On the back of the announcement yesterday that iiNet has completed its acquisition of alternative Australian broadband provider Internode, the latter has outlined what benefits it expects to see from the tie-up. Internode has announced that the first ‘customer-visible benefit’ of the deal is that, having now become a full subsidiary of iiNet, it has added 242 telephone exchanges equipped with its new owner’s DLSAM equipment to the list of its own DSLAM-equipped exchanges. As a result, Internode claims that this will double the number of exchanges through which it can deliver its most popular services – Internode Easy Broadband and Easy Naked – from 208 to 450.
Talking up the advantage of the tie-up, Internode managing director Simon Hackett said: ‘Blending our DSLAM coverage benefits customers of both Internode and iiNet … We’re working hard to integrate both DSLAM networks so that we can get Internode customers connected via iiNet DSLAMs and vice versa … Although no timeline is available yet, the integration process is a priority for both iiNet and Internode.’
As previously reported by CommsUpdate, in December 2011 it was revealed that the third- and fifth-largest Australian broadband internet service providers (ISPs) would merge following an announcement that Perth-based iiNet would acquire Adelaide-based Internode for AUD105 million (USD106 million).