iiNet
| File:Iinet-logo.png | |
| Company type | Public (ASX: IIN) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Internet Service Provider |
| Founded | Perth, Western Australia (1993) |
| Headquarters | Perth, Western Australia |
Key people | Peter Harley, Chairman Michael Malone, Managing Director |
| Products | Broadband Dialup Voice |
Number of employees | 750 |
| Website | www.iinet.com.au |
iiNet Limited ASX: IIN is one of Australia's major Internet Service Providers. Focusing primarily on ADSL-based Internet access, it is currently ranked Australia's third largest ISP. The company trades under a number of names such as ii, Froggy, ihug and OzEmail (the latter three being former ISPs purchased by iiNet).
History
iiNet was founded in 1993 by Michael Malone and Michael O'Reilly who started the business in a suburban garage in Perth, Western Australia as iiNet Technologies Pty Ltd. It began as one of the first Australian ISPs to offer live TCP/IP Internet access, as opposed to store-and-forward techniques (such as MHSnet) used by other ISPs. It was the first ISP to offer PPP access in Australia, and the first to base operations on the then new Linux operating system.
In the mid 1990s, the company experimented with related services such as iiCon - a web design joint-venture with a leading Perth design company, and Intuition - an Internet training school. Whilst they were initially successful, the company ultimately closed them down to focus on core Internet service provision.
The company outgrew its suburban home in 1995 and was one of the first ISPs to make the migration to CBD office accommodations. Its early growth during the Internet boom was hampered by the ability of the local telecommunications provider to deliver enough telephone lines to cope with demand.
Western Australia's Largest ISP
A growing demand on infrastructure, as well as a rapidly increasing number of staff saw the company relocate again in 1997 to the prestigious QV.1 building. Shortly after it was instrumental in forming the Western Australian Internet Exchange in the same premises.
1999 marked a turning point for the company. Founding partner Michael Malone purchased the company outright and listed it on the Australian Stock Exchange under ticker symbol IIN. The new found capital was used to acquire its two major local rivals in Western Australia - Wantree Internet and Omen Internet.
After the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, the company fared poorly on the markets - however consistently remained profitable and used the time to strengthen its service and reposition itself as a telco-quality provider.
Maturing into a national carrier
The company created a new registered telecommunications provider iiTel, later renamed Chime (believed to be the best sounding word in the English language), that sought to improve Internet access prices by making wholesale telephone access much cheaper. This was possible through new interconnection agreements mandated by the Australian Government's deregulation of the telecommunications industry.
Based on its new abilities, and after consolidating its local position, iiNet focused on expanding to national coverage in the early 2000s through strategic acquisitions and natural growth. Acquisitions included:
- RuralNet (Mildura and regional Victoria)
- Tas Access (Tasmania)
- Granite Internet (Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia)
- RockNet (Rockhampton, Queensland)
With the advent of ADSL access, iiNet was at the forefront of price and service wars and was rewarded with a substantial amount of business in the emerging broadband industry. The take-up moved the company from a provider of dial-up Internet in one state to a dominant Internet provider across all of Australia.
In 2003, iiNet made its biggest acquisition to date, purchasing key New Zealand provider ihug. The move cemented its position as one of the primary providers in the Australia-New Zealand Internet market.
In November 2004, iiNet made the decision to rebrand its business simply to 'ii' due to the services being provided by the company expanding beyond internet access. The internet divisions retained the names iiNet, ihug and Froggy.
DSLAM installation
In late 2004 and throughout 2005, iiNet moved to introduce their own DSLAMs (colloquially known as iiSLAMs in the industry) infrastructure into telephone exchanges Australia-wide. This move allowed iiNet to be the first Australian DSL carrier to offer speeds of over 1.5 Mbit/s to customers (their connections automatically send data at up to 8 Mbit/s, depending on line condition and other factors). The maximum download speed has since been increased to 12Mbit/s. This new infrastructure also allowed iiNet to offer increased telecommunication services. While iiNet has successfully migrated 40,000 customers onto their own equipment, their rollout has slipped behind schedule as they struggle to build outside their base in Perth.
Trials of ADSL2+ (with maximum speeds of 24/1 Mbits) are speculated (although this is perhaps just wishful thinking by the Whirlpool community) before the end of the year.
Telephony
Recent initiatives by the company included their own voice telephony offering iiPhone (as well as their consumer VoIP technology iiNetPhone).
iiPhone
Early 2005 saw the introduction of iiPhone in the form of a long distance carrier. iiNet configured your phone line to automatically re-route long distance and mobile calls through their billing service in exchange for a discount on the monthly fee for your internet connection. This enabled the user to save money (through the discount) and iiNet to make a small profit as well.
Later in the year, iiNet introduced iiPhone full service with their new range of iibroadband2 packages, finally allowing users to pay their telephony costs completely through iiNet - including line rental and local calls.. Users on iiNet DSLAMs who were also subscribed to iiPhone full service had their accounts unlocked to operate at the full speed of the ADSL specifications, 8 megabits per second. (See iibroadband2.) This bundling was the primary driving factor for users to subscribe to the iiPhone service, as it does not offer rates significantly cheap enough to warrant most users changing their phone provider; however, many users were attracted by the much higher speeds available through iibroadband2.
iiNetPhone (VoIP)
In August 2005, iiNet released iiNetPhone, their consumer VoIP service. Existing iiPhone full service customers are able to get an extra VoIP line for free, with call costs being well under standard market prices for a regular copper line. The iiNetPhone service supports inbound and outbound calls to normal Australian PSTN numbers, as well as heavily discounted international calls.
As of early September 2005, the Belkin ATA (Analogue Telephone Adapter) that iiNet supports for allowing the use of a regular phone on their VoIP network (through a router) is not available. iiNet have said that the ATA units will be shipped out roughly within the next week, allowing customers who purchased their VoIP hardware through iiNet to use the service.