Internode, Exetel, Dodo and ispOne join Telstra's FTTH trial in Point Cook

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 11 May 2010 18:00

Your IT - Home IT

Four service providers - Internode, Dodo, ispONE and Exetel - have signed up to offer broadband services over the FTTP network that Telstra has rolled out to 1500 homes in the Melbourne suburb of Point Cook.

ispONE is a wholesale ISP that services more than 150, mostly regional ISP. Managing director, Zac Swindells said all would be given the opportunity to participate in the trial.

ispONE's own retail ISP, myONE launched in October 2009 will also be offering services on the network. ispONE director, Chris Monching, told iTWire that myONE was charging $69 per month for an 8Mbps service, $89 for a 30Mbps service and $129 for a 100Mbps service. There are no download limits on any of the plans, but peer-to-peer traffic is blocked.

In December last year Telstra Wholesale announced that it would make the Telstra FTTP trial at Point Cook available to its wholesale customers and offer all of its DSL customers the opportunity to be a part of a technical and commercial FTTP trial. It says negotiations with several other service providers are underway.

Telstra Wholesale group managing director, Paul Geason, said that the trial, which will run from 10 May to 30 November 2010 - "is the first time that Telstra Wholesale has offered access to broadband over high-speed fibre to our wholesale customers." He added that any services delivered over the next six months would be supported after the trial ends.

Telstra Wholesale is offering a Layer 2 Internet grade service -similar to that planned by NBN Co - at bandwidths of 8Mbps, 30Mbps and 100Mbps. This means that ISPs will be required to provide backhaul from Telstra's point of interconnect and the infrastructure needed to enable customers to reach the Internet.

"This will act as an introduction for our customers in turn providing them access to the next generation of Internet and data products and services." He added: "Many participants in the industry will be watching the outcomes of this trial very closely, and we will be taking this opportunity to gain more insight into how best to offer our wholesale customers the innovative new product."