South Australian telco Agile Communications is marking its foray into the telecommunications arena by halving the cost of intra-state telephone calls for more than 18,000 rural customers.
Agile, the first South Australian company to receive a telecommunications licence, claims to have constructed the first publicly available non-Telstra infrastructure-based network in regional Australia.
South Australian Premier, John Olsen, officially launched the new network at Meninigie this morning with a telephone call to Prime Minister John Howard.
Adelaide Internet identity, Simon Hackett, will be managing director of Agile and its sister company Internode, an Adelaide ISP.
The carrier says it is not just reselling Telstra services, but is setting up new infrastructure, including five microwave towers and the installation of Voice-over-IP switching equipment from Cisco in five townships.
Agile claims its network will at least halve the cost of existing Telstra intra-region 'per minute' fees, which will continue to reduce as more people begin to use the network.
