Cars
NBN pricing remains too high, too complex, and uncertain: Telstra

Telstra CEO Andy Penn has said the changes introduced by NBN on Monday to its wholesale pricing will not have an economic impact on his company.
Speaking at Telstra’s investor day, Penn said since the company responsible for deploying the National Broadband Network (NBN) across Australia has not changed its average revenue per user (ARPU) outlook, nothing will change.
“Their outlook on ARPU hasn’t changed, and given that their ARPU is our cost, by definition, ergo it follows there is no upside from that,” Penn said.
The Telstra CEO said the telco’s position on NBN pricing remains the same following NBN announcing on Monday it would add 100/20, 250/25, and 1000/50Mbps speed tiers, allow retailers to pool unused CVC on a national basis, and create an allowance for TCP/IP headers above its layer 2 remit.
“Unfortunately they are creating more complexity into the system … they’ve introduced 100/20Mbps plan, we’ve got customers currently on 100/40Mbps, we’re now going to have to build a new product, think about how we migrate customers, complexity for customers in terms of why some are on 100/40Mbps and 100/20Mbps,” Penn said.
“Our position remains fundamentally the same, the prices are too high, the structure is too complex, the CVC just adds uncertainty, and I think it is going to continue to hold back the retail fixed broadband market until we see more fundamental change there.”
The introduction of the 1000/50Mbps speed tier drew the ire of former NBN board member and Internode founder Simon Hackett.
“1000/50 seems insane. TCP transfers are rare limited by the throughout of ACKs in the other direction. Think in terms of a circa 8:1 ratio,” Hackett tweeted.
“So that’s likely going to be limited in the real world to circa 400mb/s and when at that limit any other upload will be starved out. Nuts.”
Penn added that NBN should introduce a voice-only service, rather than having its 12/1Mbps plan as its entry-level tier.
“The price has been reduced on the 12/1 plan, but the wholesale price still comes up at about AU$30, which does not really facilitate an attractive voice only solution,” Penn said.
“There is some irony in that the area where we’ve seen the most improvement in NBN wholesale pricing is in 12/1 plans. Which, in a sense, creates a bit of a perverse incentive for customers to go the slowest possible speeds when the whole point of the NBN is to actually try and improve speeds.
“In fairness to NBN, they’ve also brought the price down at the really fast speeds as well, although there’s still ongoing challenges with the ability of most of the infrastructure to facilitate those higher speeds as well.”
Earlier in the day, Telstra said a quarter of its Android phones sold since July are 5G capable, and announced it was extending the reach of its 5G network with 15 additional regional cities in Australia’s eastern states having coverage switched on.
“In terms of our dense population coverage, proportion of devices that we’re selling that are 5G capable, we are probably second only to Korea,” Penn said.
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Customers with high speeds plans on connections not capable of those speeds to be offered refunds.
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Australia’s incumbent telco also turns on 5G for 15 more regional centres in NSW, Victoria, and Queensland.
NBN cost per premises continues to increase while full fibre drops
Average revenue per user boosted to AU$45 for government-owned wholesaler.
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Telstra worried that NBN does not have a plan to deal with left-behind premises.
Cars
Bugatti W16 Mistral Puts A $5 Million Price On The End Of An Era

It’s set into a completely new monocoque, Bugatti opting to rework its core platform rather than simply slice off the top of the coupe’s version. The curved windshield wraps around the A-pillars and into the side glass, the top line then flowing into the huge side air intakes. At the front, there’s a sizable horseshoe grille wider than on other Chiron cars.
Two roof-mounted engine air scoops work alongside the oil cooler intakes that are mounted on the side. Separating them allowed Bugatti’s designers to leave the side section of the W16 Mistral slimmer. The scoops have also been made from a custom carbon fiber structure, each of which is strong enough to support the entire weight of the roadster should it flip.
The lighting signature is where the W16 Mistral steps most decisively away from its coupe predecessors. The front has a quad-light signature that doubles as an aero aid, pulling airflow in through the clusters and then out of the front wheel arches. At the rear, the X-theme seen first on the Bugatti Bolide has been updated, here also working as a vent for the side oil coolers.
Cars
This Brand Makes The Worst Android Phones, According To 27% Of People We Polled

Most respondents who participated in our poll seem to earnestly believe that Xiaomi makes the worst Android phones out there. More than 27% of the polled users think Xiaomi deserves this particular crown. On the face of it, the poll results seem grossly unfair towards Xiaomi, given that the company doesn’t even sell its phones to U.S. consumers. There is no denying, however, that Xiaomi needs to do a lot to change its brand perception in the U.S. if they ever plan on releasing smartphones in North America (again, that is).
With more than 21% of the votes, a virtually unknown smartphone brand for U.S. consumers comes in second place. The brand in question here is Realme — a sub-brand owned by OPPO. Realme is a very popular smartphone brand in Asia and is known mainly for its value-for-money devices that usually compete against similarly priced alternatives from Xiaomi.
Another smartphone brand that is in desperate need of a brand overhaul is Google. More than 18% of polled people thought Google makes the worst Android phones. That’s a lot of brickbats for a company behind the software that powers Android phones. The less favorable opinion seems to stem from a long list of issues that troubled the Google Pixel lineup.
Samsung and OnePlus find themselves in the last two places on this list with 17.23% and 15.54% of the votes, respectively. It could be that the other brands are simply less popular in the minds of U.S. citizens, or it could be that Samsung and OnePlus really and truly make the best Android phones — what do you think?
Cars
Lincoln Model L100 Concept Is Hyper-Luxury Electrification With Wild Doors And A Disco Floor

Certainly, the exterior of the Model L100 Concept is memorable. Lincoln describes it as “the tension between exuberant elegance and subtle restraint,” and it’s clear that aerodynamics have played a big role in deciding the overall silhouette. We’ve seen how that chase for slipperiness through the air can lead to electric cars looking like relatively amorphous blobs, though that’s something Lincoln manages to avoid.
Instead, it plays with light, glass, and scale. The Model L100 Concept hunkers low to the ground, with a glass panoramic roof and reverse-hinged doors to add drama as well as make entering and exiting more straightforward. Sensors track the owner’s approach, meanwhile, with the promise of a curated light show both outside and inside. Then, the doors — which extend all the way back to the rear bumper — gape outward, while the entire glass roof section lifts up.
The concept is finished with a satin digital ceramic tricot metallic paint, shifting between cool blue and soft white. Instead of the traditional chrome, frosted acrylic has been used as a more sustainable alternative. The whole floor of the cabin, meanwhile, is one big digital panel capable of showing shifting graphics, colors, and patterns.
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