Welcome to the SETEL website
SETEL's role is to advance the interests of small, micro and home business as consumers of telecommunications services with industry, government and regulators. We seek to raise levels of awareness of telecommunications issues, products and services and assist small businesses to make informed decisions as consumers in the telecommunications market.
SETEL is concerned about the extent and quality of supply of telecommunications services to all Australian small businesses, particularly in areas where competition is either non-existent or is inadequate. The availability of affordable medium/high speed data services remains a key issue.
Key topics for small business this month
National Broadband Network (NBN)
Comments on the regulatory process necessary to underpin the proposed NBN were due in to DBCDE on 25 June however the full parameters of any selected tender proposal are not yet known. The event of the incumbent dominant carrier being the successful tenderer will have very different implications compared with success by a consortium bid. Additional price controls and access regulations spring to mind!
SETEL’s view is that the data speeds promised by a fibre-based NBN are worth waiting for (up to 5 years) but that much more needs to be done in the interim to remove network impediments (RIMS & Pair-Gains) and upgrade most exchanges to handle ADSL2 with access to competitors. Broadband speeds of 1.5-2 Mbps are adequate but necessary for a significant majority of small, home and micro businesses in the short to medium timeframe to enable them to experience the growing range of applications that can benefits their business operations.
At stake due to the NBN tender process is the continued existence of competitive supply in a range of telecommunications services. Small business will not be well served by a very large dominant telco having significant control over access, pricing and service supply issues throughout most of Australia.
If the NBN timeframe is subjected to a delayed start date immediate remedial action is essential to upgrade existing services to supply all users with at least low-end broadband. Competition in copper, wireless, mobile and satellite networks can provide much needed services to all users while the fibre-based network (if selected) is rolled out.
Mobiles
The CDMA network closure seems to have ‘dropped off the radar’ and media focus is on the release of iPhone & similar devices that offer much improved data and voice services over a mobile handset.
Small business users again need to ‘skill up’ on the value of these products and the downside of malware, high cost and uncontrolled access to premium services.
Security
The issue of security in relation to ICT always comes to the fore around end-of-financial time when software upgrades are introduced. Security has to be addressed on a year-round basis hence the focus on those matters in this site.
What's new
In the week that was: it was National eSecurity Awareness Week! And to raise awareness of security issues, SETEL have compiled a small easy-to-understand package of handy tips, free tricks, and sound advice to make sure you, your business, and
your finances are protected.
Small businesses often have to go a step further to protect themselves if the computer is shared with the family. The financial strain that malicious software can cause is often too much for a small, micro, or home-based business to bear.
You can protect yourself by learning how to prevent malicious software from making its way onto your system, prevent vital information leaks, and to avoid spam. A list of free and reliable security products is also included in the compilation for National e-Security Awareness Week, and it can be found here!
Premium SMS subscription services allow you to receive and/or send an SMS (short message service) for services or content on things like games for your mobile, ring tones, horoscopes, daily news, updates for a particular website etc.
These come at a price starting from $1 a week to $4.95 per SMS. However sometimes people do not know that they’ve signed up for this service, or they didn’t notice the fine print on the bottom end of a ‘free’ offer.
CTN looks at how to stop paying for these messages, and how to handle any problems or make a complaint.
They’ve also included handy tips to consider before buying a mobile phone ‘cap’ on their website.
A ‘cap’ is a set amount to be paid for your mobile service per month in exchange for credit to be used by you. For example a $29.95 cap may give you $129 worth in credit for your mobile phone.
There are two types of caps:
A hard cap: stops your services when it expires or when you have used up all of your credit; and
A soft cap: which accrues extra charges for every service you use after your credit has been used up or has expired.
These caps often have conditions attached which might outline what services can be used, or are covered with the cap, or the limit of the different types of services are that you can use. An example of this is that a cap may cover call costs, but not internet browsing.
CTN outlines what you should look out for when purchasing a mobile phone cap, how it can be utilised to save you money, and how to make a complaint if issues relating to this cannot be resolved.
We recommend that you use the short template we have provided so as to keep track of your mobile phone contracts. These can be found here.
SETEL has published the results of research carried out on Small Business awareness of IT Security issues.
To stay in the market more and more businesses must adapt to today's technology - and must keep their systems safe.
Basics such as SPAM & antivirus were well covered by businesses, but more complex (& potentially damaging) issues such as phishing, malware and offsite backup were not. Respondents generally found Off the Shelf solutions unsatisfactory and customer service often unhelpful. Suppliers and retailers generally assumed higher levels of knowledge than what existed. Advice was found to be too technical and complex.
The report includes many recommendations that can save time and money.
To download and read more on the report click here.
To take the shortcut to the list of recommendations click here.
Events
We'll keep you posted of any upcoming events here!
PoliciesSETEL develops concise policy statements to emphasise small business concerns about particular issues and to highlight SETEL's views.
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SETEL Newsletter No. 6 June 2008What was covered:
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