The weekday briefing on Australian telecommunications, data centres and AI infrastructure.
Today's briefing
Thursday 12 November 2026
Superloop's FY27 guidance leads the day: it expects underlying EBITDA of $148 million to $156 million after adding 18,500 customers in four months, with capital spending rising to $58 million to $62 million.
The TIO reported 53,834 complaints in 2025-26, with Superloop's tally almost doubling over its 30-day cancellation notice.
On infrastructure, the AEMC finalised grid access rules for large data centres on 12 November 2026, and NRW unit Fredon won a roughly $240 million electrical contract from Shape.
Superloop expects FY27 underlying EBITDA of $148 million to $156 million, up 21 to 27 per cent on FY26, after adding 18,500 customers in four months. Capital spending is set to climb to $58 million to $62 million, and reports differ on how the shares traded.
The Australian Energy Market Commission published its final Improving the NEM Access Standards – Package 2 rule on 12 November 2026. It sets technical requirements for large inverter-based loads such as data centres and applies immediately, with a six-month grace period for advanced applicants.
SpaceX wants access to the 2GHz mobile satellite band to add voice and broadband to Starlink Mobile in Australia. ACMA says it has made no final decision and will consult further, with allocation due before the Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation starts in December 2027.
The Fair Call Coalition and ACCAN want the ACMA to toughen its draft Telecommunications Consumer Protections Standard and bring it into force quickly. They name four areas for change, including a ban on sales incentives.
The ACMA's Five-Year Spectrum Outlook 2026–31 schedules consultation on the 2300–2302 MHz band for April–June 2027 and on amateur class licence changes for January–March 2027. No decision has been made to remove amateur access.
Optus says it is the first telco globally to validate Cisco's Live Protect on 8000 Series routers, which lets it apply interim protections without equipment restarts while permanent fixes are tested.
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman logged 53,834 phone and internet complaints in 2025-26, 6.5% fewer than a year earlier, but issues such as fault testing, outages and unclear bills increased. Superloop's tally almost doubled, which the TIO tied mainly to disputes over its 30-day cancellation notice.
Rutherglen residents and businesses lost Telstra mobile service for much of the week before 11 November 2026, with replacement hardware not arriving until Saturday, the Corowa Free Press and Shepparton News reported.
Diraq has switched on a silicon spin quantum computer at an Equinix facility in Sydney that draws under 20 kW, and says it is aiming for 256 qubits in the same system within a year.
NRW Holdings said Fredon, its wholly owned subsidiary, has been awarded an electrical services contract of about $240 million by Shape. The project and its location were not identified.
Microsoft will cut commercial cloud prices in Australian dollars by 4 per cent on 1 January 2027, while raising them 10 per cent in New Zealand dollars and 15.7 per cent in Indian rupees. It is the first round under a once-a-year currency review.
Raystech Group has outlined a staged AI data centre campus in South Australia that could reach about 500MW, linked to its renewable energy business. The project is still at the investigation stage.
Netflix and Viacom International filed a Federal Court application on 5 November 2026 seeking blocks on 25 anime piracy sites across more than 60 domains. It names 39 internet providers, among them Telstra, Optus, TPG, Vodafone, Aussie Broadband and Superloop.