The weekday briefing on Australian telecommunications, data centres and AI infrastructure.
Today's briefing
Friday 30 October 2026
NextDC shares have fallen 42 per cent after power delays at its M3 Melbourne data centre forced a deep guidance cut, and Grafa reports it now faces removal from the S&P/ASX 50 Index.
Elsewhere in data centres, EdgeConneX entered Australia in a 50-50 venture with Stockland, with 450MW of power secured, and coNEXA will spend $250 million on recycled water for NextDC's S4 Sydney.
In regulation, ACMA's maximum telco code penalty is set to rise from $250,000 to $10 million.
NextDC shares fell 42% after delays to power works at its M3 Melbourne data centre forced a deep guidance cut, and Grafa reports the company now faces removal from the S&P/ASX 50 Index.
US-founded operator EdgeConneX has teamed with Stockland in an equal joint venture to build hyperscale data centre campuses in Sydney and Melbourne, with 450MW of power secured. It has named Chris Maher to run its Australian business.
coNEXA will invest $250 million to extend its AquaNet network so NextDC's S4 Sydney data centre can take up to 16 million litres a day of recycled water. Construction begins in November, with supply due in late 2027.
Nasdaq-listed neocloud Sharon AI is recruiting and seeking investors for an AI compute campus in Albury, New South Wales, to be run through an affiliated new venture, Forbes Australia reported.
BSA Ltd booked $4.4 million of revenue and an underlying EBITDA loss of $0.6 million for the September quarter, with its nbn work gone. It is buying drone firm Eonetics, subject to a shareholder vote planned for 25 November 2026.
Reforms outlined on 15 October 2026 let ACMA act on breaches of registered telco codes without a prior compliance order, with the maximum penalty rising from $250,000 to $10 million, according to ACCAN. A registration scheme could also bar providers with serious compliance failures from the market.
The City of Gosnells in Perth voted unanimously on 13 October to advance a planning scheme amendment and draft policy for data centres. They would be a discretionary use on General Industry land, with noise, water and power tests. CDC's Maddington facility is exempt.
Spacetalk used $3.8 million of operating cash in the September quarter and ended with $5.2 million, enough for about 1.4 quarters at that rate. It is moving subscribers onto TPG Telecom's network and has signed a non-binding MOU with an unnamed UK operator.
FibreconX CEO Mark Rafferty told the CommsDay Wholesale Congress that fibre, not buildings, may become the bottleneck for data centre growth, and called for shared builds and earlier coordination.
CoreWeave announced on 27 October 2026 a wider Global AI Network built as a petabit-scale backbone, with new points of presence in seven markets including Australia. Work starts in the fourth quarter of 2026, with a full intercontinental loop targeted for mid-2027.
The GSMA has secured a US$1.2 million subaward from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to bring mobile cell broadcast warnings to nine Pacific Island countries.