Telstra has finally enabled ADSL2+ services in the Ulladulla exchange.
Hooray! you say - well sort of.
I heard the news on the radio (last Friday I think) and the upgrade has likely already been put in to effect. How can they do this upgrade so fast? In truth Telstra probably had the hardware to provide this service in place ages ago. They have been waiting to make it available only when it suited them. Telstra has provided this service in places where they are under competition from other ISPs who had installed their own hardware and are providing the same services. In other places, like Ulladulla, Telstra were waiting for when the Government granted them permission to not share this infrastructure. They have this permission now so away they go!
So what's the big deal about you say? ADSL2+ can achieve speeds of up to 20Mbps under ideal conditions. This is about 2.5 times faster than the current ADSL2 maximum of around 8Mbps. To give you an idea of the speed difference the fellow on the radio last week quoted that to download a 10mb file it would take:
ADSL2+ (20Mbps) - 4 seconds
ADSL2 (8Mbps) - 10 seconds
Dial-up (56kbps or lower) - 10 to 15 minutes
To quote Telstra exactly from this page:
High-speed ADSL2+ broadband can provide network speeds of up to 20 Megabits per second (Mbps) depending on factors including the distance of a user from the exchange. ADSL2+ can provide speeds of 12 to 20 Mbps to users within 1.5 kilometres of an exchange, and approximately 8 Mbps to users three kilometres from an exchange. These speeds are up to 350 times faster than a standard 56kbps dial-up connection, and up to 78 times faster than a standard 256kbps ADSL connection.
If you already use Bigpond as your ISP or (presumably) if your ISP buys its wholesale service from Telstra then you can access the internet even faster than ever. But here's the catch. Inevitably the plans offering these speeds will be dearer and Bigpond are notoriously expensive, they have tricky conditions and bandwidth caps and they typically want you to bundle your phone services in as well. In my experience most people are better of with another ISP, particularly when buying an Internet service alone.
As always check out the available plans carefully at Whirlpool before you commit to a long-term Bigpond contract. Quoting from this Whirlpool article:
But people may be turned off the thought of ADSL2+ once they see the prices. Unlike its competitors, Telstra uses a tiered pricing model based on speed, where a user pays significantly more for ADSL2+ than they do for low speeds. Bigpond's cheapest unbundled ADSL2+ plan is $69.95 for only 600MB, with $150/GB excess fees and counted uploads.
So the gap between the "haves" who can get broadband services and the "have-nots" who cannot get broadband is widening even further.
Check out the details from below and make a decision whether this option may be for you. My advice would be that unless you have a compelling need to make an immediate change then just wait a little while. I expect that competition will arise and the more helpful and reputable service providers will have some plans to offer in Ulladulla that will be faster than those available now, at prices and with allowances that are a lot more appealing than Telstra's deals.
Cheers
MATT
- Telstra to upgrade 900 exchanges with ADLS2+
- First 370 exchanges upgraded within seven days
- Telstra will “not be forced to resell” to other ISPs, says Telstra CEO
Click for the full article
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