Internode offers free premium Usenet services

Usenet is a decentralised worldwide discussion and file-sharing system that allows users to read and post on almost any topic.

Internode’s existing Usenet provider, Supernews, has been acquired by Giganews, arguably the largest newsgroup provider in the world. Internode will now outsource its free Usenet access through Giganews, bolstering its newsgroup offering with a second provider in the form of Astraweb.

Premium Usenet providers currently charge up to $30 per month for unlimited download plans. Internode customers presently paying for third-party newsgroup access will now be able to cancel their existing subscriptions. However, downloads through the service will be counted towards a user’s monthly download allowance.

According to Simon Hackett, managing director of Internode, customers will now benefit from free, binary-rich access to the entertaining and informative Internet resource.

“Customers don't need to separately subscribe to a retail Usenet service in the USA in addition to their normal Internet access fees with Internode,” he said.

“With Internode now giving its customers the choice to access Giganews or Astraweb, or both, it’s a much better service at no extra cost.”

By combining services from Giganews and Astraweb, Internode will be able to offer customers over 99 percent completion and high post propagation due to the companies’ multiple server farms located in both the United States and Europe. Eight concurrent connections will be allowed to over 200 days of binaries and 1700 days of articles.

Internode will not offer SSL as part of the service, according to Hackett, as it is unnecessary and would add a high overhead while providing no practical improvements to the service.

“There is no benefit, theoretical or practical, to SSL in the context of this Usenet service. All it would do is raise cost, and lowering access cost is the entire point of the offering,” he said.