Internode said in a statement it decided to launch ADSL2+ broadband services after the Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF) published a revised technical standard for the use of ADSL2 and ADSL2+ on Telstra's copper pair access network.
ADSL2+ is an international standard configuration and technology that delivers speeds up to 20 times faster than typical broadband services over copper networks. Internode's ADSL2+ broadband services run at peak speeds of up to 24 megabits per second (Mbps).
Internode said it had upgraded its current ADSL2 customers to ADSL2+ plans for free. However, in order to access the new service, customers must be in an area covered by an ADSL2+-capable digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM) device owned by Internode sister company Agile Communications.
The ADSL2+ service is already available in Adelaide, Melbourne and several rural South Australian towns. The service is expected to be extended to NSW and Queensland by the third quarter of 2005.
Internode managing director Simon Hackett said ADSL2+ delivered the "triple play" of Internet, voice and video. He said an ADSL2+ service allowed customers to run "two high definition video channels and still have 10 megabytes left over for fast Internet access.
Telstra previously announced that nearly all ADSL-enabled Telstra exchanges will have ADSL2+ capabilities by mid-2006.
The telco giant said in a statement that it had been installing ADSL2+ hardware and software to provide additional broadband capabilities in its exchanges since January.
By mid-2005, Telstra said, there will be 200 exchanges covering about 500,000 premises with ADSL2+ capability.
