TPG Internet has given an undertaking to the ACCC that it will amend its contracts, following a complaint made by Whirlpool regarding its $26.95 internet plan.

It has agreed to remove a clause in the contract for its $26.95 internet plan which gave TPG the right to discontinue service to customers who did not use 100MB per month of download.

TPG has widely advertised its $26.95 broadband internet offer, but only mentions in the fine print that no data is included in the monthly plan fee, and that consumers will pay the premium price of 15.9c per MB for any data used (up to 300MB) and then 5c per MB thereafter.

For example, someone who signed up onto the deal thinking it was a cheap broadband service would end up paying $109.65 to download just 1GB of data -- nothing like the massive "$26.95" advertised in the ad.

Whirlpool complained that the "100MB clause" in TPG's contract meant that no customer could ever get the $26.95 service for $26.95. The effective minimum price of the service plus 100MB data (assuming TPG enforced its clause) would be $42.85.

Some would say the undertaking made by TPG is merely "academic" as few customers would sign up for a broadband internet service and then only use 100MB per month.

But we think there's a principle at stake here.

Supplying broadband internet would cost TPG more than $26.95 per month. But as if it wasn't enough to not include any download allowance in that price (and don't make that particularly clear to customers), TPG was not even prepared to take the risk that they might have to supply the product for $26.95 to some customers -- so they inserted this sneaky contract clause.

In response to the allegation, TPG said it has never has, and never will enforce that 100MB contract clause.

But the question has to be asked: why was the clause ever there to begin with?

We think there's something fundamentally greedy about the way TPG advertises its internet deals. The $26.95 service is clearly not intended to be a $26.95 service -- but the advertising does not make that clear.

We'd like to see some more upfront advertising from TPG, and we suggest that in the meantime, the broadband user gives this company a wide berth while it sorts out its advertising strategy.