The 128 kbps, symmetrical ISDN service -- first mooted in February this year -- is designed primarily to benefit users in rural and regional Australia who are currently limited to dial-up access.
The unveiling of the service follows Telstra's re-launch last week of its retail and wholesale high-speed Internet offerings -- buttressed by an AU$8 million marketing campaign -- in order to drive overall subscriber numbers up from around 320,000 now to one million by the end of 2005.
A Telstra spokeswoman declined initially to comment on the specifics of the service.
ISDN has a far greater footprint across Australia than cable or DSL. However, the 128 kbps access speed sits significantly under the 200 kbps mark generally regarded as the threshold for broadband-quality services.
Telstra said customers would have to be connected via its ISDN Home access service to take advantage of BigPond ISDN service. The ISDN Home access service provides a digital line split into two channels, each capable of carrying 64 kbps. The service can either be combined to deliver speeds of 128 kbps or each channel used for different telecommunications services at speeds of 64 kbps.
The carrier said it planned to charge a monthly fee of AU$90.45 for its shortest plan -- running for three months -- that includes a 500MB monthly allowance. If a user opts for a 12 month contract, they would pay AU$84.95 per month.
For the next step up -- a three month plan which includes a 1 GB useage allowance -- users face charges of AU$111.45 per month. Users who elect to take a 12 month deal will pay AU$104.45 per month.
For the 500 MB plans, users are charged at 16.9 cents per excess MB, while for the 1 GB plans, the figure drops slightly to 15.9 cents per MB.
Telstra indicated during its BigPond relaunch briefing last week that 10-20 percent of its BigPond broadband revenues are derived from excess useage charges, despite the fact only around six percent of users breach their limits.
For entry level residential and business DSL plans, Telstra charges 15.9 cents per excess MB, dropping by roughly one cent as the user steps up to the higher-level plans.
If the customer does not have ISDN already available, there is an installation charge of AU$190.30.
Broadband aficionado site Whirlpool has reported that Telstra will introduce a AU$16.50 monthly fee for customers who would rather have unlimited ISDN data calls to an ISP other than BigPond. However, the ISP has to have a dial-in number with an 01983 prefix, meaning it has to receive calls through Telstra's MegaPOP service.
There is a five-hour session limit, and calls will also be dropped after 20 minutes of idle time.
Telstra strikes again........
If high prices like these are not proof of them being able to bend their customers over a barrel and give them one up the do da , I don't know what are.