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Australia broadband network under attack from birds

Broadband Cables - Level 4

Australia's broadband network is being attacked by birds. Thousands of colourful cockatoos are chewing the broadband cables that cross Australian towns. This is causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) maintains the fibre-optic cables. It spends thousands of dollars to fix each cable. The birds are causing frustration to Internet users. They have reported Internet outages and very slow speeds.

Cockatoos are a type of parrot, They normally eat fruit and nuts. An NBN spokeswoman was puzzled why the birds liked the cables. She guessed that it was their colourful plastic covers. She told reporters: "They are constantly sharpening their beaks and as a result will attack and tear apart anything they come across." She joked: "These birds are unstoppable…I guess that's Australia for you; if the spiders and snakes don't get you, the cockatoos will."

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Broadband Cables - Level 5

Australia's high-speed, broadband network is being attacked by thousands of birds. The country's ubiquitous and colourful cockatoos have taken a liking for chewing the broadband cables that cross Australian towns and cities. This is causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. The National Broadband Network (NBN) that maintains the fibre-optic cables spends around $60,000 each time it is called out to fix the cables. The birds' handiwork is also causing frustration to Internet users across the country. Users have reported Internet outages and painfully slow speeds.

Cockatoos are a type of parrot. They normally eat fruit, nuts, wood and bark. An NBN spokeswoman said she was puzzled why the birds liked chewing the cables. She guessed that it was the colourful plastic that the broadband cables are inside. She told reporters: "They are constantly sharpening their beaks and as a result will attack and tear apart anything they come across. Unfortunately, they've developed a liking to our cables." She joked: "These birds are unstoppable…I guess that's Australia for you; if the spiders and snakes don't get you, the cockatoos will."

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11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Broadband Cables - Level 6

Australia's high-speed, state-of-the-art broadband network is under attack from thousands of birds. The birds doing the damage are Australia's ubiquitous and colourful cockatoos. They have taken a liking for chewing the broadband cables that criss-cross Australian towns and cities. They are causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to the cables. The National Broadband Network (NBN) company that maintains the fibre-optic cables reports that they need to spend around $60,000 each time they are called out to fix the cables. The birds' handiwork is also causing great frustration to Internet users across the country. Internet users have reported Internet outages and painfully slow speeds.

Cockatoos are a type of parrot which normally eats fruit, nuts, wood and bark. A spokeswoman from NBN said she was at a loss as to why the birds had become partial to chewing the cables. She guessed that it was the colourful plastic that encased the power lines and broadband cables. She told reporters: "They are constantly sharpening their beaks and as a result will attack and tear apart anything they come across. Unfortunately, they've developed a liking to our cables." She joked: "You wouldn’t think it was possible, but these birds are unstoppable when in a swarm. I guess that's Australia for you; if the spiders and snakes don't get you, the cockatoos will."

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25 online activities    |    27-page printable    |    2-page mini-lesson