SHOTS FIRED? A cheeky advert for internet service provider TPG has been doing the rounds online. It certainly doesn’t paint the NBN in a positive light. In fact, it explicitly depicts the beleaguered network as a downgrade.

With TPG set to launch a fourth mobile network, the rise of new WiFi based services and 5G set to become a reality, it's fair to say Australia's telcos are preparing for significant changes as we enter a new decade. Based on informed forecasts, here’s what Australia’s cellular network scene could look like by 2020.

Over the next three years, TPG will spend $600 million to build a mobile network that it claims will reach 80 per cent of Australians. Here's what we know about it so far.

Last year the Federal Government announced it would be auctioning off two 15 MHz lots of the 700 MHz spectrum, used to provide 4G mobile broadband. Today, the winning bids for the auction have been announced, with TPG and Vodafone snapping it up.

iiNet has shut down its Sydney office and most of the staff have been made redundant. The Internet service provider (ISP) was acquired by TPG over a year ago. Here are the details.

How does your ISP stack up against the rest in the Netflix stakes? Well, we could descend into fact-absent bickering or, you know, just check out Netflix's own stats for Australia's top service providers. It even has recent data and if you're a Telstra customer, don't expect to win any of these debates in the near future.

Data allowances on mobile phone plans and mobile are much more generous than they used to be, but the volume on offer doesn't tell the whole story. Depending on exactly how your mobile provider counts data can make a huge difference to how quickly you burn through it. Planhacker rounds up the current policies for every mobile provider in Australia.

TPG has just updated its mobile plans, with a $45 a month no-contract plan that includes unlimited calls and texts to Australians numbers and 6GB of data. How does that stack up against its competition?

TPG has just announced that it is planning to buy iiNet for a whopping $1.4 billion. That will make the combined entity Australia's second-largest ISP.

It's not clear for many of us when (if ever) the National Broadband Network (NBN) will ever arrive. But for people who can already connect to the high-speed fibre network, which providers are they actually choosing?

TPG first announced plans for an "unlimited" broadband service way back in September 2012. That deal is finally available, but as with any purportedly unlimited deal, it pays to read the fine print carefully.

The ACCC has released its first report on Telstra’s compliance with its Structural Separation Rules (SSU) and migration plan, which aims to safeguard competition until the National Broadband Network is finished. The report found that the telco made seven breaches of the equivalence and transparency measures contained in the SSU.

The future of 4G in Australia took a big step forward this morning after the results of the government’s Digital Dividend were announced. Telstra, Optus and TPG Internet have collectively parted with almost $2 billion to secure spectrum in the 700MHz and 2.5GHz bands. For consumers and businesses, this will translate to faster 4G services. Here's what each telco plans to do with their slice of the spectrum pie.

One argument sometimes used against voice over internet protocol (VOIP) telephone services is that they don't always identify your location when you make a call to the 000 emergency number. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is taking TPG to court for a more fundamental problem: a six-month period where some of TPG's phone subscribers apparently couldn't access 000 at all.

There are already lots of National Broadband Network (NBN) plans to choose from, but none yet offer an "unlimited" option that doesn't count data. TPG is planning to offer such a deal for $69.99, which would match its existing unlimited ADSL2+ offer.

The battle over whether TPG's advertising for a $29.99 unlimited broadband plan was deceptive has been running for quite a while and isn't finished yet. But this is now a practical outcome for consumers: if you signed up for the Unlimited ADSL2+ plan at that price but feel you were misled as to the total cost, you can now ask to be released from your contract.

If you're a heavy internet user, getting shaped at the end of the month can be a major nuisance, and no-one wants to pay a fortune for excess data. The solution is an unlimited broadband plan, but what choices do you have? Planhacker rounds up all the unlimited ADSL2+ deals.

One of the key requirements under the new Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code is for mobile phone providers to specify how many 2-minute calls you could make on each plan they offer. That won't be a requirement until March 1 next year, but we can easily perform that calculation ourselves right now.

This court case began way back in 2010, and it's still not over: TPG has been fined $2 million in the Federal Court for misleading broadband advertising. TPG plans to appeal, but it's a reminder that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) takes a very firm view on misleading advertising.