Remote Aussies getting their broadband from nbn™'s SkyMuster satellites have been promised a bit of bandwidth relief, with the company deciding to bundle some 'net traffic for free.

So-called “essential” traffic, which nbn™ defines as collecting email, web browsing, and importantly, “critical” operating system updates for PCs and smartphones, will be carried free in a wholesale service being launched in 2019.

The “your gaming habit won't bust your browser” (how's that geostationary latency going, gamer?) offer will come under the coming “SkyMuster Plus” wholesale service – so punters will have to wait and see

America has aligned with China and Russia to scupper a France-led initiative to improve the internet's security. However, French president Emmanuel Macron has promised to battle on.

World leaders were meeting in France for the Paris Peace Forum, where French President Emmanuel Macron used the Internet Governance Forum to announce the “Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace”.

Macron outlined proposals that would set down rules for engagement for using “cyber-weapons,” along with better cooperation on fending off attacks, and ways to handle foreign interference in elections, online censorship and hate speech.

The call was supported by 51 countries

It looks as though Apple's iThings may get 5G connectivity in 2020 – after Intel promised production of its 5G modem will start in the second half of 2019, and ship in the first half of the following year.

This, therefore, gives Apple, which prefers Intel cellular modems for its latest iPhones , a decent design-in time for future smartphones.

Whether influenced by demands from Cupertino, or the fact that it's running months behind Qualcomm , Intel said it has brought forward the 5G chip plans by six months.

Chipzilla says its XMM 8160 5G modem will operate at peak

People's connections in the US to Google – including its cloud, YouTube, and other websites – were suddenly rerouted through Russia and into China in a textbook Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) hijacking attack.

That means folks in Texas, California, Ohio, and so on, firing up their browsers and software and connecting to Google and its services were instead meandering through systems in Russia and China, and not reaching servers belonging to the Silicon Valley giant. Netizens outside of America may also have been affected.

The Chocolate Factory confirmed that for a period on Monday afternoon, from 1312 to 1435 Pacific