[LINK] ACCAN Review under way

[Narelle]

Folks
you may be aware that the Department of Communications and the Arts has
opened a consultation on the role of Consumer Representation under s593 of
the Telecommunications Act.

This consultation is open until November 28 and I would like to encourage
you all to consider submitting, or at least letting ACCAN know directly
what you think of our work.

The consultation is here:
https://www.communications.gov.au/have-your-say/consumer-representation-review-accan

Or contact ACCAN via i...@accan.org.au or check out our web site
http://accan.org.au

best regards


Narelle


-- 


Narelle Clark
Deputy CEO
ACCAN
narelle.cl...@accan.org.au
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Re: [LINK] The NBN, as re-imagined

[JanW]

At 01:36 PM 2/11/2016, David Boxall wrote:
>>I use the internet to run pumps and an automated watering system to provide 
>>water to livestock. This of course is out of action without internet so I 
>>have to be there to ensure water is kept up to livestock. This wasn't too bad 
>>before the weather started to warm up, but now its getting dangerous. The 
>>thing is, while I have no internet I have to be at the property a lot, there 
>>is no house, its pretty tough to be honest and I don't understand why my 
>>install couldn't be a priority?
>
>>I'm about to head back there now to ensure the livestock have water so I 
>>won't have internet until I get out again in a few days. Hoping like hell 
>>somebody can help me. When I tried to explain to Hills the difficulty of the 
>>life I was living with having to be there with no house because I had no 
>>internet he told me that I had chosen to live in such an isolated place, 
>>which is true, but at least I wasn't choosing to be so pathetically 
>>incompetent at my job, which I strongly suggested to him, was much worse.

I would suggest the fellow send a bill for dead stock to the CEO of the NBN, 
along with a copy to Mitch Fifield and Malcolm Turnbull, Bill Shorten, oh, and 
Media Watch, the ACCC, ACCAN, the TIO, 7 Sunday, Current Affair, Buzzfeed and 
maybe even a newspaper or two. Even if any stock don't really die, I'd LOVE to 
see the faces on the politicians when the media front them. It would be a 
cracker!

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Some psychopaths become serial killers, and other psychopaths become 
prosecutors. - Bob Ruff, Truth and Justice, June 2016

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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[LINK] The NBN, as re-imagined

[David Boxall]

Sadly, this sort of stuff-up is not uncommon with nbn™. The potential 
consequences, however, are a bit unusual.




I don't like to ask for help but don't know what else to do.

I'm in a very remote location in far north western NSW, its 200km to 
mobile service. I had satellite internet until August when my house 
burnt to the ground in an accidental fire. The satellite dish was on 
the roof and so the internet connection was lost.


Prior to the fire there was an installation booked for NBN a couple of 
weeks after the fire, so I thought it would be an easy fix to get the 
dish installed on a pole as my roof was on the ground. They wanted to 
come and verify that my roof was not able to be used, but that is 
another story...


So we sorted through that and an installation was booked for the 21st 
October (it took all September to get to that point) In early October 
I received notice that there was a mistake and it was not the 21st but 
the 12th. I was away at that point so couldn't be there so the 12th 
was missed and I was told we would need to reschedule.


I received a phone call a couple of weeks ago to see if we could do 
the install on the 3rd November (tomorrow) and I jumped at it as I now 
have a dwelling to put the dish on eliminating the major difficulty it 
appears to be to mount the dish on a pole.


I rang Hills this morning to confirm the install date and I was told 
there was another mistake with dates, it wasn't the 3rd November but 
the 3rd December. I thought perhaps he was joking but it seems not. I 
was repeatedly assured that the earliest I would be getting internet 
was the 3rd December.


The thing Hills was unable to explain is why other installs have been 
done in the area when mine is marked as urgent but keeps being put 
back. The other installs are people that already have internet but I 
don't and I'm in a spot.


I use the internet to run pumps and an automated watering system to 
provide water to livestock. This of course is out of action without 
internet so I have to be there to ensure water is kept up to 
livestock. This wasn't too bad before the weather started to warm up, 
but now its getting dangerous. The thing is, while I have no internet 
I have to be at the property a lot, there is no house, its pretty 
tough to be honest and I don't understand why my install couldn't be a 
priority?


I'm about to head back there now to ensure the livestock have water so 
I won't have internet until I get out again in a few days. Hoping like 
hell somebody can help me. When I tried to explain to Hills the 
difficulty of the life I was living with having to be there with no 
house because I had no internet he told me that I had chosen to live 
in such an isolated place, which is true, but at least I wasn't 
choosing to be so pathetically incompetent at my job, which I strongly 
suggested to him, was much worse.


--
David Boxall|  In a hierarchical organization,
|  the higher the level,
http://david.boxall.id.au   |  the greater the confusion.
| --Dow's Law.

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Re: [LINK] Chinese tech companies changing the world

[Stephen Loosley]

Am sure Linkers find your experiences of life in China fascinating Scott.

Please keep us informed of additional appropriate impressions when you have 
time.. 

Cheers, Scott ..

Stephen

 On Tue, 01 Nov 2016 15:43:37 +1100 Scott Howard wrote 
 

 > Whilst it's certainly clear that WeChat is the dominant chat program in 
 > China (similar to Line in Japan/Singapore, and WhatsApp in much of the rest 
 > of the world), from what I've seen the non-chat features seem to be little 
 > more than marketing.
 > 
 > For example, yesterday I bought a coffee at Starbucks in Bejing.  On the 
 > receipt is a QR code, with instructions (in both Chinese and English) that 
 > if I want an invoice I should scan that QR code in WeChat  (A Chinese 
 > invoice is similar to an Australian tax invoice, except it needs to include 
 > the details of the purchaser, so they are not provided by default in most 
 > cases).
 > 
 > 
 > Sure enough, if I open WeChat and tell it to scan that barcode then I am 
 > prompted for details like my name/company name and email address in order to 
 > obtain an invoice - all from within WeChat!
 > 
 > 
 > However if I instead scan the QR code in another application, exactly the 
 > same thing happens - only this time using the devices default web browser.  
 > The WeChat app is seemingly doing nothing more than providing a barcode 
 > scanner and a web browser, but by specifying WeChat on the receipt it gives 
 > the impression that this is some specific WeChat integration.  I suspect the 
 > menu ordering mentioned below is exactly the same setup.
 > 
 > 
 > If there is an application that is revolutionary, it's the mobile payment 
 > systems like AliPay.  Open the app, and either display a barcode that the 
 > merchant then scans, or scan a barcode belonging to the merchant with your 
 > phone, and your purchase is paid for.  Within seconds the details of the 
 > transaction will be shown on your phone.
 > 
 > 
 > In one particular shop I was in a few days ago, the 4 people in line before 
 > me all paid with Alipay.
 > 
 > 
 >   Scott
 > 
 > 
 > 
 > 
 > 
 > 
 > 
 > 
 > On Fri, Oct 28, 2016 at 6:57 PM, Stephen Loosley  
 > wrote:
 > Chinese tech companies that are changing the world
 >  
 >  October 28, 2016  
 > http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/chinese-tech-companies-that-are-changing-the-world/news-story/24a6929c4a8d23d7c4c52612a009ba5d
 >  
 >  
 >  IF YOU have travelled to China in the last six months, you would know 
 > something was up.
 >  
 >  But it’s something you wouldn’t believe was happening if you didn’t see it 
 > with your own eyes.
 >  
 >  Once considered a backwater of innovation, technology has become so 
 > integrated into Chinese people’s lives that some restaurants no longer offer 
 > physical menus.
 >  
 >  During a visit to the country a couple of months ago, Sydney University 
 > Business School lecturer Dr Barney Tan saw the transformation first hand.
 >  
 >  “I asked for a menu, they said ‘sorry we don’t have a menu anymore’,” he 
 > told news.com.au.
 >  
 >  Instead the group was asked to use their mobile phones to scan a QR code.
 >  
 >  Using the app WeChat, they could look at the menu, order collaboratively 
 > and once satisfied with their order, they could send it to the kitchen.
 >  
 >  “It’s a simple innovation enabling businesses to use e-services,” Dr Tan 
 > said, and it has the ability to change the western world too.
 >  
 >  WeChat is owned by Tencent ... one of the group of three mega companies 
 > referred to as BAT in China ... Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent.
 >  
 >  “They are the e-commerce giants of China,” Dr Tan said, “and they are the 
 > ones driving innovation”.
 >  
 >  Dr Tan said they do this mainly through providing platforms for business to 
 > innovate using services they provide, and have enjoyed huge success.
 >  
 >  In contrast to western countries, where different products such as 
 > Facebook, Skype, Uber, Amazon, Instagram, Yelp, Paypal, Expedia, Spotify and 
 > Tinder are separate services, in China they are rolled into one super app.
 >  
 >  Chinese people can order food, post photos, make a doctor’s appointment, 
 > access investment services, pay bills, buy cinema tickets, train tickets and 
 > interact with their friends and family using WeChat.
 >  
 >  One Bloomberg reporter said refusing to download WeChat in China was seen 
 > as “socially weird, like refusing to wear shoes”.
 >  
 >  Dr Tan said WeChat, which is owned by Tencent, started as an imitation of 
 > WhatsApp, with the added feature of voice messages, but it had grown into 
 > much more.
 >  
 >  “It’s become an integrated thing that’s just massive, most importantly it 
 > offers a digital wallet service,” Dr Tan said.
 >  
 >  “Friends tell me when they go out they don’t need to bring a wallet 
 > anymore,” he said.
 >  
 >  The app is just one way that e-commerce is transforming China, leading