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Posts Tagged ‘telecommunications’

According to reports on Broadband News website Whirlpool, the iPrimus data centre at 55 King Street Melbourne was crippled over the weekend due to a now all to common data centre blackout.

Whirlpool says:

The power dropped around 3:45PM and caused Victorian and Tasmanian customers from ISPs such as Exetel, iiNet, Internode and Netspace to lose their broadband connections.

Internode was able to route around the problem by 4:15PM, while the other ISPs were back online around 5:30PM.

In a notice to customers, Primus blamed “high tension fuses in the CitiPower substation feeding our Data centre”, which it said was the same issue affecting power in February.

Backup diesel generators “failed to start due to a synchronization processor failure.” According to the notice, works to upgrade the substation that failed were already planned for next weekend.

With a recent outage in February 2009, one would have thought that Primus would have been more proactive in avoiding a repeat of the previous disaster.

The outage provides a timely reminder for companies with critical data centre need to ask their data centre provider simple questions such as:

1. what redundant power arrangements are in place ?

2. how often is the power redundancy system tested ?

3. is there a meaningful SLA to give some level of assurance, and financial compensation if the worst does happen ?

These are some simple yet important questions to ask, if your data centre provider cannot answer these questions satisfactorily, then you should consider whether they are the best provider for your mission critical hosting requirements.

Tags: data centre, ISP Lawyers, IT Law, IT Lawyers, telecommunications, Telecommunications Lawyers
Posted in ISP and Telco Law, IT Law | Comments Off

Telecommunications companies have been the biggest offenders for contacting people on the Do Not Call Register, according to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

The Do Not Call Register was introduced on 31 May 2007 to allow individuals to stop receiving a wide range of unsolicited telemarketing calls. ACMA is responsible for overseeing the register’s operation and for investigating breaches of the Do Not Call Register Act.

In the first year of the register’s operation, telecommunications companies were responsible for 55 per cent of complaints received by ACMA. The complaints have resulted from unwanted calls promoting phone plans and other related services.

The ACMA have signalled a new approach, with ACMA Chairman Chris Chapman stating “Businesses have had ample time to adjust to the new laws and by now should have robust compliance measures in place,”.

We think that this new approach will result in more investigations and potential prosecutions, fines or enforceable undertakings. It is even more reason for business to increase vigilance when planning marketing campaigns in particular.

There are services available to allow call lists to be ‘washed’ against the Do Not Call Register to assist with statutory compliance.

Key facts

*During 2007–08, there were 28,804 complaints received.

*Of these, 23,336 involved potential breaches of the Do Not Call Register Act.

*Over the past 12 months, ACMA has issued four infringement notices to telecommunications companies. This includes a penalty of close to $150,000 issued to Dodo Australia.

*ACMA has accepted enforceable undertakings from Dodo, as well as Astron Communications and People Telecom. Formal warnings have also been issued to Global Telelinks, Ezycall and m8 Telecom.

*ACMA estimates that 5 per cent of the businesses involved in complaints are responsible for approximately 70 per cent of the total complaints received. ACMA’s formal investigations are focusing on these businesses.

Tags: ACMA, Do Not Call Register Act, ISP, ISP and Telco Law, statutory compliance, telcos, telecommunications
Posted in General, ISP and Telco Law | Comments Off