Internode Launches Australia-First ADSL2
In a national first, Internode today takes a giant leap towards catching up with US through the launch of this country's first ADSL2 broadband services - delivering peak speeds faster than Telstra's cable service and laying a foundation for video-on-demand into Australian homes.
Australia's fastest broadband service to date ran at 1.5 megabits per second (Mbps), using ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) which provides Internet access over a standard phone line without tying up the line. From today, Internode will provide ADSL2 broadband services that run as fast as 12Mbps - eight times faster than current broadband.
National broadband innovator Internode has turned on its next-generation ADSL2 broadband services for customers in Melbourne, Adelaide and rural SA towns including Meningie and Tailem Bend. The new service costs $10 less than Internode's previous top-speed service.
Internode is the first company in Australia to provide ADSL2 services - beating industry giant Telstra to this breakthrough. As well as giving customers super-fast file downloads, Internode will use this eight-fold speed increase to launch new services, such as video on demand.
Internode CEO Simon Hackett said the ADSL2 services operated at peak speeds faster than Telstra's cable Internet service. "Until now, the industry has waited for Telstra to give the go-ahead to use ADSL2 broadband, but Internode's research has proven to us that we don't need to wait for them at all," he said.
"We've decided to lead the industry because waiting was getting us nowhere."
Ironically this super-fast broadband service, delivered via Internode's own equipment installed at Telstra exchanges, will cost $10 less a month when compared to 1.5Mbps services, which Internode resells from Telstra.
Internode is planning to deploy ADSL2 equipment at another half dozen exchanges in its home city of Adelaide this month before starting rollouts in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane during the next few months. Internode has also extended its Tier 1 broadband network to the west coast of the US, in a $2m project to ensure its ADSL2 customers encounter no bottlenecks.
Internode (www.internode.on.net) is a leading Australian broadband services and Internet services provider. Based in Adelaide, it is a premier provider of business-class Internet access. Internode founder Simon Hackett is an Internet pioneer who was involved in AARNet, which brought the Internet to Australia's shores in the 1980s.
Internode's entry-level ADSL2 services for home customers start from $59.95 with a 15Gb download quota. The $79.95 HOME 12000-Pro service has a 30Gb quota. For $119, the quota is lifted to 60GB. SOHO ADSL2 services start at $99.95 with a 30GB quota while for $139.95, there is no download restriction. Both those SOHO plans are actually $10 less expensive than Internode's equivalent 1.5Mbps plans which are based on a service provided by Telstra.
Mr. Hackett said Internode staff and customers were already using ADSL2 broadband. "For the past two weeks, the Adelaide Film Festival has run its ticketing system on an ADSL2 service at blistering speeds without a glitch," he said.
