Who's Who - Leading Australian Internet Providers 2007

Everyone knows Telstra BigPond and Optus offer broadband Internet services but you might be surprised to discover just how many other companies also offer competitive plans and services. If you’d like to know what the alternatives are to the “big two” read on…

Internet providers by state

Loyal to your state, region or town? Rather get your broadband Internet service from a local mob than one of the big national brands? There are a number of smaller providers that offer services within their local areas – particularly in South Australia, it seems!

In Western Australian (WA) you have Amnet and iinet, Queensland has Activ8me and Spacelink, and Victoria has Neighbourhood Cable, Rabbit Net, Westvic Broadband and Wideband Networks. In Tassie you will find SuperNerd offer a decent service and South Australian providers include Adam Internet and EscapeNet. The Northern Territory has a surprisingly good pool of smaller providers to chose from – these include: Blackstump Solutions, Amnet, EscapeNet and SuperNerd, and in New South Wales (NSW) there are numerous providers (big and small) competing with Optus and BigPond regionally, and in the major metro centres, such as World Without Wires, Chilli Internet and Netspace. There are also a couple of providers servicing the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) such as CyberOne, Velocity and Spin Internet.

The “who’s who” of Internet providers

There are many many more providers to choose from of course – more than 250 of them in fact. It’s difficult to compile a complete list, but we had a go. Following is a condensed list of the better known names in the business of Internet and a little bit about each of them.

• aaNet Communications: Proud of their customer service and competitive rates in 2006 Money magazine recognised the company’s achievements with a gold medal - the award of “Best Broadband Plan” in the “Best of the Best 2006”.


• AAPT: This company offers home, business and mobile phones as well as ADSL and dial-up Internet. They have a reputation for helping people achieve savings and are quite a popular choice for an alternative home phone or business service.


• Australian Private Networks Ltd (APN) trades as Activ8me (often mistakenly referred to as Active8me): The company offers satellite broadband and VoIP in regional Australia and, where possible, the installation of satellite dishes and other essential hardware is paid for by the Government under the Australian Broadband Connect program. One of the satellites the company uses is the IPSTAR-1 satellite which has a special feature called Dynamic Bandwidth Management to help reduce the impact of weather on the signal. Private company, Queensland-based Telecards Asia Pty Ltd bought APN in 2005.


• Adam Internet: An Adelaide-based company, Adam Internet is going from strength to strength. Adam offers solutions for both home and business users. Services include dialup, as well as “casual” dialup right through to ADSL2+.


• Amnet: Amnet is a division of Amcom (also known as Amcom Telecommunications). Amcom is a fibre optics specialist who has laid cable in Perth, Adelaide and Darwin. Amnet is the service provision area of the business – offering DSL and voice services to Government, corporates and some residential customers.


• Arrow Voice and Data: Specialising in business communications, Arrow offer phone or voice solutions, data, and Internet including business standard ADSL, SHDSL, wireless services and Ethernet.


• AUSTAR Broadband: Launched in Wagga Wagga, NSW, the company plans to offer broadband services in 25 regional locations. Tamworth was the second town to get access to the service. Simplicity is a catch-phrase that is frequently bandied about in relation to AUSTAR - the company endeavours to make it easy for geeks and non-geeks alike to understand and use the latest technology.


• BigAir: BigAir specialises in wireless Internet (both fixed and mobile wireless) and are a provider of services to both residential and business customers. They offer fixed wireless services in the Sydney metropolitan area, as well as Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane. They use the iBurst mobile wireless network or Unwired to service customers in all capital cities.


• Blackstump Solutions: It’s a good Aussie story. Established in the Northern Territory in 2004, and now national, Blackstump offers phone and Internet solutions at competitive rates. The company is not a mega-corporate operator and, perhaps endearingly, perhaps frustratingly, says it prefers to put its budget into IT support rather than the glossy trappings of being an “Internet business” (meaning: their website it pretty un-inspiring). That said, they work hard at their customer relations and have a rep regularly online responding to questions at Whirlpool http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=801000 – Australia’s leading broadband forum. They offer Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP or free Internet phone services), dial-up, ADSL and ADSL2.


• Central Coast Internet: Also referred to as CCI, Central Coast Internet offers dial-up, ADSL and wireless Internet. They have plans starting from $19.95.


• Chilli Internet: Offering business solutions as well as residential services, Chilli’s claim to fame is offering a “truly” wireless, unwired Internet. Interestingly, like a number of the B-list providers, they also offer domain sales and web hosting.


• Comcen Internet: One of Australia’s top 20 Internet service providers (ISPs) the company, reportedly, still thinks like a consumer – remembering the days when the big telcos had a stranglehold. It seems to have sunk into the company psyche that a “fair go” is the right approach. Best to check with their customers whether this viewpoint is just hype. That said, in 2007 they were recognised by Money magazine in the “Best of the Best” edition. Comcen offers web hosting, phone and Internet services including ADSL2+, and wireless.


• CyberOne: Established in Canberra more than 10 years ago, CyberOne offers all kinds of telecommunications services from networking, to web design, to e-commerce and Internet. Its users include Government and residential customers. It’s another company who got a mention from Money magazine in the 2006 “Best of the Best”.


• D-Link: A well known brand name, D-Link is not an ISP; rather the company sells a range of Internet devices and networking solutions. Modems, routers, switches, cables, network adaptors, VPNs are just some of the devices on offer. The D-Link DSL-G604T is one of their more highly regarded ADSL routers for home and or office use. It facilitates sharing your connection to high speed broadband Internet.


• Dodo: Dodo has earned a host of Money magazine medals over the last few years. Very strong in the residential Internet area (the fifth biggest provider) Dodo is branching out now into business services such as voice and data. They are proud to be 100% Australian owned and operated and work hard to keep the big guys competitive.


• EscapeNet: This company offers services in South Australia, Northern Territory and Victoria. They are a medium-sized provider that offers Internet, (both ADSL and dial-up) as well as web hosting and networking services.


• Exetel: A young company established in 2004, Exetel offers Internet services to large and small business as well as residential customers. They have a good reputation for uptime and pride themselves on responsive customer service. They also have a forum where their users can discuss any problems or issues.


• iBurst: iBurst, the brand, is owned and operated by Personal Broadband Australia Ltd. It is a portable (or mobile) broadband service that allows users to take their computer from transmission cell to transmission cell without dropping out (just as your carry your mobile phone from place to place and can talk and walk). It is on-sold by a number of ISPs – you cannot subscribe to iBurst directly from Personal Broadband Australia Ltd. The iBurst website has a list of the service providers you can subscribe to.


• iiNet: iiNet has been around since 1993 – absolutely ages. In recent months they have made a big splash in some of the states where they were not well known (the company started in Perth). They have hundreds of thousands of customers and the real geeks love them – iiNet and Internode fight for the top spot amongst users registered with Whirlpool.


• Internode: Ah, Internode. This company has also been around a long time (established in 1991). Targeting both business and home users Internode offers a range of voice products, as well as Wide Area Network (WAN) solutions and Internet services. It’s fair enough to say that Simon Hackett, the Managing Director and Founder of Internode, is one of Australia’s favourite and most proactive geeks. Even if you use another provider, without him pushing for the introduction of the Internet in this country you might not have had the chance.


• iPrimus: A global company that has been offering services in Australia since 1997, iPrimus (also known as Primus or Primus Telecom) offers the full range of telecommunications services – VoIP, Internet, phone (voice) and data, even mobile phones. They are also a major supporter of Melbourne International Chamber Music, and have introduced interesting strategies to assist the Melbourne Football Clubs the Demons and the Kangaroos.


• Koala Telecom: Cute name, not so cute service. This company offers the full range of products – business services, wireless Internet, phone and hosting but has been plagued with issues. In July 2007 their customers were bought by Blitz Telecom. Blitz / Koala are now working at improving their customer relations but the recent migration (September 2007) is causing some major headaches. The plans Blitz intends to offer may prove to be enough of a sweetener for customers to keep the company growing however.


• Neighbourhood Cable: With the tag line of regional Australia’s fastest cable broadband, this company is going from strength to strength. They recently won the Enterprise Magazine IT/Communications Award at the niche event the 2007 CGU Commerce Ballarat Business Excellence Awards. They offer super fast broadband and cable TV, as well as dial-up, phone services and wireless Internet.
• Netspace: A well-organised and popular ISP, Netspace offer a load of extras with their plans – even discounted DVD rental. As well ADSL2+ and dial-up they offer business services and are moving into VoIP. Their bundled phone / Internet plans can save you up to $10 per month off their normal broadband pricing.


• Optus: part of the SingTel Group, Asia’s largest telco, the Optus company is SingTel’s most significant asset. Optus offers home phone, mobile phone and 3G services, broadband and cable television. They are also moving into VoIP. Optus is the second biggest player in the Australian Internet market. Optusnet and Optus Zoo are part of the Optus network.


• Oz Forces: This is not an ISP as such, but rather a provider of premium game server rentals, online league services, limited public servers and booking facilities. They have recently changed their name to CyberSports and are reportedly the only professionally facilitated game service in Australia.


• Pacific Internet: This company offers services primarily to medium and small business, and government, however they do also have residential customers. Part of Pacific Internet Limited (NASDAQ: PCNTF), the largest telco-independent IP-CSP in the Asia Pacific region by geographic reach, Pacific Internet has operations in Singapore, the Philippines, India, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand. As well as the various communications services such as broadband, VoIP and web hosting they also managed security systems, and network monitoring among other things.


• People Telecom: With attractive sounding plans (good prices, fixed costs) People Telecom has attracted a number of Australian customers but this company is far from transparent and there are a number of noisy and unhappy customers on popular Australian broadband forums. Formerly known as Swiftel Communications it offers the full range of telecommunications products – broadband, phone, mobile and data services. It was listed in the Deloitte Fast 50 in 2005 so it must be doing something right.


• Primus Telecom: In 1997 Primus (also referred to as iPrimus) became the first carrier to be granted a license to compete with Telstra – it is now Australia’s fourth largest fixed-line carrier. The company offers super-fast broadband as well as phone services and at competitive rates. They offer the full range of services including nationwide long distance call services and have spent a heap of cash building its own network infrastructure ($300 million) in Australia. The Primus Telecommunications Group Inc is one of the world's 10 largest carriers of international voice traffic. (By the way, PrimusNet is the name of a group of plans offered by Primus that use the Primus DSLAM instead of the Telstra DSLAM.)


• Rabbit Net / Rabbit Tel: Melbourne-based company Rabbit Net offer dial-up, broadband, home and mobile phone services. Their plans can be good value and their customer support is supposed to be first class, even though their website is definitely in the B-grade. (Rabbit Tel is the phone part of the business, while Rabbit Net is the Internet side of the business).


• Siemens: A familiar name but not an ISP, Siemens is a huge international company that makes techie gadgets to help you connect to the Internet or use additional Internet services such as VoIP. The Siemens Gigaset M34 USB, for example, is for VoIP, while the ADSL2+ Speedstream modem used for broadband internet. Very strong in telephony, Siemens makes hundreds of different telecom products.


• Simpliciti: Offering wireless, broadband and dial-up services, Simpliciti tries to minimise jargon, make their plans easy to understand and keep their products simple. That is why in 2006 the company changed its name from AlphaCall Telecommunications. Established ten years, the company started as a phone service provider and has moved over time into more advanced offering such as Internet.


• Soul Communications: Getting a grip on the family tree of this particular company can be a bit of a headache. Suffice it to say that in October 2005, SP Telemedia Limited (SOT) decided to consolidate all of its SPT companies (Soul Pattinson Telecommunications, SPT Telecommunications and SPTCOM) into the one new brand, Soul. (And yes, Soul Pattinson Chemists is also the name of a chain of pharmacies). Soul offers phone, data, VoIP and Internet services, as well as video on demand. It has also invested in digital television and is Australia’s only converged media and telecommunications business. Their Web and phone services are detailed on their consumer website MySoul. Soul offers services primarily through its business networks (to employees of those companies) but is now making a bigger splash direct-to-consumer.



As an aside, some Internet pharmacy services are offered by franchisees of the chain of Soul Pattinson Chemists. Their may be no relationship between Soul and these pharmacy businesses or it may simply be that Soul provides cheap Internet to these chemists if they so wish. (Stay tuned - we’ll get back to you on that.)



• Spacelink: A smaller ISP based in Melbourne, Spacelink offers broadband and dial-up Internet services as well as computer services. It has increased its offering by partnering with various big name companies such as Telstra and SPT/Comindico and developing a relationship with Powertel. In 2005 it bought Netlink Connect to help expand its customer base.


• Spin Internet: One of Australia’s top 20 ISPs, though still small Spin has also been voted one of the 2007 "Best of the Best" by Money magazine. Spin has also been listed in Australian Net Guide's list of best value broadband deals for Feb 2007. They offer ADSL2+ and iBurst wireless services. Taking a leaf out of the Google book, Spin offers free mobile broadband accounts in Canberra, Queensland's Gold Coast, Sydney and other major centres. (There are fees for exceeding the download limits).


• SuperNerd: SuperNerd has a slightly different corporate spin to some of the other ISPs – the emphasis is on technical reliability: for example quality routing systems and network monitoring “without the price tag associated with the major carriers” (quoting their website). In true geek style, the company also actively promotes animal welfare and an environmentally sustainable approach to technology. They also have a customer service team that, reportedly, follows through, which is nice to know.


• Telstra BigPond: You know who this is: Australia’s largest service provider, one of the “big demons” the smaller guys try to compete with and the company that has made the biggest investment in technology infrastructure (which is not to say other companies haven’t also spent a lot of cash laying cables and erecting poles). The Next G Network is Telstra’s newest baby and the catch phrase at BigPond is always speed…


• Three (3): Mobile phones and mobile broadband are what 3 is all about. Targeting hip youngsters and leveraging an Apple-esque look and feel 3 has entered the Aussie broadband market from a left-of-centre view point and has close to cult status amongst devotees. There is no denying the 3 USB modem is a funky piece of work, and what it can do for you (liberate your laptop) is also very attractive to many users. That said, other providers offer a similar service… but if you’re a sucker for stylish marketing then 3 is probably on your radar.


• TPG Internet: Undeniably, 10c flat-rate telephone calls to anywhere in Australia make it worth your while to take a second glance at the Total Peripherals Group (TPG), a privately owned Australian company. TPG offers various Internet services, including ADSL2+, as well as VoIP and business networking. They achieved fame around 2005 with a really great value broadband plan that attracted plenty of happy new customers but their prices have been slowly going up and up.


• TSN Communications: A small, family owned Australian company based in Port Macquarie NSW, TSN is an on-seller of various Internet products and offers wireless, ADSL and dial-up broadband. They differentiate themselves by offering primarily contract-free plans and some other quirky services such as access to “traveller’s mail” – Squirrel Mail and Round Cube Webmail.


• Unwired: Pre-paid broadband is the newest product offer from Unwired. It’s an attractive concept for many users, especially people who have successfully used a pre-paid phone account to control their spending. Unwired is true wireless Internet. All you need is a modem (wired or unwired) to pick up the Internet signal (in a similar way to a radio picking up radio waves). This is a completely different Internet network to other broadband services and is Australia’s first alternative local loop (Telstra rules the roost –it rent lines to other broadband providers). Unwired uses Navini Networks non-line-of-sight technology and the company is working to migrate to Mobile WiMAX. Mobile WiMAX will be the global standard for wireless broadband.


• Velocity Internet: A Canberra-based company that offers ADSL and dial-up services as well as streaming radio.


• Virgin Broadband: Shaking up the market – as you would expect any Virgin company to do – Virgin Broadband offers Australian’s the world’s first wireless landline phone service option with its very competitively priced broadband plan. Other deals include a free mobile phone and free calls with broadband connection OR free broadband with phone services. In fact, the interesting combinations of deals, download limits, devices and services, and possibly big savings, mean Virgin is definitely a company to take a look at before you sign up elsewhere. Thanks Richard.


• Vodafone: Commonly mistakenly identified as Vodaphone, Vodafone offers mobile broadband in 3G broadband (HSDPA) and GPRS coverage areas. There are three different ways to connect your laptop (and other devices) to the service: Vodafone Mobile Connect USB Modem, Vodafone Mobile Connect Data Card, and Built-in 3G Broadband. The pricing is competitive and not having to pay for a landline phone line to get Internet access is very attractive.


• Water Sprite: A new, small company based in a country town in Gunnedah, NSW (near Canberra), Water Sprite’s customers are national but tend to be from Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane. They offer ADSL, business grade DSL, dial-up and VoIP. Though their website is very amateur looking you can be assured the management will take your queries seriously – the boss is likely to answer your phone call.


• Westnet: This Australian-owned company prides itself on its customer service and network reliability. It also sponsors a number of children via World Vision and supports a number of local charities. Westnet offers ADSL2+ as well as satellite broadband. It also has a customer access site called MyWestnet that provides news and information.


• Westvic Broadband: Privately owned and based in Warrnambool, Victoria, this company formed out of frustration when the regionally based, tech-savvy owners realised that ISP's operating in rural Western Victoria had little interest in supplying affordable broadband services to people outside the bigger population centres. The company offers wireless, super-fast ADSL2+ and business grade services. Westnet will also help people work out whether they are eligible for the Australian Broadband Guarantee subsidy when connecting to wireless Internet.


• Wideband Networks: Satellite, ADSL2+, wireless and wideband voice services are available from Wideband Networks, an ISP based in Gippsland in Victoria. VoIP and web hosting are also part of the company’s offering. Owned and run by locals, the business is primarily aimed at rural and regional users, with most of their customers hailing from Melbourne through to East Gippsland.


• World Without Wires (wwwires): Generation Y at it’s best – three young computer-obsessed lads (aged 19 to 24) from Northern NSW started this very professional company after one of them took a trip to the States and had an experience of the “wireless” lifestyle. Wwwires offer services between Casino, Lismore, Brunswick Heads and Ballina. The plan prices are competitive and, if forum comments are anything to go by, most people give them a pretty good wrap as far as service goes. You might like to read more about these Bangalow boys – here’s a snippet from their local rag, the Bangalow Heartbeat. And if you have time take a squiz at their blog where you can see some “action photos” of the boys doing various installations – including one up an enormous pine tree!