Telstra has just upped the anti in a battle over broadband speed by delivering a superfast new ADSL2+ service from more than 2400 exchanges in Australia. They claim that it is among the fastest services in the world today. On hand at the launch was old time rockerTommy Emanuel proved that speed still counts when it comes to good old fashioned rock and roll music. 

The new services comes as several ISP's battle it out for market share among more than 5 million Australian who are now switching to a new generation of broadband services. For existing BigPond customers there are price cuts however more than 50% of existing BigPond customers will have to wait until their next billing period as Telstra is still migrating them to a new billing system from an existing batch process legacy system.

In addition some customers may have to wait for a new ADSL Modem before they can access the service.

The unveiling of the new ADSL2 service also marked the 10th anniversary of the launch of BigPond in November 1996.

BigPond's Group Managing Director, Mr Justin Milne, said BigPond High Speed Broadband would deliver network speeds of either up to eight megabits per second (Mbps) or up to 20Mbps from exchanges offering ADSL2+ services. Because of regulatory constraints, the up to 20Mbps service would be limited to exchanges where competitors are also offering those higher speeds.

"Telstra's commitment to delivering national high-speed broadband services is demonstrated by how we are investing our money. Because we've invested shareholder funds heavily in building out our high-speed network, we are now able to offer BigPond customers, across Australia, higher speed ADSL broadband services" Mr Milne said.

"Additionally, we have introduced new 1.5Mbps BigPond plans, which are up to $30 per month cheaper. A customer on a 512kbps BigPond plan can elect to switch to an equivalent 1.5Mbps BigPond plan at no extra charge and benefit from a speed increase of around 300 per cent" said Milne

"This is the biggest news in Australian fixed-line broadband in years and complements the launch of the Telstra's Next GTM network, Australia's fastest and largest mobile wireless broadband network one month ago.

"BigPond's new high-speed plans are not just for a few prime inner city exchanges. We've upgraded our ADSL-enabled exchanges nationally, to offer more speed in more places, so that customers in cities, regional centres and country towns can reap the productivity, entertainment, education, and health care benefits of high-speed broadband," Mr Milne said.

"It means faster downloads, better quality video streaming, lightning-quick web surfing and the ability to send and receive large files quickly and conveniently," he said. The new national high-speed broadband network includes more than 2,400 ADSL-enabled exchanges that reach around 91 per cent percent of the population.

"BigPond Movie Downloads, BigPond TV On Demand and BigPond Games Shop downloads will take only minutes. For example, downloading Casablanca, a one gigabyte download which would take more than nine hours at 256kbps, can now be fully downloaded in as little as seven and a half minutes with our high-speed plans.

"We'll be able to offer high quality video from our sports sites, and students will be able to explore and learn from the encyclopaedic educational resources of the internet," Mr Milne said.

New customers with two eligible Telstra services, who sign up online, can get one of our new BigPond Broadband high-speed ADSL plans from as little as $29.97 per month for the first 12 months on a two year contract.

For customers with a Telstra full service phone, pricing for the new ADSL high-speed services starts at $59.95 with a 600MB download limit, a 12GB shaped plan for $89.95 and 25GB and 60GB plans for heavy users priced at $119.95 and $149.95 respectively.

Entry level 256kbps plan prices remain unchanged, starting at $29.95 per month.

Customers can check what speed may be available from their local exchange by entering their address at www.bigpond.com/internet-plans/broadband/availability/defa ult.asp. Speeds may vary due to factors including network configuration, line quality & length, exchange type, customer premises interference, internet traffic and equipment.

Existing BigPond members on 512 kbps and 1.5Mbps plans can take advantage of the new speeds and pricing by visiting "My BigPond" and, in some cases, they may also need to upgrade their existing modem.

BigPond ADSL Pricing effective 10 November 2006

Access speed / MB Allowance: Preselect Price
256kbps/200MB: $29.95
256pbps / BigPond Liberty1: $59.95
1500 kbps / 400MB: $39.95
1500 kbps / BigPond Liberty1: $69.95
1500 kbps / 25GB: $99.95
High speed2 / 600MB: $59.95
High speed2 / BigPond Liberty1: $89.95
High speed2 / 25GB: $119.95
High speed2 / 60GB : $149.95

1. Shaped download limit of 12GB
2. Up to 8Mbps for ADSL1 and up to 20Mbps for ADSL2+