SEPTEMBER 4, 2009 -- Partnering with housing estate telecoms specialist Opticomm, Internode is providing customers with fiber to the home (FTTH) broadband services, running at 25, 50, or 100 Mbps.
Internode's first Home Fiber services were connected in February this year at the Fernbrooke community, a development at Redbank Plains, 32 km southwest of the Brisbane CBD. Fernbrooke comprises more than 1000 homes built around 20 hectares of recreational space and parkland. During the past six months, Internode has launched FTTH services at:
- Lochiel Park, an ecologically sustainable development by the River Torrens in Adelaide
- Alamanda, Point Cook's community in Victoria
- University Hill, a AUS$1 billion integrated residential and business development in Melbourne.
- In the near future, Internode also plans to deliver Home Fiber at Lightsview, a premium lifestyle development in Adelaide's Northgate area, and Parkbridge, a master-planned community in Middleton Grange, NSW.
Internode Carrier Relations Manager John Lindsay said the take-up rate of Internode Home Fiber services was in line with those of ADSL2+ services. "Young families with working parents aren't the driver for high-bandwidth broadband, but presumably their children will grow into it," he said.
"Generally residents of Internode FTTH developments receive an initial service as part of their house and land package. The service is very popular and our subscriber count is growing at more than 10 percent per month. The most popular aspect of the service is that it is priced from less than AUS$50 per month which is much cheaper than Telstra FTTH in new estates."
Internode's most popular Home Fiber services run at 25 Mbps, with prices starting at less than AUS$50 a month. Although this price point is comparable with ADSL2+ services, Internode Home Fiber provides a downstream speed of 25 Mbps -- faster than the highest-performance ADSL2+ services.
Internode is delivering its Home Fiber broadband services over the Opticomm network. Opticomm, a Hills Industries joint venture company, specializes in providing FTTH networks for new housing estates.
With their broadband service, Internode Home Fiber subscribers receive access to a telephone service that provides a conventional “dial tone” voice service to each subscribing household, directly from the Opticomm termination unit in the home. Internode also provides a large amount of unmetered content for its customers, including ABC iView and TiVo downloads.
Internode Home Fiber plans cost from AUS$49.95 a month for a service with a 25 Mbps downstream speed and a 5 GB download quota. Home Fiber services are also available at 50-Mbps and 100-Mbps downstream speeds. With Internode Home Fiber services, the quoted downstream speed is actually delivered to the home's Ethernet port, unlike the "best effort" speeds provided by traditional ADSL2+ services, the service provider asserts.