Internode in ADSL2+ push

ISP Internode has launched a new broadband offering that almost doubles the physical reach of ADSL2+ services.

Dubbed NakedExtreme the service delivers internet access to customers who live up to 7.5km from a telephone exchange compared with about 4km previously.

"In Australia ADSL has been riding on top of analogue voice services for years which severely hampers the distance that ADSL can operate at,” Internode product manager Jim Kellet said.

“This has led to a general belief that at about 4km from an exchange, ADSL will stop working but that’s just not the case at all.”

NakedExtreme will more than treble a telephone exchange’s coverage area from 52 sq km to more than 176 sq km, Internode claimed.

While ADSL speeds will gradually deteriorate the further a customer is from an exchange, Internode claims customers at the outer edge of NakedExtreme’s range can still expect to connect at 512 kbps downstream and 256kbps upstream.

The service is available nationwide except in Tasmania where Internode continues its ADSL embargo in protest of the lack of competitive backhaul services.

Mr Kellet said the NakedExtreme service would allow the ISP to target an additional 100,000 customers.

“It’s a large potential market for us so we’re more than happy to be first off the rank to offer this service,” he said.

NakedExtreme builds on Internode’s launch earlier this year of Naked ADSL2+, a dial tone-free broadband service.

The NakedExtreme service is priced at $10 above the cost of the equivalent ADSL2+ service, however, it does not require a voice line rental fee.

NakedExtreme starts at $59.95 per month.