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Tag: Australia

  • Furla buys back Australian distribution from Luxury Retail Group

    Furla buys back Australian distribution from Luxury Retail Group

    Furla Group announced the buyback of the Australian distribution network from its distributor, Luxury Retail Group (LRG). Furla opened the first boutique in Westfield Sydney in December 2013, and now has 15 stores in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Gold Coast.

    Furla acquires 100% of the distribution network, reaffirming the brand’s vision of further strengthening its presence in Australia and New Zealand. This year, Furla plans to open 5 more stores in Australia and New Zealand, beside enlarging the existing Westfield Sydney boutique: by the end of 2017, the network will be made up of 20 Furla stores.

    “Australian market is very important for Furla and crucial in our expansion plan. Since 2013, Luxury Retail Group has been the best key partner to work with as it perfectly embodies the Furla vision, values and DNA: this is the reason why the two LRG directors will remain as board members of Furla Australia” said Alberto Camerlengo, Furla Group CEO, “We expect that in 2017 Australian business will represent the 5% of the global revenues, we are very proud to announce this acquisition. We aim to enhance the distribution in this Country given the success of the Furla retail strategy and the very positive response of Australian customers”.

    “We believe the timing makes sense for Furla to reacquire its distribution.” Nelson Mair, Managing Director of LRG also added, “After having achieved 95% sales growth in 2016, this vertical integration of Furla Australia will better equip the business for the next phase of its growth. I am extremely proud of my team and what they have been able to achieve in such a short space of time and thankful to Furla for trusting their wonderful brand to us”.

    Furla has a direct presence in 100 countries; with 444 monobrand stores that are split evenly between directly-owned boutiques and franchises. The Company also has distribution in multibrand and department stores in 1,200 international locations.

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  • Accolade to showcase new Aussie wines in Singapore

    Accolade to showcase new Aussie wines in Singapore

    Accolade Wines will be introducing an enhanced portfolio to visitors at the upcoming TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition (Basement 2, J5) following the acquisition of six wine brands from Australia: Petaluma, Croser, St Hallett, Knappstein, Stonier and Tatachilla.

    These newly introduced brands reside in some of Australia’s most renowned wine regions, including Adelaide Hills, the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and the Mornington Peninsula.

    Rupert Firbank, Commercial Director, Accolade Wines, comments: “We have been experiencing significant growth in global travel retail and domestic markets over the past six years.

    “This has been supported through the acquisition of up-and-coming brands that have allowed us to expand our global footprint and add a great breadth to our portfolio.

    HARDYS APPROACHES 165TH BIRTHDAY

    “Our previous acquisitions of Geyser Peak in the United States, Grant Burge Wines in Australia, Mud House in New Zealand and Vina Anakena in Chile have been hugely successful, so we are confident that these new additions will add another dimension for our customers.

    “TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference is the ideal opportunity to introduce these new wines to our Asian partners.

    “Being able to sit down face-to-face with them makes a big difference in being able to fully explain the story behind each brand. We invite visitors to the show to come and experience our exciting new wines and our current brands, most notably Hardys wine which is fast approaching its 165th birthday.

  • ALC and NFF agree key freight strategy priorities

    ALC and NFF agree key freight strategy priorities

    With less than a fortnight until the Federal Budget is handed down, it was an opportune moment for the peak bodies representing the nation’s freight logistics and farming sectors to underscore their common interests and agree priority areas for action.

    “This meeting allowed ALC and the NFF to explore the key infrastructure issues involved in getting produce from the farm into our cities and ports,” ALC Managing Director Michael Kilgariff said.

    “We know Australian households want to purchase the freshest possible produce when they do their shopping. We also know that Australia’s high-quality agricultural produce represents an enormous export opportunity. However, industry can only meet the expectations of domestic and international consumers if we have a safe and efficient supply chain.”

    “This requires governments to make the necessary regulatory improvements and infrastructure investments, including constructing major projects such as the Inland Rail linking the ports of Melbourne and Brisbane, with efficient linkages to the ports of Newcastle, Botany and Kembla.

    NFF Chief Executive Officer Tony Mahar said the meeting was a good chance for NFF members to provide their perspective on the National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy.

    “Agriculture is an industry that competes on the global stage. In order to maintain and build our international competitiveness, strategic infrastructure investment is vital.”

    “Farmers are some of the best innovators in growing our produce, but only so much can be done on farm. Once our products leave the farm gate we are heavily reliant on our transport and infrastructure networks to reach consumers. Getting this right is fundamental, which is why we have had these discussions with ALC to identify where key productivity gains can be made.”

    “ALC and NFF will use the outcomes from this meeting to shape our respective contributions to the ongoing development of the National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy. This will help ensure the Strategy is relevant to the needs of the freight and logistics industry, farmers and consumers,” Mr Kilgariff and Mr Mahar concluded.

  • NBN achieves 1.1Gbps speeds in fixed wireless trial

    NBN achieves 1.1Gbps speeds in fixed wireless trial

    Australia’s nbn, the state-owned company building the National Broadband Network, has achieved speeds of over 1Gbps during a trial of fixed wireless technology.

    The company used carrier aggregation to combine seven 3.4-GHz carriers with four in the 2.3-GHz bands, achieving a downlink speed of 1.1Gbps and upstream speeds of 165Mbps.

    Using a range of various carriers across the two bands, nbn also demonstrated trial peek speeds of 400Mbps/55Mbps, 250Mbps/50Mbps and 100Mbps/400Mbps.

    The fastest 1.1Gbps speed was achieved by using three next generation Wireless Network Termination Devices (WNTDs) while the others were achieved with a single such device.

    The trial was conducted with Ericsson, NetComm Wireless and Qualcomm, and used speed testing technology from Mill Software.

    nbn has pledged to launch a 100Mbps fixed wireless product for the regional business segment in 2018.

    “Our ability to deliver gigabit speeds on fixed wireless demonstrates our continued focus on identifying and implementing tech advancements as and when they are needed, across all technologies,” nbn CEO Bill Morrow said.

    “It’s particularly exciting to be able to reaffirm our commitment to delivering a great experience to the 600,000 premises in regional Australia that will be served by the fixed wireless network. Our fixed wireless network has already been recognised as a world leader and we are determined to maintain that position by making sure regional Australians get access to the same high speed broadband available in our cities.

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  • Sadleirs Global Logistics accredited as an ‘Australian Trusted Trader’

    Sadleirs Global Logistics accredited as an ‘Australian Trusted Trader’

    Sadleirs Global Logistics has announced that it is the ‘first’ national customs brokerage and international freight forwarder to be fully accredited as an ‘Australian Trusted Trader’ by the Australian Border Force.

    As one of Australia’s oldest family businesses (Sadleirs was founded in 1895), the certification is another pioneering milestone for the company. Sadleirs was selected due to its strong security practices and very long history of compliant behaviour.

    The ‘Australian Trusted Trader’ is a trade facilitation initiative and Authorised Operator (AEO) programme that recognises businesses with a secure supply chain and compliant trade practices. It also provides accredited businesses with a range of trade facilitation benefits. Through this recognition, Sadleirs will now have a dedicated contact within the Australian Border Force, receive a priority service and prioritised examination clearance.

  • Nokia, University of Technology Sydney team on IoT projects

    Nokia, University of Technology Sydney team on IoT projects

    Nokia and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) have signed a MoU under which Nokia will join the university’s UTS: Rapido, a new technology development unit.

    The two partners will collaborate on developing IoT-based business applications using high-speed, ultra-low latency technologies such as 5G.

    In the technology partnership with UTS: Rapido — established to help businesses unlock the potential of IoT — Nokia will work on advanced engineering projects that support the development of future network services to address the specific technological challenges of service providers and enterprises.

    Nokia and UTS will also explore the expansion of the advanced engineering activity into new areas of innovation and proof-of-concept development.

    The MoU covers the creation of a collaborative innovation and training facility at UTS, for which Nokia will provide IP routing, optical, fixed and 4G and 5G mobile network components, and applications and analytics platforms for project work and training. Nokia will also participate in the advisory board of the UTS Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.

    In one of the first UTS: Rapido projects, researchers at the university are integrating video downloads filmed around the world using the Nokia OZO virtual reality camera into the UTS 3D Data Arena. This will show how operators could combine 3D footage with real-time data and graphics to explore new services and business opportunities.

    “This association will allow us to contribute our expertise in areas such as 5G, IoT and data analytics, through UTS: Rapido, to help Nokia’s customers unlock the potential of emerging digital capabilities,” said Myriam Amielh, associate dean for external engagement at UTS.

    Ray Owen, head of Oceania at Nokia, said the successful implementation of IoT and the connectivity of potentially billions of devices will rely on the deployment of technologies such as enhanced 4G and high-speed, low-latency 5G.

  • Furla to buy back Australian distribution from Luxury Retail Group

    Furla to buy back Australian distribution from Luxury Retail Group

    Furla Group announced the buyback of the Australian distribution network from its distributor, Luxury Retail Group (LRG). Furla opened the first boutique in Westfield Sydney in December 2013, and now has 15 stores in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Gold Coast.

    Furla acquires 100% of the distribution network, reaffirming the brand’s vision of further strengthening its presence in Australia and New Zealand. This year, Furla plans to open 5 more stores in Australia and New Zealand, beside enlarging the existing Westfield Sydney boutique: by the end of 2017, the network will be made up of 20 Furla stores.

    “Australian market is very important for Furla and crucial in our expansion plan. Since 2013, Luxury Retail Group has been the best key partner to work with as it perfectly embodies the Furla vision, values and DNA: this is the reason why the two LRG directors will remain as board members of Furla Australia” said Alberto Camerlengo, Furla Group CEO, “We expect that in 2017 Australian business will represent the 5% of the global revenues, we are very proud to announce this acquisition. We aim to enhance the distribution in this Country given the success of the Furla retail strategy and the very positive response of Australian customers”.

    “We believe the timing makes sense for Furla to reacquire its distribution.” Nelson Mair, Managing Director of LRG also added, “After having achieved 95% sales growth in 2016, this vertical integration of Furla Australia will better equip the business for the next phase of its growth. I am extremely proud of my team and what they have been able to achieve in such a short space of time and thankful to Furla for trusting their wonderful brand to us”.

    Furla has a direct presence in 100 countries; with 444 monobrand stores that are split evenly between directly-owned boutiques and franchises. The Company also has distribution in multibrand and department stores in 1,200 international locations.

  • ANZ sells retail business in Vietnam to South Korea’s Shinhan

    ANZ sells retail business in Vietnam to South Korea’s Shinhan

    The Australian bank said it will focus on its institutional banking, its biggest business in the region. Australian lender ANZ has announced to sell its retail business in Vietnam to South Korea’s Shinhan to focus resources on institutional banking.

    The bank has entered an agreement to transfer all eight branches, including retail staff in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, to Shinhan Bank Vietnam, part of the Seoul-based Shinhan Financial Group, Farhan Faruqui, ANZ international group executive, said in a statement on Friday.

    Faruqui said the sale will allow the bank to focus resources on institutional banking, its “largest business in Asia.”

    “We will be maintaining our presence through our institutional bank in Vietnam which will continue to support our corporate clients in the Greater Mekong Region,” he said.

    ANZ’s institutional bank has a presence in 15 different markets in Asia and was ranked as one of the top four corporate banks in the region by market intelligence provider Greenwich Associates in 2016.

    ANZ’s retail business serves 125,000 customers in Vietnam, and includes $241.2 million in lending assets and $603 million in deposits. The Southeast Asian country’s economy has one the world’s fastest growing rates.

    ANZ said the transfer is subject to regulatory approval and expected to complete by year end.

    Rumors about the sale have been circulating since late last year after the bank sold its wealth management and retail business in Singapore, Hong Kong and three other Asian markets to Singaporean DBS for nearly $80 million above book value.

    Vietnam’s credit growth this year is targeted at 18 percent to facilitate the country’s annual economic expansion of 6.7 percent, the central bank has said. Last year the economy grew 6.21 percent from 2015, the slowest in two years, even though the banking sector posted an annual credit growth of 18.39 percent.

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  • Amazon Retail confirmed for Australia

    Amazon Retail confirmed for Australia

    The online retail giant will officially be making its way to Australia, providing the outlet with its first official statement about its expansion into the region.

    Amazon said, “Amazon Web Services launched an Australian region in 2012, we launched a Kindle Store on Amazon.com.au in 2013, and we now have almost 1,000 employees in the country,” the statement reads.

    “The next step is to bring a retail offering to Australia, and we are making those plans now. We are excited to bring thousands of new jobs to Australia, millions of dollars in additional investment, and to empower small Australian businesses through Amazon Marketplace.”

    “We are optimistic that by focusing on the things we believe customers value most – low prices, vast selection, and fast delivery – over time we’ll earn the business of Australian customers.”

    Amazing made its Amazon Prime content available in December last year, kicking off rumours of a retail expansion into Australia.

  • Motorola scores managed mobility win in Australia

    Motorola scores managed mobility win in Australia

    Victoria Police in Australia will adopt a new managed service mobility solution for at least 10,000 police officers across the state.

    The A$50 million ($37.6 million) solution from Motorola Solutions will help increase situational awareness, safety and productivity for frontline officers.

    Motorola Solutions will lead a consortium of service providers to deliver the contract, including Optus, the second largest mobile operator in the country, as well as local IT provider CompNow. The managed service contract will run for a minimum of five years.

    The service will place real-time information at the fingertips of at least 10,000 police officers equipped with iPads and iPhones, helping them manage their daily work more safely, efficiently and productively.

    The solution is designed to help reduce the duplication of data entry by officers while increasing workforce collaboration by sharing vital information between frontline personnel and their colleagues working in control rooms.

    The technology will also help Victoria Police to preserve its mission-critical radio communications for essential emergency communications by removing lower priority traffic from the radio network.

    This investment represents a major goal within Victoria Police’s Capability Plan 2016-2025, which highlights the way the force will transform its service delivery to be more “agile, responsive, people-focussed and connected.”

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  • Manhattan Associates Unifies Brand Experience for Country Road Group Customers

    Manhattan Associates Unifies Brand Experience for Country Road Group Customers

    Manhattan Associates, today announced that Country Road Group, one of Australia’s largest specialty fashion retailers, has completed a successful roll out of Manhattan’s Warehouse Management Solution (WMS). The technology deployment is a key component of a business transformation project designed to deliver a unified brand experience for customers across channels and to drive ongoing business growth.

    Country Road Group’s business and sales channels have evolved in complexity and scope as the company has expanded its operating footprint. With over 700 stores and a growing online operation, the retailer had outgrown its outsourced logistics services model and recognised the critical need to take greater command of its supply chain. The company made the strategic decision to invest in a new distribution centre (DC) and chose Manhattan’s solution to orchestrate goods flows through the new DC.

    Peter Fouskarinis, Head of Supply Chain Australasia, Country Road Group / David Jones, commented, “The Manhattan solution has enabled us to optimise our store replenishment and online order fulfilment processes, resulting in improved product availability and customer satisfaction.”

    The Manhattan solution’s advanced fulfilment logic for wave management, constraint-based selection and real-time replenishment has been critical in helping Country Road Group to realise its omni-channel commerce goals. The system eliminates costly physical counts with auditor-approved cycle counting and stores can now provide same day fulfilment as a result of a new cross-docking approach.

    Raghav Sibal, Manhattan Associates’ managing director for Australia and New Zealand, commented, “With our solutions, retailers can take ownership of their omni-channel operations and streamline their distribution processes. We’re confident our solutions will continue to unlock supply chain value for Country Road Group and support its commitment to strengthening customer relationships for many years to come.”

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  • Australia’s TPG to enter local mobile market

    Australia’s TPG to enter local mobile market

    Fast-growing Australian fixed line operator TPG Telecom has bid A$1.26 billion ($944.8 million) to acquire 2×10 MHz of valuable 700-MHz spectrum, and plans to build its own mobile network using the bandwidth.

    TPG has revealed plans to spend A$600 million over three years to deploy a mobile network that covers 80% of the Australian population.

    As well as its imminent 700-MHz holdings, TPG also holds spectrum in the 1.8-GHz and 2.5-GHz bands. The operator plans to deploy a network consisting of around 2,000 to 2,500 sites, and use its extensive 21,000km fiber network as backhaul.

    TPG currently operates as an MVNO over Vodafone Australia’s network, but now plans to invest in deploying its own network. The company estimates it can break even with around 500,000 subscribers.

    CEO David Teoh said TPG expects to have several advantages over incumbent operators Telstra, Optus and Vodafone due to the ability to operate fewer mobile towers and deploy advanced mobile technology on its network, without the requirement to support legacy equipment and networking standards.

    “We believe that our mobile strategy will be complementary to our ongoing fixed line business, with the ability to bundle mobile and fixed services expected to have a beneficial effect on our already low fixed services customer churn,” he said.

    TPG was also recently selected to become Singapore’s fourth mobile operator after bidding S$105 million ($74.8 million) for a license and spectrum, and last week successfully bid S$23.8 million for 10 MHz of 2500-MHz spectrum.

    The Australian 700-MHz auction raised more than A$1.5 billion – significantly higher than the A$857 million reserve price – with Vodafone Australia also securing 2x5MHz of spectrum for A$285.9 million.

    The licenses will commence in April 2018 and expire at the end of 2029.

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  • Australia’s nbn trials Nokia’s universal GPON tech

    Australia’s nbn trials Nokia’s universal GPON tech

    Australia’s nbn, the company in charge of rolling out the National Broadband Network, has achieved 102Gbps aggregate speeds during a lab trial of Nokia’s universal NG-PON fiber technology.

    Universal NG-PON (next-generation passive optical network) combines TWDM-PON (time wavelength division multiplexing PON), XGS-PON (10 gigabit symmetrical PON) and GPON (gigabit PON) technology on the same fiber to support blazing fast speeds.

    It is designed to serve as a simple upgrade path to the current fiber technology used in FTTP deployments, saving the time and additional costs associated with laying new fiber.

    During the trial at Nokia’s Melbourne laboratory, nbn tested TWDM-PON with 40Gbps symmetrical, XGS-PON with 10Gbps symmetrical and GPON with 2.5Gbps, achieving aggregate download and upload speeds of over 102Gbps over a single shared access fiber.

    “Our successful trial of NG-PON2 technology with Nokia is another example of our ongoing commitment to continually develop the capabilities and speed of the nbn network,” nbn CTO Dennis Steiger said.

    “While we continue to deploy the nbn network at pace with over 2 million end-users now receiving nbn services and nearly 5 million able to order a service, we also have a very sharp focus on the future. The NG-PON2 trials we have conducted with Nokia have shown us the huge potential this very exciting technology has in terms of helping us deliver on our future bandwidth and capacity requirements.”

    But the current government’s decision to abandon the previous government’s plan to use FTTP for around 93% of connections, in favor of a multi-technology mix incorporating last-mile copper technology purchased from incumbent operator Telstra, complicates the potential upgrade path to the new technology.

  • Jetstar adds low-cost services between Australia and Vietnam this summer

    Jetstar adds low-cost services between Australia and Vietnam this summer

    The Qantas unit hopes to break the monopoly currently held by national carrier Vietnam Airlines, which is also a Qantas partner. Australia’s trade and tourism ministry on Wednesday announced two low-cost direct services from Melbourne and Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City by Jetstar Airways.

    The new services will take off in May this year, Assistant Minister Keith Pitt told a meeting with local media in HCMC.

    Jetstar Airways, a wholly owned subsidiary of Australia’s Qantas Airways, will operate the flights four times a week from Sydney and three times weekly from Melbourne using the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

    Ticket sales began in January. Flights from Melbourne to HCMC will be launched on May 10, and flights from Sydney will commence one day later, subject to regulatory approval.

    “These flights will stimulate inbound tourism, business and trade to Australia. In the last 12 months, there has been a 21 percent increase in visitors from Vietnam to Australia and we expect to see that grow with the introduction of our low fares on the route,” Paul Rombeek, Jetstar Group’s Global Head of Sales, told the press.

    The new flights from Australia to HCMC by Jetstar Airways would link up to 15 domestic destinations from HCMC thanks to daily services operated currently by Vietnamese domestic partner Jetstar Pacific, Jetstar Group Chief Executive Jayne Hrdlicka said in a statement.

    Jetstar Pacific, 70 percent owned by flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and 30 percent by Qantas, is growing rapidly in an attempt to fend off a competitive threat from domestic budget rival VietJet, she said.

    Vietnam Airlines and Qantas last year said they would invest $139 million to more than double the size of Jetstar Pacific’s fleet to 30 aircraft by 2020.

    Jetstar’s non-stop flights from Australia to Vietnam will break a monopoly of direct services held by Vietnam Airlines, said the report.

    More than 320,000 Australian visitors came to Vietnam last year, up 5.6 percent against 2015. The figure in the first three months this year was over 95,000, up 3.4 percent, according to data of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

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  • Consortium contracts ASN for INDIGO cable system

    Consortium contracts ASN for INDIGO cable system

    A consortium consisting of Asian operators, Google and telecommunications infrastructure company Superloop have commissioned a new subsea able system linking Singapore, Indonesia and Australia.

    Singtel, Indonesia’s Indosat Ooredoo as well as Australia’s Telstra and education sector network provider AARNet have joined Google and Superloop’s SubPartners to join the INDIGO cable system.

    The cable system, formerly known as APX West and Central, will be deployed by Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks.

    It will span around 9,000km between Singapore and Perth on the west coast of Australia, and onwards to Sydney on the east coast. A ranching unit with two additional fiber pairs will connect Singapore and Jakarta.

    Construction of the cable is expected to be complete by mid-2019. The system will use an open cable two fiber pair desgin, providing consortium members with spectrum ownership and giving them the ability to independently adopt technology advancements and upgrades as required.

    “With internet data consumption growing by 70% in Asia last year alone these sorts of investments in international networks are critical for meeting the needs of connected consumers and businesses,” Telstra group MD for global services and international David Burns said.

    “The construction of INDIGO is timely to meet the rising demand for high-speed broadband between Asia and Australia. This cable system complements our global connectivity that links Asia, the US, Europe, Australia and the Middle East,” Singtel Enterprise VP for carrier services Ooi Seng Keat added.

    Superloop has inherited its membership in the INDIGO consortium via the recent acquisition of subsea cable operator SubPartners for $2.5 million. As part of the acquisition Superloop has provided a guarantee involving the meeting of SubPartners’ construction capex costs for the project.

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