From Monday, October 22, residents throughout both regions can apply for high-speed broadband services, for which they will pay no more than Internode customers in metropolitan areas of Australia. Internode broadband services cost from $39.95 a month.

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator the Hon. Helen Coonan, today announced the recommenced rollout at an event in the Yorke Peninsula town of Maitland.

In the Yorke Peninsula, Internode will use WiMAX wireless broadband technology to connect customers that are beyond the reach of "wired" ADSL services, which are limited by telephone line quality and distance from the telephone exchange. Coupled with its ADSL services, Internode’s WiMAX reach will enable it to provide full broadband coverage of the Yorke Peninsula before the end of the year.

Internode will be the first Australian provider to deliver a region-wide, wireless broadband service based on the WiMAX standard. Internode WiMAX services will match or exceed those promised by OPEL, which is building a Federally-funded wholesale broadband network in other regional areas of Australia.

Backed by the Coalition Government's Australian Broadband Guarantee, Internode will begin connecting customers to its high-speed broadband infrastructure within weeks.

Internode manager, regional broadband, Kym Cleggett said the restarted program would provide regional customers with the same price and performance as city customers. "Internode has invested a lot of resources to provide rural customers with access to affordable broadband," he said.

"The support of the Coalition Government's Australian Broadband Guarantee now allows us to offer broadband services to regional residents and businesses for the same price as in the city."

Internode has worked closely with the Coalition Government's Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA) and the South Australian Government's Broadband SA team to provide regional South Australians with access to metropolitan-parity broadband services.

The Coalition Government's Australian Broadband Guarantee provides Internode, as an Australian Broadband Guarantee qualified supplier, with a per-customer subsidy to underwrite the high capital cost of establishing broadband in rural areas. Without this subsidy, each customer would face a broadband connection cost of $2000 or more.

Internode offers largest broadband footprint in Yorke Peninsula and the Coorong

Internode can connect new customers to its broadband networks in the Yorke Peninsula and the Coorong very rapidly as it has already invested millions of dollars to build infrastructure in those regions. This investment means that Internode offers greater broadband Internet coverage of the Yorke Peninsula and Coorong region than any of its competitors, including Telstra.

Internode began building its microwave-based communications network in the Coorong in the year 2000. The company started construction of its high-speed wireless network on the Yorke Peninsula in 2005. Both developments also received funding under the Coalition Government's previous broadband funding programs. These projects were strongly backed by the Coorong District Council and District Council of Yorke Peninsula and underpinned by the State Government's Broadband Development Fund.