Telecom's flat-rate 128Kbit/s JetStart DSL service launched yesterday with 10 ISPs supporting the service – but many not yet offering pricing.
Xtra, which last month inadvertently posted a page detailing its JetStart rates before any other ISPs had even been told the service existed, was, naturally, open for business – offering JetStart for $64.90 a month, a margin of $34.95 over Telecom's monthly network charge of $29.95.
PlaNet is offering service at $68.95. Others listed as supporting the service include Actrix, Quicksilver and Orcon. ISPs which offer full-speed, volume-capped JetStream services but have not yet gone for JetStart include Paradise.Net, Iprolink, Attica and Ihug Business.
Telecom's website warns that some ISPs may choose to impose their own volume or time limits on their JetStart services, but this seems highly unlikely. Installation of JetStart is $178, and customers will need to buy their own DSL modem.
There had been some speculation that JetStart service would not actually be available until tomorrow because of problems with billing systems, but a Telecom spokesman said it was available as of yesterday.
Telecom general manager of marketing Kevin Kenrick yesterday declared that "fast Internet is the way of the future – and that future is coming very fast. The traditional dial-up modem gives only a glimpse of what the net has to offer.
"Fast internet access is the key to making the Internet a genuine mass entertainment channel – and JetStart is a means for New Zealand households to move in that direction."