Tassie Internode customers gifted their speed back

In May, Internode suspended sales in Tasmania of its fastest HOME broadband plans due to ‘unaffordable backhaul capacity across Bass Strait’.

Tasmanian residents could purchase only HOME broadband plans running at ADSL speeds up to 1500/256k since May 6.

Internode decided to resume selling HOME ADSL2+ broadband plans due to the expected connection of the Basslink fibre link to Victoria, Hackett said.

“Because Bass Strait backhaul is limited to a monopoly supplier, Telstra, it is much more expensive for Internode to transfer data between Tasmania and Victoria than it is to move data between Australia and the US,” said Simon Hackett, managing director of Internode.

“The cost of backhaul services from Tasmania remains appalling, [but] we expect this situation to improve in 2009 when Basslink introduces infrastructure competition.

“While this means Internode will have to subsidise these services until competitive pricing is available, we have taken this decision to supply the unmet demand for ADSL2+ services in Tasmania.

“As elsewhere in the country, Internode is investing upfront to benefit our customers,” said

The decision makes Internode’s entire range of ADSL2+ broadband plans now available in Tasmania, including entry-level HOME services.

Internode will also add 46 ADSL2+ equipped telephone exchanges to its Tasmanian reach from mid December after last week signing an ADSL2+ wholesale agreement with Telstra.