TRAI working on tough standards for telcos offering data services

The Telecom regulator has issued draft regulations which envisions average speed to be more than 90 per cent of what has been subscribed.

The longstanding bane of Australian telecoms customers, bill shock, will soon be a thing of the past because of new tough regulations, according to industry regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority. Other consumer bugbears, such as confusing plans, misleading advertising and and unsubstantiated broadband claims are also in the regulator's firing line.

The Open Data Centre Alliance – formed of 280 end user organisations with a combined annual IT spend of $100 billion – has today unveiled the first eight “usage models” or draft standards that it hopes will lead to a rapid acceleration in the adoption of cloud services leading to end user savings of up to $25 billion within five years.

Telecom New Zealand has struck deals with Emirates and Malaysian Airlines to enable its mobile customers to use their phones for voice, text and data services on selected flights: if they can bear the cost. It is probably the most expensive data service on the globe.

The European Parliament has issued two draft reports (here and here) on the reform of European data protection rules, proposed by the European Commission last January, expressing “full support for a coherent and robust data protection framework with strong end enforceable rights for individuals” — and stressing the need for “a high level of protection for all data processin

Another day, another regulator seeking to shut down Uber. At least that’s what it looks like, this time in Chicago. The city’s Business Affairs and Consumer Protection department (BACP) last week issued proposed regulations that would essentially prohibit car services from using electronic devices to measure time and distance to determine fares when picking up and charging users.

One of Australia's main financial regulators has issued a blunt general warning to the entire financial services sector regarding cloud computing services, warning that the "innocuous" nature of such services could mask hidden concerns about offshoring.

The Government has imposed penalties of up to almost $1m on telcos for failing to meet the standards of performance set by the retail customer service guarantee and the Universal Service Obligation (which will apply only to Telstra at present).

Cloud services is a huge opportunity for the channel and right up Intelisys‘ alley.