Internode goes for the mother lode: Naked ADSL2+

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Wednesday, 12 March 2008 18:23

Your IT - Home IT

Nodephone1 calls cost an 18c flat rate per national standard landline call, Nodephone to Nodephone calls are free, calls to mobile phones are charged at 30c per minute while international calls have a 15c flag fall and a per minute charge. These charges are a lot more expensive than existing VoIP competitors.

Internode customers on the Nodephone1 plan can make outgoing calls, but can only receive incoming calls from other Nodephone users. Customers wanting an incoming number need to upgrade to the Nodephone2 value or Nodephone2 premium service, with additional details available at Internode’s website.

The monthly $59.95 per month plan delivers a 5GB download limit and those 18c untimed national landline calls, which Internode says will save customers at least $20 per month “compared to paying for a separate voice line and broadband service today”, meaning that “customers can save money and have the convenience of only one monthly bill to pay” – although this is a service and benefit all Naked ADSL2+ providers offer.

There’s also an AUD $149 setup cost, and to start with, only ‘new phone line connections’ to a household will be able to get Naked ADSL2+, with a service to convert existing ‘voice phone lines’ already in people’s homes unavailable until at least the third quarter of 2008 – a minimum of three months away.

Internode's ‘NodePhone product manager’ Jim Kellett said: "Internode's Naked ADSL2+ service gives customers access to high-speed broadband and a low-cost phone service, without a high monthly price tag. We have decided to install brand new services initially because this is often a much quicker and cleaner process than converting an existing line.”

Kellett continued that: “Once the new service is installed, customers can either cut off their old service or keep it to support 'dial-tone services' like faxes or monitored security systems. However, customers will be able to convert an existing line to Naked ADSL2+ for the same setup/conversion fee of $149 once that option is released."

Internode’s other Naked ADSL2+ plans are as follows: $64.95 per month gets you 10GB, $74.95 gets you 20GB, $89.95 lets you download 30GB, $104.95 boosts that to 40GB, $134.95 takes you to 60GB and the top-end plan costs $164.95 per month and gives you a rather large 80GB per month download.

According to Internode’s general ADSL FAQ, uploads are not counted towards downloads, and if the monthly download quota is used before the month is up, customers are shaped to a 64kbps service with a ‘shaped excess’ allowance of 3GBs, with “additional access constraints [that] may be applied beyond this amount.”

So, what are Internode’s plans for ‘long range’ ADSL and faster speeds? Please read onto page 3.