Internode has become the last of the three Internet service providers (ISPs) servicing the stage one National Broadband Network (NBN) trial sites in Tasmania to announce pricing for its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) services.
Internode's NBN plans, which lower the NBN entry point to $29.95 per month, following announcements from competitors iiNet and iPrimus before it. The latter two providers claim to have already signed up customers to the network, which is set to begin operation next month, but Internode managing director, Simon Hackett, said the lower pricing would be a "catalyst for rapid adoption".
“Internode wants to learn as much as possible about how customers use fibre broadband services from its investment in this pilot program, so we want to get as many customers on board as possible," he said in a statement, though failed to say whether the provider had any committed customers yet. "By setting our FTTH prices at below our ADSL prices, we believe this becomes an irresistible offer."
Hackett warned that pricing for the trial sites may bear no resemblance to final NBN pricing, which is expected to become available by 30 June next year. Tasmanian residents that sign up to NBN services under the stage one pricing will be charged final pricing once it becomes available.
However, customers are not forced to sign a minimum contract term, and are able to cancel the NBN service at any time with no cancellation charges.
Residents in the trial sites of Smithton, Scottsdale and Midway Point will have to choose from 15 Internode plans alone, with tiered speeds of 25Mbps to 100Mbps, and tiered data quotas of between 15GB and 200GB per month. However, like plans from iiNet and iPrimus, residential users will not have access to symmetrical downstream and upstream speeds, which are expected as a requirement for high bandwidth applications such as high-definition, multi-party video conferencing.
| NBN Tasmania prices compared | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ISP | Plan name | Monthly cost | Download Speed (Mbps) | Upload Speed (Mbps) | Data quota (GB) | |||
| iiNet (Cheapest) | Fibre 1 | $49.95 | 25 | 2 | 10 | |||
| iiNet (Most Expensive) | Fibre 7 | $159.95 | 100 | 8 | 180 | |||
| Internode (Cheapest) | NBNP1-Entry-15 | $29.95 | 25 | 2 | 15 | |||
| Internode (Most Expernsive) | NBNP1-High-200 | $139.95 | 100 | 8 | 200 | |||
| iPrimus (Cheapest) | Home Fibre Starter Plus | $49.95 | 25 | 2 | 15 | |||
| iPrimus (Most Expensive) | Extreme Fibre Big Kahuna | $139.95 | 100 | 8 | 300 | |||