The South Australian Government has selected Internet age carrier Internode to continue providing Internet access for the State's 70,000 public servants for the next three years.

Under the $2.2 million agreement, Internode provides redundant fibre optic links, with bandwidth capacity of one gigabit per second, to the SA Government's Internet Gateway. Internet services are then delivered to the agency level by the government’s internal network.

South Australia's Infrastructure Minister Patrick Conlon said the contract would provide improved value-for-money for the State through a 50 per cent reduction in the cost-per-megabyte of Internet access. "We are pleased to announce a local South Australian company, Internode Systems, has proven highly competitive and won this contract against much larger and global companies," he said.

"The ICT procurement program involves a massive amount of taxpayers' money and this is another example of a deal which saves South Australians money. It also shows that local companies have the opportunity to be rewarded for providing good services to the Government."

Internode managing director Simon Hackett said the SA Government was one of Internode's most long-standing customers. "This longevity is built on a partnership approach that has delivered long-term benefits for both organisations," he said. "Internode is extremely pleased that its partnership with the State Government will continue for another three years."

Internode has provided the State Government with Internet access services for more than a decade. Services under the new contract commenced last month.

Key reasons for Internode's win were its ability to provide the SA Government with a high speed, fully redundant service, protected by high levels of security and assured quality of performance. The service is backed up by Internode's renowned customer service and technical expertise.

Internode's ability to meet the SA Government's high standards is based on its service-oriented culture and its carrier-grade national network which has high-capacity links to the US.

Internode, an SA-owned company that delivers broadband services to customers nationwide, is one of Australia's Information Age success stories. Since the dawn of the broadband era in 2000-01, the company’s head count has grown from about 20 people to more than 200.

Internode has achieved exponential growth with sustained profitability during the past five years.

Internode led Australia in March 2005 by becoming the first company in the country to provide its customers with super-fast ADSL2+ broadband, which runs 16 times faster than Telstra’s fastest broadband plans. As well as launching these services in Adelaide and Melbourne, Internode turned on ADSL2+ broadband in a number of South Australian regional towns.

About Internode

Internode is an Internet age carrier committed to using broadband technology to redefine the national telecommunications environment. The Australian-owned company is a trailblazer that delivers the cost and convenience of broadband telecommunications to individuals and businesses throughout Australia.