No 19: 5 September 2023

New Draft Guideline on Deploying G.fast Broadband Access Technology

Communications Alliance Ltd invites public comment on the following draft Industry Guideline:

• G.fast Deployment on Customer Cabling Industry Guideline (DR G671:2023).

The new draft G.fast Deployment on Customer Cabling Industry Guideline (DR G671:2023) is intended to provide:

• A framework for managed sharing of customer cabling infrastructure within a premises or campus, while ensuring that all end users receive adequate G.fast data rates; and
• A technical basis for determination of whether sharing is viable in cases where G.fast Systems from one Distribution Point Unit (DPU) share customer cabling infrastructure with G.fast Systems originating from another DPU.

G.fast:

• Is a gigabit broadband access technology that uses the existing infrastructure of wire-pairs that were originally deployed for plain old telephone service (POTS) services.
• Equipment can be deployed from fibre-fed distribution points (fibre to the distribution point, FTTdp) located very near the customer premises, or within buildings (fibre to the building, FTTB).
• Is defined in ITU-T Recommendations G.9700 and G.9701.

Communications Alliance welcomes your input.

Copies of the draft document can be obtained from Communications Alliance:
www.commsalliance.com.au/documents/public_comment

Telephone: (02) 9959 9111 E-mail: info@commsalliance.com.au
Facsimile: (02) 9954 6136 Web site: www.commsalliance.com.au

PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD CLOSES AT 5.00 P.M. AEST ON FRIDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2023

Please note that all submissions received will be made publicly available on the Communications Alliance website unless the submitter requests otherwise.

Entries Invited for the 2023 Product Stewardship Excellence Awards

Entries are invited for this year’s Product Stewardship Excellence Awards. Product stewardship ensures products and materials are managed in a way that reduces their environmental and human health impacts throughout their lifecycle and across the supply chain.

The Awards are given by the Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence, which was established by a consortium of the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures, the Australian Industry Group and Cox Inall dentsu in partnership with the Australian Government, through the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

There are six categories related to product stewardship for:

1. Collective Schemes;
2. Large Companies and Brands;
3. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs);
4. Design Excellence;
5. Emissions Reduction; and
6. Digitalisation.

Entries for this year’s Awards close on Friday 15 September 2023.

More information about the Awards can be found at: 
stewardshipexcellence.com.au/awards-2023

auDA Foundation 2023 Grant Round Opens

The auDA Foundation has opened its 2023 community grant round. A total of $600,000 in funding will support 15 new education, research and community-based projects that enhance the utility of the internet.

As part of auDA’s Public Benefit Program, the 2023 community grant round will offer grants of $40,000 for projects that enhance digital inclusion and digital innovation for one of the following groups:

1. Rural, regional and remote Australians;
2. Australians living with disability;
3. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;
4. Older Australians (65 years+); and
5. Young Australians (12-24 years).

Applications for the auDA Foundation's 2023 community grant round close at 11.59pm AEDT on Monday 2 October 2023.

To learn more and to apply go to www.audafoundation.org.au.

Current Consultations

Below is a list of currently open telecommunications-related consultations being conducted by Government and other organisations that provide an opportunity for you to have your say.

Communications Alliance members interested in contributing to an industry submission (if one is being developed in response to a specific consultation) should contact us.