IMPORTANT NOTE: These plans have been upgraded since they were first announced. This blog post has been edited to reflect the upgraded version of the plans.

In September 2010 Internode announced a new series of ‘T-shirt size’ Easy Broadband plans.

This post explains how the plans are structured and answers a few questions about the internals of how they work.

Please note that this is a technical Q&A blog post. You don’t need to understand this stuff to use and order the new plans.

Instead, if one of the new plans is of interest, then (when they’re orderable, in the week of 13-17th Sep 2010), just… order the one that suits your needs best!

Here is a press release summarising the new plans (please start there!)

And now, here are some questions and answers about them:

Why ‘T-Shirt’ plans?

These plans are named in the same way that T-Shirt sizes are – there are plans available in ‘Small’ , ‘Medium’ and ‘Large’ sizes, plus two more plans for those who feel that ‘too much quota is never enough’: ‘XL’  and ‘XXL’.

When will these plans be available?

These plans were released for sale on 16th September 2010.

What about existing Internode customers?

Existing customers will remain on their existing plans in all cases, and will be notified via normal mechanisms of the availability of the new plans. They can then change to a new plan using the Internode online plan changer, or remain on their existing plan – entirely at their option.

Please note that all the new Easy plans, like the old Easy plans, count uploads and downloads in their monthly quota.

As a result, some customers on other plans may elect to remain on their existing ‘download counted only’ plans.

Also, the bundled versions of the new plans require the use of the new NodeLine HomePlus (or NodeLine BizPlus) plans, and some customers may prefer to remain on the existing NodeLine plans instead.

For these and other reasons, Internode won’t make automatic changes to existing customer plans in general – we will simply leave that decision up to them. If you don’t like the new plans, don’t use them (but we hope you do like them!).

Please note that no existing plans will be ‘grandfathered’ (no longer offered for new sale) as part of this release, except for the current ‘Easy’ and ‘Naked Easy’ plans, which are superseded by the new plan tables.

For more information and thoughts about existing customers and new plans (in general), you might care to read this blog post as well:

http://blog.internode.on.net/2010/04/17/plan-changes-and-you/

Any other notable features of these plans?

One notable feature is that where the plans are deployed on an Agile/Internode direct port, the plans have Annex M mode (high speed upstream, up to 2.5 Megabits per second) available to select, at no extra cost.

To enable this, just use the Internode profile changer and turn on an Annex M compatible profile (of course you need to be using an Annex M capable, and configured, router, too)

As always, the actual upstream speed is a function of your specific line conditions and modem.

These plans are shaped to 256/256 if you happen to wind up consuming your entire quota before your monthly period is out.

What about unbundled and Naked versions?

Unbundled and Naked versions of all the plans are also being released.

What about SOHO and Business ADSL plan upgrades?

We’re working on both. The currently expected outcome is:

• A ‘SOHO Pack’ for $10/month that can be selected to go with any of these new plans (offering various benefits including a Static IP address and 512-down/unlimited-up shaping over quota).
• A revised BUSINESS ADSL table, which will feature similar quota magnitudes, our normal BUSINESS ADSL benefits, and that will retain uncounted uploads.

Look out for announcements regarding the two points noted above over the coming weeks.

What is the full pricing table?

Here it is; Note some important changes since these plans were originally announced:

• Small, Medium, Large plans are 150GB, 250GB, 350GB (not 100,200,300 as originally announced)
• XXL plans are offered at a lower cost than originally announced

(*) The XL and XXL plans are not available on Optus Wholesale ADSL2+ ports, only on Agile/Internode direct ADSL2+ ports.

Why are these ‘true’ Terabyte plans?

Like all Internode plans, these new plans don’t make a distinction between ‘peak’ and ‘offpeak’ times of day, and offer a single quota that can be used at any time of the day.

This means that we let our customers access content when it suits them – without needing to have regard to what time it is, and without having to arrange their usage patterns to meet their ISPs ‘off peak’ time bands in order to make full use of their quota.

What about plans on ‘Telstra ports’?

This new release of the Internode ‘Easy’ plan tables uses Agile/Internode direct and Optus Wholesale ADSL2+ ports. It does not use ADSL2+ ports from Telstra Wholesale.

The available Internode plans that offer access on Telstra Wholsale ports (the 512, STANDARD, and FAST plans) will be revised once we have completed ongoing access pricing negotiations with our key wholesale supplier for those plans.

What about other existing Internode plans?

Existing Internode plans remain unchanged – the 512, Standard, Fast, Extreme, NakedExtreme, NakedUltra, UltraBundle plans – are all fully available for existing and new customers to choose from if they wish to do so.

Why are the new NodeLine plans more expensive than the old ones?

The new NodeLine plans, to be released with the new Easy ‘T-Shirt’ plans, are intended to become a part of a bundle with your choice of ‘Easy’ plan, if you wish to bundle your plan with Internode. To offset their $5 per month higher cost, they include a $5 per month call credit. For instance, NodeLine HomePlus will be priced at $34.95.

This means that for people who make use of the phone calls offering with these plans each month, these plans work out about the same as selecting our old NodeLine Home plan.

For people who don’t plan to make phone calls at all on their associated phone line, you may find that you achieve a lower total monthly cost by selecting the unbundled Easy plans and using a ‘budget’ plan from another provider.

The new NodeLine HomePlus plan (or the new NodeLine BizPlus) must be selected as part of the new Easy plan bundles.

Customers on existing NodeLine plans are not required to change to the new NodeLine plans unless they wish to move to one of the new Easy plan bundles.

This includes customers on the existing Easy and Easy Naked plans, who are welcome to remain on their current plans if they do not wish to move to the new NodeLine plans as part of a bundle.

Note that the plans are available unbundled for only $10 per month more than the bundled pricing, and are also available as Naked plans.

What about plan availability?

The plans are available in most places where Agile or Optus ADSL2+ port coverage exists.

• Where Agile port coverage exists:

All plan sizes will be available in Easy (Bundled with NodeLine and standalone), and in Naked versions, with the exception of some specific exchanges where the XL and XXL plans will not be available due to backhaul network capacity constraints.

The current list of exchanges where XL and XXL plans are not available is noted separately below.

• Where Optus port coverage exists:

The S, M and L (but not XL or XXL) plans will be available across all Optus coverage areas, as Naked plans or as “Easy-UltraBundle” plans.

The Easy-UltraBundle plan table will be released a week or two after the plans are initially made available.

This version offers access on Optus ports at the same price as the bundle of Easy+NodeLine on Agile ports, and includes the same $5/month of voice call credit on the PSTN service each month.

What is the list of exchanges where XL and XXL plans aren’t available?

We’re still firming this up, but right now the list is expected to start off as follows. The list is based on areas where our current backhaul capacity may not be capable of supporting XL and XXL plans without adversely impacting customer service quality in general in the areas concerned.

This list may be revised over time to remove exchanges from having this constraint following backhaul upgrades.

This list may also be revised over time to add exchanges in response to high takeup rate in other areas with constrained backhaul.

TAS

• St Johns (STJN)
• South Launceston (SHLN)

VIC:

• Geelong (GEEM)

SA:

• Mt Gambier (MTGE)
• Port Augusta (PTAA)
• Whyalla (WHLA)
• Whyalla Jenkins (WHJS)
• Port Lincoln (PTLN)
• Maitland (MTLD)
• Meningie (MGIE)
• Minlaton (MINL)
• Tintinara (TIRA)
• Tailem Bend (TMBD)
• Coonalpyn (COPN)
• Mount Barker (MTBK)