Internode founder Simon Hackett will continue to lead the company as managing director while financial controller Sean Habgood takes the new position of Chief Financial Officer, with Bruce Davy filling his role. Mr Tapper said Internode would also recruit a Chief Information Officer to join its executive team.

With the booming broadband market expected to plateau during the next 18 months, Internode is preparing to change gears with the delivery of a range of new revenue-generating services. The company has already launched a number of these, including Naked ADSL2+, Internode Business Connect (IBC) private IP networks, the NodePhone Voice over IP (VoIP) service, and managed data centre facilities.

Internode has also established a Content Services Group within its operations to oversee the design and delivery of a range of higher-level services such as video over broadband services.

Internode is the largest independently-owned broadband services company in Australia. The company has more than trebled in size during the past three years: It now has more than 300 employees and 140,000 broadband customers nationally, most of whom are outside its home state of South Australia.

Internode's new CEO Patrick Tapper, who joined the company in 1998, said the new structure aimed to accelerate its growth rate as the broadband market matured. "We are broadening our management skill set to manage the transition to delivering a range of value-added broadband services," he said.

"The broadband access market which has driven our growth to date is just the first stage in the development of Australia's online economy. Internode plans to differentiate itself as an innovative supplier of broadband services that meet the personal and business needs of customers nationally."

Internode managing director Simon Hackett said he was committed to building on the company's strengths of innovation and great customer service. "We love the Internet and we want our customers to continue loving Internode as their supplier of Internet access and services," he said.

"The revised corporate structure gives us a broader management team to ensure that Internode continues to deliver for its customers. Our team of managers will provide leadership for their departments and execute on initiatives within their areas that support our strategic plans."

"My role will continue to be setting and maintaining our strategic direction through working with Pat Tapper as CEO and managing our relationships with external parties including the Government, the ACCC and our partners in Terria."