Slashdot Mirror
Australia Gets 8Mbit/s Broadband now, 20Mbit Soon
danwarne writes "Whirlpool is reporting the 'bad old days' of slow, expensive broadband in Australia might be over, with the large ISP iiNet unveiling broadband internet up to 8Mbit/s, from $29/mth. It has been installing its own DSLAMs into the exchanges of Australia's incumbent telco, Telstra, which limits internet access speeds to a maximum of 1.5MBit/s. iiNet boss Michael Malone says as soon as the ADSL2+ standard is approved for use in Australia (which should be in a month or two), he intends to switch the DSLAMs over to offering 20Mbit/s speeds. It looks like Telstra and Optus, the two incumbent telcos in Australia might have their duopoly on high speed broadband (10Mbit/s cable internet) challenged, with potentially great ramifications for price competition in Australia. The only downside noted by Whirlpool readers is that iiNet is forcing customers to take their long distance phone service as well to get access to the 8Mbit/s speeds, a move which is ironically reminiscent of the tactics used by Telstra and Optus."
I just wish there'd be more of a focus on extending ADSL coverage across Australia. I mean seriously, how much longer must we be on prehistoric RIMs and the like?
Heck, I might as well burn some points as well:
Michael's departure, if true, would be the best thing to happen to Slashdot in a long time... and I've got two karma points to burn for saying so.
I've been reading slashdot for a few years, but have no preferences amongst the editors. I've never noticed anything negative about Michael.. However I have noticed the frequent "MICHAEL SUXX!" posts from a bunch of AC's.
Why do people dislike him so much?
Can someone please enlighten me?
www.6502asm.com - Code 6502 assembly or.. DIE!!
Not quite true; Australia is one of the most urbanized 1st world countries.
>95% of the population live in the major cities.
Which is also why they are offering wireless internet (http://www.unwired.com.au/ , http://www.iburst.com.au/ )