Adam Internet turns on Adelaide WiMAX network

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 10 November 2009 10:07

Your IT - Home IT

Adam Internet has launched services and announced prices on the WiMAX network it is rolling out in Adelaide to provide broadband services to residents in a number of blackspot areas.

In August Adam Internet was the successful bidder for a multimillion dollar state government contract for the provision of blackspot broadband services. The State Government is providing an initial $3m of funding and Adam Internet was expected to put up as much as $12m, but to recoup most of this through funding from the Federal Government's Australian Broadband Guarantee programme.

At launch, Adam Internet says the network is providing broadband services to "more than 8000 of the 55,000 residential and business premises in metropolitan Adelaide that are currently unable to receive ADSL services." The initial service areas are in Reynella, Morphett Vale and Sheidow Park. The next installations will provide services in Aberfoyle Park, Lonsdale, Seaford Meadows, Moana, McLaren Vale and Aldinga Beach. Adam Internet plans to provide services in a total of 14 areas by the end of 2010.

The more than 8000 of the 55,000 residential and business Michael O'Brien, South Australia's minister for science and information economy, said: "A study by economics consulting firm, Systems Knowledge Concepts has shown that the economic benefit to the state of this initiative is estimated to be more than $87 million over five years."

The service has launched with seven plans all quoting bandwidths of "up to" 12Mbps/1Mbps, although Adam Internet says speeds are "expected to range between 4Mbps/1Mbps to 12Mbps/1Mbps."

The plans range in prices from $44.95 for a 1GB service to $124.95 fro a 160GB service. Download quotas are split 50:50 between peak (8:00am to midnight) and off-peak periods (midnight to 8:00am) with throttling to 64kbps once exceeded. Upload quotas are in addition to the download quotas and are half the total download quota for each plan, with no time of day restrictions. Installation fees range from $750 for no contract to $50 on a 36 month contract.