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 Internode has decided to suspend sales in Tasmania of its fastest HOME
broadband plans until affordable backhaul capacity is available across Bass Strait.
From May 6, Internode will cease new sales of its 8
Megabit per second (Mbps) and Extreme ADSL2+ HOME plans in Tasmania - a decision made to protect
service performance for its existing customers. Tasmanian customers with
existing 8 Mbps and Extreme ADSL2+ HOME broadband plans can continue on their
existing plans.
From Tuesday, Tasmanian residents can purchase HOME
broadband plans running at standard ADSL speeds up to 1500/256k. However, Internode
will also continue to offer SOHO and Business
plans at any speed, up to and including Extreme ADSL2+.
Currently, broadband backhaul capacity across
Bass Strait is limited to a monopoly supplier,
Telstra. As a result, it is six times more expensive for Internode to transfer
data between Melbourne and Hobart than it is to move data between Melbourne and the United States.
Internode Managing Director Simon Hackett said Internode
had reluctantly decided to suspend sales of the highest speed HOME broadband
plans, due to the high cost of backhaul services to Tasmania. "Unfortunately, the cost of
bandwidth to Tasmania
remains appalling, as often happens under monopoly situations," he said.
"We've recently completed a major upgrade of our
link to Tasmania,
but continuing to sign up new customers for high-speed, lower-cost HOME plans
would quickly create new congestion issues.
"While we know this decision will disappoint some
people, we need to properly service our existing Tasmanian customers with the
resources we have in place. Until transmission costs decline, this is the best
way of doing it.
"Based on our experience, we expect the arrival of
infrastructure competition, with the eventual launch of the long-awaited
Basslink cable across Bass Strait, to put
downward pressure on prices."
From
Tuesday, May 6, Internode will cease to accept new orders for HOME ADSL 8 Mbps
and HOME Extreme ADSL2+ services in Tasmania.
Similarly, the Internode online plan changer will no longer offer these plans
to existing Tasmanian services; and single service migrations to HOME Extreme
ADSL2+ in Tasmania
will no longer be available.
Mr. Hackett said Tasmanian customers could
obtain a new high speed service by selecting a SOHO
broadband plan, which cost $20 per month more than a comparable HOME plan. "This
cost is approximately the additional impost, on a per-user basis, that
Internode pays to acquire monopoly-priced backhaul to Tasmania from the mainland," he said.
"This exemplifies the effective 'tax' on retail
customer services that is generated when the underlying service economics are
the prisoner of monopoly infrastructure. It underscores the potential for
national retail broadband prices to rise, should Telstra construct a
monopoly-owned FTTN network."
Internode is a first tier IP carrier committed
to using broadband technology to redefine the national telecommunications
environment. The Australian-owned company is a trailblazer that delivers broadband
services to individuals and businesses throughout Australia.
Internode PR for media
assistance: Impress Media Australia www.impress.com.au
Call John Harris on (08) 8431 4000
or email
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