iiNet has increased line rental for its iiphone service, blaming Telstra, but has attempted to lessen the pain by uncapping its ADSL2+ service to 24Mbit/s.

The 38% of iiNet ADSL customers who bundle their land line will receive a $3.41 per month increase in rental next month, which iiNet blames on Telstra Wholesale price increases. "We're disappointed in the changes to our broadband arrangements and line rental prices from Telstra Wholesale and we're challenging this," said Michael Malone, iiNet managing director. It is believed competitor Primus Telecom is pursuing Telstra in court over the price increase.

iiNet will no doubt be wishing it had its "MSAN" voice solution in exchanges, which would enable it to avoid line rental charges for connected customers. According to Malone, this is still due mid next year.

Also affected by wholesale price changes are customers that aren't on iiNet's DSL network, which includes most regional users, and also those who choose not to bundle their phone line. Customers on the "pay as you go" and "starter" plans will have a speed drop from 1536/256 to 512/128, presumably due to wholesale port pricing increases.

iiNet is attempting to placate users on these plans by increasing download quotas. The "pay as you go" plan is now called "budget" and the quota has been increased to 600MB, at which point shaping will now occur instead of excess charges. The "starter" plan has had its quota doubled.

Malone confirmed that the previously floated idea of dropping the speed of all regional users to 512/128 has been abandoned, and that regional signups have now resumed. iiNet stopped taking new regional customers last month in a protest over Telstra Wholesale price uncertainty.

For the 60,000+ customers on iiNet infrastructure, potential speeds have increased from 12 to 24Mbit/s. However, most customers will be too far from the exchange to see any improvement. A few Whirlpool users have already reported sync speeds in excess of 20Mbit/s, however.

To enable the higher speed, or for those with connection troubles or a desire to tinker, iiNet now offers ADSL profile selection via a new "Speed connection manager". Similar to tools from other ADSL2+ providers, the options range from "Safe" to "Thrillseeker".

The move to 24Mbit/s comes as TPG announces it will also roll out its own DSLAMs in exchanges next year.

Links:

• Media Release  (iiNet, 15 Dec 2005)
• iiNet changes explained  (iiNet, 15 Dec 2005)