Weekly Roundup: The good, the bad, and the overpriced of post-iPhone week

Reported connection problems plagued the iPhone release over the weekend, with customers in several countries complaining that they couldn’t activate their phones at purchase time.

Despite the trouble, Apple claimed it still managed to sell over a million devices in just three days, and Australian analysts predicted that the iPhone launch day would pump over $20 million into the country’s economy.

Unfortunately, some think not all is rosy here in Oz with the beloved little iPhone, as insufficient stock, poor communication with carriers, and mind-boggling pricing plans leave many wondering could one phone be worth all this grief?

And, just five days after its release, a Brazilian company managed to hack into and unlock an iPhone, ending the requirement to connect the device with exclusive carriers.

Finally, in non-iPhone related news, the ACCC has decided to put stricter regulations on Telstra, to insure the telco giant doesn’t act too greedy with it telephone exchanges.

Telstra will now have to record their exchange activities and turn in monthly reports, after several competitors complained that long queues and inadequate space were affecting their customer service.

A contractor accidentally cut a fibre optic cable of the Optus network in Queensland on Tuesday, leaving more than a million people on the Optus network without mobile, landline, and Internet services. The outage also affected ATM’s, the Brisbane airport, and even the state’s triple 0 emergency services line.

Digital radio is expected to hit Oz early next year, beginning in the capital cities. The transmissions will be free-to-air, but customers will have to buy radio with digital receivers to listen.

Digital radio will include features like multi-channeling, rewinding and pausing live transmissions, and displaying the title and artist information in real-time. Several popular stations will be switching to digital, including NOVA, Vega, and Triple M.

iphone roundup telco/isp weekly