The communications minister seems to have suddenly realised that Optus and Telstra are shutting down their 3G networks really soon (TPG already has and nobody cared???) and is quite concerned about the ramifications, so they're setting up a Working Group to "formalise collaboration between industry to better identify impacted customers, improve the accessibility of public-facing information and contact points, and amplify messages to ensure the community is aware of the switchover". Their main beef is the ~740,000 4G handsets still in use that don't support VoLTE, so they fall back to 3G, creating an issue should one of those phones be used to call 000. I'd also be a little concerned about all the 3G embedded/IoT devices and all the spots around regional/rural areas without 4G coverage at all!
Epic's Tim Sweeney, plus Apple's Phil Schiller and Craig Federighi are currently in Melbourne for the commencement of a Federal Court trial between the two megacorps that was put on hold by the Australian court until the USA trial wrapped up. It's basically a repeat of what happened in the USA, with Epic having a problem with the fees Apple & Google charge being unfair, along with the "illegal monopoly over their app stores" (i.e: no other way to distribute apps except their stores). The trial will go for 16 weeks and how it will end up is anyone's guess. Australia's competition laws are very different to the USA's and now that we have the EU's DMA in action, that gives Epic a lot more ammo than it did back when they first sued Apple & Google many years ago.
Uber has settled with a group of 8,000 upset Australian taxi drivers for a whopping $271.8m, the fifth largest class action in Australian history. They said that "Uber Australia and its parent companies knowingly operated illegally and therefore had an unfair advantage over taxi and hire car drivers who were complying with the law" back when Uber kicked off locally. While a massive portion of taxi drivers are shit (dodgy EFTPOS terminals, taking unnecessary long routes, refusing short fares, creepy towards women, etc. etc.), they are correct that Uber just waltzed on in, ignored the laws and then bent the laws to their will as more and more people preferred Uber to taxis. I wonder if Uber has even made $271m of profit in Australia over the years?
The National Communications Museum finally has a opening date! Friday the 30th of August will see this museum in a former telephone exchange in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn open to the public. It's a "contemporary museum that connects audiences with stories about Australia's past and current communications technologies; inspiring futures by demonstrating their potential impact in enabling, building and transforming communities" - or in layperson's terms, a phone museum. I enjoyed visiting just before it was closed for renovations and I'm excited to see what they've done to the place. I really hope they haven't aimed it at children and tried to make it interesting for the nerds into Australia's telecommunications history.
Flyer / postcard, 'Self-serve computers workshops & design', promoting design software workshops, paper, maker unknown, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, c.1990-1998 (Powerhouse Museum)
📻 Rice - Slomosa
😎 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon.
💬 Checked out the paid subscriber only forum? It's a tidy little place to discuss tech with like minded Aussies.
👋 Forums not your thing? The Sizzle has a Slack group you can procrastinate in and chat with other nerds bored at work.
💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info, change email address or cancel your subscription? Visit the customer portal.
🎁 Make someone's day and buy them a 12 month gift subscription to The Sizzle.
📚 Browse The Sizzle Archive. A few issues are missing and it's not searchable, but it's better than nothing.
🫂 Friends of The Sizzle is a small group of businesses or organisations operated by Sizzle subscribers. Support your fellow Sizzler!
💔 Tired of my bullshit? Unsubscribe and I'll never speak to you again.
The Sizzle is created on Wathaurong land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.