Greenfields residents gain terabyte quotas

Internode aligns prices with NBN products, iiNet to follow.
Internode has begun offering terabyte data quotas to residents in supported new housing estates for the first time in the latest of several changes bringing its greenfield prices in line with National Broadband Network offerings.

New pricing released today allows Internode customers in greenfield estates operated by Opticomm or OPENetworks to access pricing identical to its current NBN offerings.

The new products include an entry-level fibre service with 12 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream, starting at $49.95 with 30GB data quota.

Other prices would also fall into line with those offered on the NBN.

The changes bring prices for existing products with 30 GB of quota down $5 a month while introducing new 600 GB and terabyte monthly quotas, up from a previous ceiling of 200 GB.

The price changes come a month after Internode also increased the upload speeds for each tier product, bringing them into line with the NBN.

They came as a result of greenfields fibre operators tweaking their wholesale products to compete on the same level as the NBN.

Although OPENetworks and Opticomm offer wholesale prices on average $4 a month cheaper than those currently offered by NBN Co, demand for similar upload speeds and services from developers and retail service providers appeared to cause the shift.

"They don't have to be in lock-step with the NBN, it's nice that they've come close enough together to allow us to do that," Internode product manager Jim Kellett told iTnews.

A spokesman for iiNet said pricing changes for its fibre greenfield products would also become available over the next month.

Phil Smith, general manager of regulatory and carrier relations at Opticomm, said it was only a matter of time before the other eight of its ten signed retail service providers also fell into line.

"We've been pressuring the retail service providers to bring their pricing in line," he said.

"All of the retailers I've spoken to recently have said they want to do alignment."

TransACT CEO Ivan Slavich said his company was also revising its wholesale pricing for fibre greenfield estates but found it difficult to match NBN Co.

Though the networks operated by Opticomm and OPENetworks are unlikely to come under scrutiny from the Federal Government's level-playing field legislation, Slavich has continued to seek an exemption for expansion of TransACT's fibre network in Canberra's Molonglo Valley.

Failure to gain the exemption from the legislation could halt fibre expansion in the area and subject the networks to a forthcoming declaration of non-NBN fibre services by the competition watchdog.

"We would have to contemplate what we do in that situation if we don't gain an exemption," Slavich said.

Telstra this week gained its own exemptions from the legislation for the South Brisbane development and 118 Velocity fibre estates, opening the latter developments to retail competition for the first time.

It is expected the move could spark re-negotiation of pricing for Telstra's fibre wholesale product.