Snapshot Edition 22

AMTA rejects misleading driving claim AMTA has rejected claims that driving while using a hands-free mobile is as dangerous as drink driving. AMTA CEO Chris Althaus said such claims could undermine driver safety campaigns by reducing the stigma of driving while under the influence of alcohol. He was responding to media reports of a study by the University of Utah, which says motorists who talk on handheld of hands-free mobile phones are as impaired as drivers with a BAC of 0.08.

Content regulation for mobiles The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, this week announced ACMA would be directed to undertake changes to the Broadcasting Services Act to ensure that new services available over the internet and on mobile devices are subject to the same restrictions that apply to television broadcasts.

DCITA restructure - two new primary communications groups The Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts this week announced its completion of a major internal restructure including the creation of two primary communications groups.

Fall in mobile phone handset blocking There were 148,500 mobile phone handsets blocked in the 12 months to June 30. This was 18% lower than the previous year. AMTA CEO Chris Althaus said there had been a fall in the average net blocking activity from 495 handsets a day in 2004-05 to 407 in 2005-06.

International interest in MobileMuster The GSM Association is looking closely at Australia’s mobile phone recycling scheme, MobileMuster, as part of its program of testing pilot projects for recycling. Dr Jack Rowley, the GSMA’s director of research and sustainability, is visiting Australia. He said the GSMA is interested in MobileMuster and would be looking to AMTA for insight into the program’s operations.

Businesses cleaning up for MobileMuster Congratulations to ANZ which has collected over 300 mobile phones from 2000 staff based in their Queen St office in Melbourne. ANZ conducted this Muster as a trial and is now looking to extend the collection program to its staff in offices and branches nationally. Thanks to Nokia for providing a phone as a prize to one lucky recycler.

20 per cent of South African's set to port Over one in five South Africans believe they will change networks once mobile number portability (MNP) is introduced in the country, according to a survey conducted by Synovate.

Dual capability phones in future A total of 132 million phones with both mobile and Wi-Fi capability are predicted to be in use in the US by 2010. A new study by market research company In-Stat has found sales of handsets with dual capacities are expected to boom, with more than 20 Wi-Fi-enabled handsets already on the market or soon to be released.