iiNet turns 500,000 on, gives away 500,000 GB!

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 16 June 2011 12:33

Your IT - Home IT

More than a half century and more than a ton, iiNet has turned 500,000 on!

When you hit a big number followed by at least one zero, it's normally time for a celebration, so it's no surprise to see Australian ISP iiNet celebrating the installation of its 500,000th broadband port, with the half millionth being switched on in Gosford, NSW.

As you'd expect, iiNet says its celebration marks a 'significant milestone in [iiNet's] commitment to providing superfast, affordable broadband to more Australians'.

Naturally, iiNet had some help in constructing what it calls its iiNetwork, which started way back in 2004, and calls out its partners Ericsson and Visionstream for some recognition.

Saying its iiNetwork was 'revolutionary at the time', iiNet reminds us of its network's introduction of 'dramatically increased speeds and better competition', while also noting the iiNetwork was 'the precursor to industry firsts like Naked DSL and TV over broadband'.

It wouldn't be a celebratory media release without some comment from one of iiNet's chiiefs, with iiNet's CTO, Greg Bader, (who is no known relation to Darth Vader) noting that 'the milestone is something to be celebrated as it reflects iiNet's position as a leading challenger in the telecommunications market'.

'For residents and businesses in Gosford, and around the country, the expansion of our network means a more competitive market and faster speeds. We don't believe in waiting for the National Broadband Network to be built, people want faster broadband now', added Mr Bader, in a sign that the endless wait for an NBN does not bode well for long-suffering, under-broadbanded Australians.

To mark the occasion, and presumably to have some additional fun with big numbers, iiNet says that 'a long standing Gosford based customer has been migrated to the 500,000th port and rewarded with 500,000GB of free download quota and iiNet's fetchtv service.'

500,000 GB is, according to Convertit.com, 488 teraybtes, which potentially takes the iTWire World Record (who needs Guinness?) for the biggest download limit of all time - aside from all those 'unlimited' plans, of course.

That long-standing customer is presumably Judy Donahay, who is quoted saying she 'is thrilled to be migrated to iiNet's new network', especially after being an iiNet customer since 2003.

Ms Donahay added that: 'I'm looking forward to having faster speeds at home, as I have the Internet running all the time.

'I've been with iiNet for more than eight years and I am a big supporter so it's really nice to be rewarded for my loyalty and it's a good thing for the area as it brings more competition which is always a positive.'