The new service, delivered via the Optus 3G wireless broadband network, is accessed by customers using a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card and a wireless 3G broadband data modem.

Internode product manager Jim Kellett said NodeMobile Data was part of Internode's strategy of offering its customers even greater convenience and connectivity. "It's about giving our customers wireless broadband with extensive national coverage in Australia," he said.

"While our first NodeMobile-Data plans provide mobile broadband with a dynamic IP address, over time we intend to develop a wider range of business-focused applications such as a static IP backup for Business ADSL and various types of connectivity to our Internode Business Connect private IP service."

Internode has announced two NodeMobile Data plans: A 250-megabyte (MB) plan costing $14.95 a month and a three gigabyte (GB) plan for $39.95 a month. Unlike an Internode ADSL account, data quotas include both downstream and upstream data flows and there is no 'unmetering' or 'shaping' offered. An included SMS origination service costs 25 cents per message.

As an incentive for existing Internode customers to use the new service, Internode is offering them a free USB wireless data modem, worth $199, if they sign up for a 24-month NodeMobile Data contract. The service is also offered as a SIM-only offering, to be used with a user-supplied compatible 3G device, for an establishment fee of $25 (including the SIM).

The NodeMobile Data service also provides customers with the ability to buy "mobile data blocks" above their monthly quota at the effective rate of four cents per megabyte, much lower than typical market rates. As well as allowing for occasional bursts of extra online activity, data blocks ensure that customers don't receive any "nasty surprises" in the form of large post-billed excess data charges. Internode charges for data blocks are $10 for 250 MB; $20 for 500 MB; and $40 for 1 GB.