024 is the surpassing of the 5 billion mark in active

More than 5 billion social media users – 62% of global population. Read More »

Australians lost a record-breaking $3.1 billion to scams last year – an 80% increase. Their lives are being ruined.

According to Scamwatch, Sarah from Sydney knows the devastation firsthand. She lost her life savings in a romance scam. The true cost of scams extends far beyond the financial toll – they shatter trust, devastate families, and can even lead to tragedy. As scammers relentlessly target Australians with increasingly sophisticated tactics, we need to urgently

Australians lost a record-breaking $3.1 billion to scams last year – an 80% increase. Their lives are being ruined. Read More »

AI opening new business models such as Platform-as-a-Service.

Looking at telecommunication companies (telcos) as an example they have historically thrived on vertical integration, yielding substantial profits. However, their reluctance to transition into platform-based models has resulted in missed opportunities in the realms of the internet and, more critically, digital media. The prevailing culture within telcos still tends to favour vertically integrated solutions, even

AI opening new business models such as Platform-as-a-Service. Read More »

Another day, another Foxtel service

The Foxtel Group has launched yet another service, this one based on the so-called Hubbl. This is a small set-top box, a streaming entertainment device designed to simplify the user experience for live TV, free-to-air channels, and subscription-based streaming services. Similar devices include: Apple TV, Google Chromecast and Amazon Fire Stick These are Internet-connected devices

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Review of Australia’s Digital Evolution in 2023

Australia’s digital landscape has undergone significant transformations in 2023, as outlined in recent reports from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). They key findings concentrate on three critical perspectives: the state of Australian telecom infrastructure, internet usage patterns, and the dynamic trends in digital communication. ACMA’s series of research reports culminating in 2023 unveiled

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Australia’s low ranking in broadband and cloud computing

The digital landscape has undergone a profound transformation in recent years, with the global broadband and cloud computing markets emerging as key pillars of the digital economy. Their combined worth exceeds an astounding $656 billion, but the real impact extends far beyond this impressive figure. Broadband and cloud computing are instrumental in shaping the future

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Akamai’s latest report reveals disturbing trends in ransomware landscape.

In an increasingly digital world, cyber threats are evolving at an alarming pace. Akamai Technologies, a prominent player in cybersecurity and content delivery services, has just released its latest State of the Internet (SOTI) Report,, titled “Ransomware on the Move: Exploitation Techniques and the Active Pursuit of Zero-Days.” This research delves deep into the world

Akamai’s latest report reveals disturbing trends in ransomware landscape. Read More »

Australians have massively adopted the digital payment systems.

The Government recently  announced that the Australia’s payments system is set to undergo a radical transformation. One of the key changes in the plan is the phasing out of cheque payments. Cheques will be gradually wound down by 2030, with the removal of legislation and other requirements that currently support its use. The use of

Australians have massively adopted the digital payment systems. Read More »

Blockchain in the Power Industry: another Energy Revolution

As we all know it,  because of the rising costs of energy, the power industry is one of the most important sectors in the economy. It is responsible for providing electricity to homes, businesses, and other critical infrastructure. However, the power industry is also facing a number of challenges, including rising demand, aging infrastructure, and

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The “Beyond 5G/6G Era”: A New Era of 7G Wireless Communication

The “Beyond 5G/6G Era”: A New Era of 7G Wireless Communication The recent G7 Summit in Hiroshima witnessed an intriguing development in the telecoms industry as Japan proposed collaboration on technologies that lie on the horizon—what the Japanese have called  “Beyond 5G/6G era.” While the current 5G cellular network is still in its nascent stages,

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Smart Cities vulnerable to cyber-attacks.

The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) has issued a new set of guidelines warning about the security risks posed by the use of 5G technology in so-called Smart Cities. The ASD’s concerns align with those of the Five Eyes security alliance, which has warned that the interconnected nature of a fully connected city makes it vulnerable

Smart Cities vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Read More »

Using AI for the good is very rewarding but keep an eye on the baddies.

I use chatGPT now almost daily for my research. Basically background information that is not available through Wikipedia, Google, or other research facilities.  The service only provides info that was available before 2021, so it is not at all useful for more recent developments. So in my case I am looking for what often is

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Growth in broadband demand is set to slow with fewer innovations hitting the market

There is an argument going on between the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and NBN Co in relation to the broadband requirements of Australian consumers. ACCC research indicates that by 2028, the median household speed requirement will be only 29 Mbps and 95% of households will not require speeds of 58 Mbps or more. 

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Video-on-Demand services are suffering from the economic downturn

Kanter’s  recent Entertainment on Demand data on the Australian streaming market reveals that between July to September 2022, the number of Video on Demand (VoD)-enabled households that subscribed to at least one video streaming service fell by nearly 180,000, with over one million services cancelled. Furthermore, this third quarter of 2022 saw the largest drop

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Free NBN or discounted with Commonwealth Bank services.

Back in the late 1990s and early ’00s when I discussed my vision on how broadband would develop, I mentioned that organisations would start offering free broadband access, linked to the core services of their organisation. The reason is that it would either be more cost-effective for those organisations if customers use the digital service.

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Telstra buys into Fetch TV – will this shake-up the videostreaming market?

Like so many telcos around the world, Telstra has been floundering through the video streaming market over the last few decades. It will be interesting to see if its acquisition of a 51% stake in the content aggregation company Fetch TV for $50 million will herald a new beginning. For the last 25 years plus,

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The battles in the online video game streaming market are heating up

In a previous article  I reported on the problems that Facebook (Meta) is facing — currently betting the house on its Meta service, based on a software platform that will create a virtual reality (VR) networked environment. I mentioned that I was critical about this business model and that I don’t see, at least for

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My telecoms and digital economy predictions for 2020

Of course, let me begin by wishing you a good start to the new year. It will be an interesting year in many aspects and it remains a year of high levels of uncertainty, so it is important to stay flexible. As always, the year will provide many “wow” moments in relation to technology, but

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Cirque de Solei explores the new options of VR and holoportation.

A few weeks ago, I talked about Facebook’s Metaverse and the issues that I have with this service, in a regulatory vacuum. I hope we have learned our lessons with the current way social media have developed and that we are making sure we are not going to use new developments in these media purely

Cirque de Solei explores the new options of VR and holoportation. Read More »

Zuckerberg’s Metaverse hype, reality or does it just suck.

Facebook’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg launched his metaverse vision for Facebook beyond it being a social media outlet. He envisages an augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) internet in which we all can immerse and do things basically as virtual beings. In his vision, we will all soon be wearing VR goggles and

Zuckerberg’s Metaverse hype, reality or does it just suck. Read More »

How AI and a systems approach can be used to better understand our world

In 2002, computer scientist, physicist and businessman Stephen Wolfram published his book, A New Kind of Science. Rather than looking at mathematics as the solution to unravel the mysteries of the world and the universe, Wolfram looked at how systems work and concluded that they do follow certain patterns to eventually create a particular outcome.

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C-V2X standard for autonomous vehicle services

Around 20 years ago, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) in the USA allocated 75 MHz (5.85-5.925 GHz) to Intelligent Transportation Systems. This led to the dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) standard, 802.11p, which is a tweak of 802.11a. Approximately zero cars adopted it. There were demo projects and some roadside units were built, but it never

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Macquarie Group is set to shake up the digital infrastructure market.

A few months ago, I reported on the broader market of which telecommunications infrastructure is a part. I mentioned data centres, cloud computing and data analytics (big data). All together we can perhaps best call this digital infrastructure. While the importance of this merged set of infrastructures will benefit all economies and societies, I recently

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Agriculture ICT and travelling in Outback Queensland

In October 2020, I went on a two-week tour into Queensland’s Outback, travelling through various landscapes from pastoral and agricultural lands to savanna and the desert. Leaving Brisbane, past Toowoomba you enter the Darling Downs. This is one of the richest agricultural areas in Australia. It was first explored by British Botanist Alan Cunningham in

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The incredible telehealth transformation

There are many healthcare needs that can only be successfully addressed in face-to-face visits with health practitioners. It is necessary to see a medical practitioner when we need to discuss private health issues in detail, to canvass different health or treatment options and to assess our health. Having said this, there are many other situations

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The digital economy is spreading out more broadly.

The pandemic has shown us that some of the early models in the so-called sharing economy have become more mainstream. The early pioneers were companies such as Uber, Airbnb, eBay and Gumtree. But others have been making a name for themselves in transport, for example, Shebah (all-female drivers) and Camplify (caravan sharing and RCs). Spacer,

The digital economy is spreading out more broadly. Read More »

Nano networks set to revolutionise edge computing

I recently followed a “lunch box lecture”, organised by the University of Sydney. In the talk, Professor Zdenka Kuncic explored the very topical issue of artificial intelligence. The world is infatuated with artificial intelligence (AI), and understandably so, given its super-human ability to find patterns in big data as we all notice when using Google,

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Innovative entertainment industry will bounce forwards after Covid

My brother Rob lives in Rimini, Italy and he has his own company Màgina, involved in “tailor-made” events for large organisations throughout Europe. Their activities include team building, product launches, client shows and so on. Of course, with COVID-19 his business totally collapsed overnight. A few clients have indicated that they will review the situation

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Digital economy essential for regional Australia

Back in the early 1990s, I was a founding board member of Service Providers Action Network (SPAN), which later became part of Communications Alliance. The key aim of this organisation was the promotion of new value-added services that could be provided over the telecommunications network. At this time there was no public internet and we

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Encouraging online lessons from the corona crisis

The players in the telecommunications industry have decisively reacted to the COVID-19 crisis. The NBN is holding up and the company is effectively implementing a range of measures for those who rely on it. Equally, the support from the major telcos and the digital players has been first-class and, where needed, the industry is working

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Not Netflix but Government killed the NBN

In a recent ABC interview, Sam Dimarco, Head of Stakeholder Relations at NBN Co, asserted that Netflix has been a catalyst for change. It has been blamed as the principal reason why the NBN is unable to deliver the quality that was promised by the Government. The article also mentioned Bill Morrow’s comment on this, admitting that

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Spinning the pay TV pirating issue

It is interesting to follow announcements from former leaders. I recently compared Malcolm Turnbull’s suggestion for government intervention in the telecoms manufacturing market with his stand as a liberal politician who frowns upon government intervention. This time- but on a different topic –  I am looking at an assessment Kim Williams, a former CEO of

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Broadcasting – Submission to Productivity Commission from 1999 (20 years ago)

The wonders of electronics. I suddenly received a notification about this submission I made in 1999. It is interesting to look back on predictions I made 20 years ago 🙂 From: Paul Budde Sent: Monday, May 03, 1999 4:34 PM To: ’broadcasting@pc.gov.au’ Subject: Broadcasting – Submission to Productivity Commission   Broadcasting – Submission to Productivity

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The end of the Foxtel wars

The announcement of the proposed merger of Foxtel with Fox Sport Australia, combined with Telstra’s agreement to dilute its shareholding in the pay TV operator, paves the way for the end of the Foxtel war between News Corp Australia (formerly News Limited) and Telstra.  The decline in revenue and subscriber numbers will most certainly have

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The Australian Digital Media Industry Continues its Transformation

With the rise of digital platforms, the media industry has had to change and the transformation continues in 2017. In newspaper and book publishing, TV and radio broadcasting, film, music, and other forms of media, we see that the national walls that protect local organisations within traditional models are crumbling. In other words, it is

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Consolidation in Australia’s VOD Market Begins

Australia’s leading pay TV provider FOXTEL during the last few years has struggled to increase pay TV penetration in Australia. The market has also seen the launch of competing OTT platforms, including Stan and Netflix. These offer competitively priced basic packages, commonly below AU$10 per month letting consumers’ view content at a time of their

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Vodafone New Zealand’s merger with Sky shows continuing pressure to provide a full suite of services

The merger was not approved by the New Zealand Regulator (6/2017). During the last decade there has been considerable merger and acquisition activity in the telecoms sector across global regions. Where these processes are not possible, for regulatory or commercial reasons, operators have found ways to share resources in a bid to provide improved services

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Pay TV market under increasing threat from Video Streaming market

The digital TV and video streaming industry has changed beyond recognition and it continues to evolve in 2016. Consumer habits are shifting from broadcast TV to on-demand content – especially streaming. Traditional TV viewing is increasingly facing competition from other viewing platforms such as smart phones, tablets, and Smart TVs. Choice is the key. Broadcasters

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The Apps and Entertainment market continues to evolve

With the rise of digital platforms, the media industry is rapidly changing. In newspaper and book publishing, TV and radio broadcasting, film, music, and other forms of media, we see that the national walls that protect local organisations within traditional models are crumbling. In other words, it is no longer an issue of local market

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China Continues to Evolve as a World Leader in the Digital Media Sector

The Chinese telecom market is the largest in the world in terms of subscribers and is undergoing transition. Mobile subscriptions outnumber fixed voice connections and voice is giving way to data as the primary revenue generator. China’s telecom market is served by three operators; China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile. All three are integrated

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The global streaming revolution is taking place

The global digital media entertainment market continues to go from strength to strength in 2016. In particular the global streaming revolution is gathering pace. Streaming is closing in on broadcast TV and the Internet now rivals broadcast TV as a vehicle to deliver consumer content. The entertainment industry generally is flourishing on the back of

The global streaming revolution is taking place Read More »

Will STEM and flipped classrooms lead the e-education transformation?

At regular intervals I like to report on developments in e-education. As far back as the 1990s I earmarked the education sector as one of the major beneficiaries of the new developments in digital technologies. I even predicted that this would be one of the first sectors that would take advantage of the transformational aspects

Will STEM and flipped classrooms lead the e-education transformation? Read More »

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