New Ultra Naked service launched by Internode

With promises to offer the best of both worlds, the new Ultra ADSL2+ service from Internode with offer ADSL2+, VoIP and a regular PSTN landline cost that costs far less then offers from other retail telcos.

Each broadband service will be bundled with $10 per month of free VoIP credit, which is assumed to be a response to the naked DSL pricing from iiNet, offering unlimited nationwide landline calls using its VoIP service.

With iiNet stating that, on average, its naked DSL users only make roughly 44 calls a month for free, the $10 offer from Internode is actually better value than it actually sounds. The $10 will also stretch further due to the inexpensive costs of using the VoIP service with national calls costing 18c untimed on Internode.

Internode will not be using its own Ericsson DSLAMs and instead the Huawei branded DSLAMs from Optus will be providing the service. The cost of migrating across to the DSLAMs from Optus will, however be covered by Internode for those who currently use its DSLAMs and with to change to the Ultra service.

Any users who sign up for a 24 month contract will be able to sign up with the ISP for free but if there is a cancellation of service within this time there will be a fee of $199 incurred.

Internode is offering plans range from $69.95 for 5GB, $79.95 for 15GB and $99.95 for 40GB but unlike many providers that meter downloads and uploads it is only metering the downloads with means that users will get much more downloading for their money.

Although it has been pointed out by Internode that there is no line rental cost for the new Ultra plans it would appear that they are really just bundling it in with the cost. The $99.95 cost on the 40GB Ultra plan, for example, compares with the equivalent regular ADSL2+ plan with costs $84.95, which bring up a $15 difference in price. Even though this isn’t truly free line rental there is a little to be saved with the cheapest line rental from Telstra being $20.95. With the Ultra service from Internode, however, the cheapest call costs on the market for the landline it provides and the fact that there is no second bill for the line rental is the big difference.