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Australia in the Connected World Twelve Page Special An iTWire publication www.itwire.com Issue 37 12 October 2013 Australia in the connected world Twelve page special Twitter confirms it will go public New iPads on the way Cisco acquires Sourcefire Sacked NBN director slams Turnbull In this Issue TO JUMP TO A STORY, CLICK THE PAGE NUMBER SPECIAL FEATURE AUSTRALIA IN THE CONNECTED WORLD Australia improves digital ranking 4 Australian mobile downloads surge 7 … but the handset market is saturated and declining 8 … with slow growth forecast in mobile services 9 Telstra customers have the oldest phones 10 … and Aussies choose cheaper over faster 11 Australians engage with online advertising 13 … while PC sales get even sicker 14 Obama upholds Samsung ban 16 Berners-Lee promotes affordable Web 16 IT in healthcare not keeping up 17 Unisys releases new virtualisation platform 19 … and enters MDM market by Stealth 21 Huge rise in privacy concerns 22 Cisco acquires Sourcefire 23 Sydney Catholic high schools install massive Wi-Fi network 24 Microsoft pays $100K for new exploit technique 25 Facebook removes more privacy 26 Telstra says 4G demands ‘acceleration’ 27 Sacked NBN director slams Turnbull – and Conroy 28 All that Twitters will be sold 29 iTWire Magazine Issue 37 12 October 2013 iTWire Pty Ltd www.itwire.com page 2 Optus replaces Telstra in NSW Government shared services 30 … and inks $60 million Virgin deal 31 AIG wants the new NBN to prioritise business 31 Quickflix rebound continues 33 Google Australia boss says NBN debate flawed 34 Commander announces ‘rapid’ 4G plans 35 Telstra to provide Wi-Fi to Olympic Stadium 36 … and improves Aust Post’s parcel tracking 37 NEC Australia extends cloud offerings 38 GADGETS, GEEGAWS and GIZMOS Gather round for Samsung's new Galaxy 39 Apple to announce new iPads this month 40 Leap Motion leaps into Aussie stores 40 Tablets gaining traction in workplace use 41 Razer’s fine blade 42 RECRUITMENT and APPOINTMENTS IT executive demand – the best of a bad lot 44 Mansfield joins Guavas advisory board 45 Replicon sets up regional hub in Sydney 45 HootSuite hires Mandel from Yahoo! 46 HDS hires Porteous for managed service delivery 47 Imperva takes on IBMer to head up sales 48 iTWire Magazine is published every Saturday by iTWire Pty Ltd 21 Jenkins St, Caulfield South, Vic 3162, Australia Editor: Graeme Philipson • [email protected] • Tel: 0418 609 397 Associate editors: Stan Beer • [email protected] • Peter Dinham • [email protected] Contributors: David Swan, Ray Shaw, Stephen Withers, David Heath, Sam Varghese, Mike Bantick, Alex Zaharov-Reutt iTWire Magazine Issue 37 12 October 2013 iTWire Pty Ltd www.itwire.com page 3 SPECIAL FEATURE AUSTRALIA IN THE CONNECTED WORLD Australia improves digital ranking The ITU has released its annual report on ICT usage around the world. There is a still a significant digital divide, but the developing world is improving rapidly. So is Australia. Australia has leapt from 15th to 11th position in the International Telecommunications Union's annual ‘Measuring the Information Society’ report. It is the biggest increase amongst developed economies, but it may not be sustainable, given that it was largely based on the FTTP version of the NBN. But the real improvements are in the developing world. Usage rates are climbing and costs are decreasing. The fastest area of growth is in mobile broadband over smartphones and tablet. The report by the ITU – an arm of the United Nations – shows buoyant global demand for ICT products and services worldwide, steadily declining prices for both cellular and broadband services, and unprecedented growth in 3G uptake. By end 2013 there will be 6.8 billion total mobile-cellular subscriptions – almost as many as there are people on the planet. An estimated 2.7 billion people will also be connected to the Internet – though speeds and prices vary widely, both across and within regions. Mobile broadband connections over 3G and 3G+ networks are growing at an average annual rate of 40%, equating to 2.1 billion mobile-broadband subscriptions and a global penetration rate of almost 30%. Almost half of all people worldwide are now covered by a 3G network. The report shows that South Korea leads the world in terms of overall ICT development for the third consecutive year, followed closely by the five Scandinavia countries. The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg and Hong Kong also rank in the Top Ten. Australia improved four places, from 15th to 11th. The US is 17th. Australia’s improvement ranks us as one of the ‘most dynamic countries’. The other big improvers are developing countries: United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Barbados, Seychelles, Belarus, Costa Rica, Mongolia, Zambia, Bangladesh, Oman and Zimbabwe. The ITU’s ICT Development Index (IDI) ranks 157 countries according to their level of ICT access, use and skills, and compares 2011 and 2012 scores. It is widely recognised by governments, UN agencies and industry as the most accurate and impartial measure of overall national ICT development. All countries in the IDI top 30 are high-income countries, underlining the strong link between income and ICT progress. The report finds large differences between developed iTWire Magazine Issue 37 12 October 2013 iTWire Pty Ltd www.itwire.com page 4 and developing countries, with IDI values on average twice as high in the developed world compared with developing countries. ”This year’s IDI figures show much reason for optimism, with governments clearly prioritising ICTs as a major lever of socio-economic growth, resulting in better access and lower prices,” said ITU Secretary- General Dr Hamadoun Touré. “Our most pressing challenge is to identify ways to enable those countries which are still struggling to connect their populations to deploy the networks and services that will help lift them out of poverty.” Pricing Analysis of trends in broadband pricing in more than 160 countries shows that in the four years between 2008-2012 fixed-broadband prices fell by 82% overall, from 115.1%of average monthly income per capita in 2008 to 22.1% in 2012. The biggest drop occurred in developing countries, where fixed-broadband prices fell by 30% year on year between 2008 and 2011. The average price per unit of speed (Mbps) also decreased significantly between 2008 and 2012, with a global median price of US$19.50 per Mbps in 2012, almost a quarter of the price that was being charged in 2008. The report also presents for the first time the results of a comprehensive price data collection exercise that was carried out for four different types of mobile-broadband service. Results show that in developing countries mobile broadband is now more affordable than fixed broadband, but still much less affordable than in developed countries. The global broadband affordability target set in 2011 by the ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Digital Development aims to bring the cost of entry-level broadband service to less than 5% of average monthly income. Digital natives A new model developed by ITU for this year’s report estimates the size of the ‘digital native’ population worldwide, showing that in 2012 there were around 363 million digital natives out of a world population of around 7 billion. This equates to 5.2% of the total global population, and 30% of the global youth population. The model defines digital natives as networked youth aged 15-24 years with five or more years of online experience. iTWire Magazine Issue 37 12 October 2013 iTWire Pty Ltd www.itwire.com page 5 Out of a total of 145 million young Internet users in the developed countries, 86.3% are estimated to be digital natives, compared with less than half of the 503 million young Internet users in the developing world. Within the next five years, the digital native population in the developing countries is forecast to more than double. Digital divide At the beginning of 2013 almost 80% of households globally had a TV, compared with 41% of households with a computer and 37% with Internet access. The report shows that the number of households with Internet access is increasing in all regions, but large differences persist, with penetration rates at the end of this year set to reach almost 80% in the developed world, compared with 28% in the developing world. An estimated 1.1 billion households worldwide are not yet connected to the Internet, with 90% of these in the developing world. The trend is strongly positive, however, with the proportion of households with Internet access in developing countries increasing from 12% in 2008 to 28% in 2013 –a remarkable 18% annual growth rate. Internet connectivity as a percentage of population has been growing at double-digit rates over the past ten years. The percentage of the population online in the developed world will reach almost 77% by the end of 2013, compared with 31% in the developing world. Telecoms investment ITU research shows that telecommunication operators’ capital expenditure peaked in 2008 with global investment totalling US$290 billion, followed by two consecutive years of decline. Despite the upturn in 2011, 2008 investment levels have not yet been restored. Sluggish investment levels after 2008 are consistent with an overall economic environment of restricted access to capital markets, which may limit the capacity of operators to raise funds for new investments. With the expansion of global operators into new markets, many operators are active in both developing and developed countries, with the adverse financial environment in the developed world likely impairing investments in the developing world. An executive summary of the report is available at: www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/mis2013.aspx Graeme Philipson iTWire Magazine Issue 37 12 October 2013 iTWire Pty Ltd www.itwire.com page 6 Australian mobile downloads surge The amount of data downloaded on smartphones in Australia grew by nearly half last year.
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