Free ASIC app to help SMEs research potential business partners; Telstra signs $150 million deal with NBN Co: Midday Roundup

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has created a free app to help SMEs check up on potential business partners.

The ASIC Business Checks app for iOS, released on Tuesday, is designed to help businesses and individuals complete some quick due diligence on any potential business partners.

The regulator says the app “provides some general steps that you can take to reduce the risks of being swindled by unreliable operators and fly-by-night businesses”. However, ASIC says the app should be used for general guidance only and it “cannot protect you in all your business interactions”.

Telstra signs $150 million deal with NBN Co

More than 200,000 Australian homes and businesses will be connected with the government’s fibre-to-the-node technology under a deal signed by NBN Co and Telstra, reports Fairfax.

The deal, which is estimated to be worth $150 million, will cover mostly regional areas in New South Wales and Queensland and is believed to be separate to the renegotiation of Telstra’s existing agreements with NBN Co.

Fairfax reports the deal will be the first large scale roll-out of the government’s preferred fibre-to-the-node technology.

The previous Labor government preferred technology which connected homes and businesses directly with fibre optic cabling.

Aussie shares up

Local shares opened a little higher this morning, following a positive lead form Wall St.

The S&P/ASX200 benchmark was up 42.3 points to 5444.3 points at 12:20pm AEDT. On Wednesday, the Dow Jones closed 49.38 points up, rising 0.29% to 16,867.5 points.