PtP
14-11-2003, 09:55 AM
OPTUS has announced it will soon begin offering ADSL to residential customers, after finalising negotiations to use Telstra's infrastructure.
The deal will allow Optus to offer residential broadband to a much larger market than that afforded by its cable network, which passes about two million homes.
A launch date for the service has not been announced, although consumer and multimedia director Martin Dalgleish said it would be before March 31, 2004. Optus will begin recruiting ADSL triallists from tomorrow, he said.
Optus is also keeping pricing plans to itself, although it has revealed the ADSL service will feature the same flat rate and speed throttling plans used for OptusNet Cable.
"We're not revealing pricing or launch dates today and there's a reason for that - we don't want to give a free kick to our competitors," Mr Dalgleish said.
Optus will only offer 512kb and 1.5mb ADSL and avoid the slower 256kb option, because "our customers expect premium speeds", a spokeswoman said.
The ADSL announcement comes almost two years after many other ISPs began offering ADSL using Telstra wholesale infrastructure, after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission forced Telstra to reduce its wholesale ADSL pricing.
Optus' consumer and multimedia division has been negotiating with Telstra over both pricing and service quality over the past two years, vowing to maintain the good reputation it has gained for its cable broadband service when it begins offering ADSL.
The deal is certain to boost the number of ADSL-connected households in Australia, and help Telstra reach its target of one million retail and wholesale broadband customers by late 2005.
The deal will allow Optus to offer residential broadband to a much larger market than that afforded by its cable network, which passes about two million homes.
A launch date for the service has not been announced, although consumer and multimedia director Martin Dalgleish said it would be before March 31, 2004. Optus will begin recruiting ADSL triallists from tomorrow, he said.
Optus is also keeping pricing plans to itself, although it has revealed the ADSL service will feature the same flat rate and speed throttling plans used for OptusNet Cable.
"We're not revealing pricing or launch dates today and there's a reason for that - we don't want to give a free kick to our competitors," Mr Dalgleish said.
Optus will only offer 512kb and 1.5mb ADSL and avoid the slower 256kb option, because "our customers expect premium speeds", a spokeswoman said.
The ADSL announcement comes almost two years after many other ISPs began offering ADSL using Telstra wholesale infrastructure, after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission forced Telstra to reduce its wholesale ADSL pricing.
Optus' consumer and multimedia division has been negotiating with Telstra over both pricing and service quality over the past two years, vowing to maintain the good reputation it has gained for its cable broadband service when it begins offering ADSL.
The deal is certain to boost the number of ADSL-connected households in Australia, and help Telstra reach its target of one million retail and wholesale broadband customers by late 2005.