Telecommunications

A class action against Optus over a 2022 data breach that affected 10 million customers has won leave to intervene in parallel cases by the media authority and information commissioner.

Tasmania will receive its first submarine fibre optic cable in 20 years, as part of an agreement between startup Firmus and telecommunications company Subco to invest in the state’s AI infrastructure.  

An Optus contractor breached the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act by building a telecommunications facility on the roof of a heritage listed building in Sydney's Northern Beaches, a court has found.

The sSafety Commissioner is investigating five major social media companies over their compliance with a new ban on kids under 16 accessing their platforms, saying they have not implemented appropriate systems to keep kids off.

Defunct telecommunication company NewSat has until 7 April to pay security for defence costs in a case against a group of lenders that withdrew financial support for the company's satellite project.

A barrister for a group of banks defending a lawsuit launched by satellite company NewSat has questioned the credentials of the defunct firm's solicitor, who has challenged the lenders' $8.9 million security for costs bid.

An oversight in a trade secrets fight between telcos SPN and Pennytel means the matter was never formally dismissed, making Pennytel's appeal premature in a set of circumstances a judge has described as a "joke". 

Telstra has lost its bid for a split trial in a case looking to put the telco on the hook for an ex-employee's alleged sexual harassment of his neighbours.

Social media companies have removed, deactivated or restricted about 4.7 million accounts belonging to children under 16 during the first month of the country's social media ban, according to the eSafety Commissioner.

An investigation commissioned by Optus into its fatal Triple Zero outage in September has found "at least 10 mistakes" made by the telco's personnel and contractor Nokia, which was upgrading the network at the time.