Agile boosts broadband to 8Mbps

Agile Communications, the sister company to ISP, Internode, will install new ADSL2 equipment into telephone exchanges across South Australia and Victoria by the year's end to give its customers broadband services of up to 8Mbps.

The network operator claims it will install the ADSL2 technology across eight metropolitan exchanges in Adelaide and Melbourne over the next six months. This will be followed by similar rollouts in five regional South Australian areas currently without access to broadband services.

The turbo-broadband rollout is expected to cost $3 million.

Agile and Internode managing director, Simon Hackett, said the new technology would give it an edge over broadband services provided by its competitors, including telco giant, Telstra. Currently, the maximum speed offered across residential ADSL broadband services is 1.5Mbps.

The initiative is the latest step in the company's plans to roll out its own DSL network.

Last year, Agile announced it would begin implementing its own infrastructure in a bid to provide broadband services independently of Telstra.

Speaking to ARN at the time, Internode's Hackett said there were financial benefits in establishing independent DSL infrastructure to Telstra.

"Telstra access costs and exchange access regimes are so expensive and restrictive that it's essentially a process where we'll be close to breaking even," he said. "[This] compares to engaging Telstra Wholesale ADSL access, or where we may actually wind up paying more in many cases."

Agile said it had plans to rollout its own ADSL equipment to a total of 22 exchanges.