Zoom plunges on vaccine news

So-called ‘stay at home’ stocks plummeted on news we might be safely out of our homes sooner rather than later.

Zoom CEO and founder Eric Yuang. Source: The Australian.

Hello and welcome to The Download, The Australian’s technology blog for the latest tech news.

Chris Griffith 1.00pm: Aussie Broadband lays fibre in Sydney

Aussie Broadband is going from strength to strength in its roll-out of private fibre cable across Australia.

Last week we reported that it had connected its first customer on its very own “dark fibre” network which comprises a 20km loop around the Melbourne CBD and Port Melbourne.

“Today is a huge milestone for Aussie Broadband,” said company general manager sales, Aaron O’Keeffe about the stage one fibre rollout. “We’re very excited to announce that a large part of our Melbourne central roll out is now complete and available to businesses right now.

“We’re also delighted to offer customer speeds up to ten gigabit per second (10 Gbps) – not many telcos are currently providing this.”

It now says it is currently hauling fibre cable through the Sydney Harbour Tunnel, as the company starts its privately-owned dark fibre roll out in NSW.

It says the NSW build is another key step in its dark fibre network rollout and is expected to be finished early next year.

Mr O’Keeffe says Aussie Broadband plans to build fully diverse routes to over 75 NBN points of interconnect and 24 key data centres across Australia.

“Our own fibre in the ground also means that we can control quality and improve our customer experience even more, and start to drive down our backhaul costs. An added bonus is that we can connect businesses directly to our fibre.”

Aussie Broadband says its $67 million fibre project began in May 2020 and is expected to be completed by 2022.

Angelica Snowden 11.10am: Smartphone alerts to warn commuters of full transport

Public transport commuters in Sydney can now receive smartphone alerts about capacity on their route, improving ability to travel across the network in a “COVID safe” way.

NSW transport minister Andrew Constance said physical distancing and passenger occupancy notifications will be available on the Opal Travel app for trips on Sydney Trains and Metro.

“The new feature is a world leading piece of innovation that uses real-time capacity and predictive data to help customers make better choices when travelling,” Mr Constance said.

“We have already implemented the green dots across the network, and the notifications are another way we can help maintain physical distancing and keep people COVID safe.”

Transport for NSW worked with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Tigerspike, and AppJourney to deliver the app update.

AWS Director for Public Sector in Australia and New Zealand Iain Rouse said the development showed how technology can help stop the spread of COVID-19.

“We understand the pressure COVID-19 has placed on the public transport network and are confident this new feature will make commuting a more safe and comfortable experience for customers,” Mr Rouse said.

READ MORE: Going covert in Covid

10.45am: Apple partner allegedly violated labour laws

Apple suspended new business with key supplier Pegatron after finding that the Taiwanese company violated the U.S. smartphone maker’s rules related to student worker programs at its China facilities.

The Cupertino, California-based technology giant said it placed Pegatron on probation and won’t give the Taiwanese company any new business until it completes all required corrective actions.

“Pegatron misclassified the student workers in their program and falsified paperwork to disguise violations of our code,” Apple said in a statement.

Pegatron fired the executive with direct oversight over the program, according to Apple.

Shares of the Taipei-based electronics company fell in late trading on Monday. Its shares closed 2.1% lower, the company’s steepest one-day decline since late September.

In a statement, Pegatron said the violations involved its plants in Shanghai and Kunshan, Jiangsu province. The company said it has since removed the student workers from production lines and made arrangements for them to return home or to school with proper compensation.

Dow Jones

David Swan 9.45am: Zoom plunges on vaccine news

So-called ‘stay at home’ stocks, headlined by Zoom and including Amazon and Netflix, plummeted on news that a vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech was 90 per cent effective.

Zoom closed 17.4 per cent lower, while Amazon and Netflix fell 5.1 per cent and 8.6 per cent respectively.

Those stocks had risen sharply amid widespread global lockdowns. Zoom alone was up 635 per cent for the year-to-date before Monday, while Amazon and Netflix had climbed 79.2 per cent and 59.1 per cent respectively.

The vaccine’s developers, Pfizer and BioNTech, had described it as a ‘great day for science and humanity’ after their vaccine was tested on 43,500 people in six countries, with no safety concerns raised.

Meanwhile, the US Federal Trade Commission said it had settled a case with Zoom over how the videoconferencing platform handles user privacy.

The FTC, in its complaint, alleged that Zoom for at least the past four years promised users a level of data encryption it didn’t provide. The company has previously said it was working to improve its encryption levels to help safeguard data.

As part of the settlement, Zoom employees will have to review its product for any security and obtain a third-party assessment of its progress every other year. The company, which is prohibited from misrepresenting its privacy and security features, could be subject to a penalty of more than $US40,000 for any violation of the order. The FTC said its order stands for 20 years.

“Zoom’s security practices didn’t line up with its promises, and this action will help to make sure that Zoom meetings and data about Zoom users are protected,” Andrew Smith, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said Monday.