iiNet Broadband Internet Access Plans

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	Name	Price (per month)	Download Speed	Upload Speed	Download Limit
iiNet	home 1 home 1 is not available unbundled.	AU$29.95	8000 kbps	kbps	1000 MB
iiNet	home 2	AU$39.95	8000 kbps	kbps	4 GB
iiNet	home 3	AU$49.95	8000 kbps	kbps	14 GB
iiNet	home 4	AU$59.95	8000 kbps	kbps	20 GB
iiNet	home 5	AU$69.95	8000 kbps	kbps	40 GB
iiNet	home 6	AU$99.95	8000 kbps	kbps	40 GB
iiNet	home 7	AU$129.95	8000 kbps	kbps	60 GB

View all iiNet broadband plans.

iiNet Limited (ASX: IIN) is Australia's third-largest ISP (2005/2006). Their focus is primarily on ADSL-based Internet access, and they have the largest rollout of their own ADSL2+ infrastructure in Australia. iiNet also provides dial-up and voice services.

iiNet has acquired (or merged with) many smaller ISPs in its growth. It built a substantial customer base in Western Australia, and then expanded significantly into the eastern states by acquiring ihug and OzEmail.

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 TCP/IP Internet access, as opposed to the store-and-forward techniques (such as MHSnet) that were then in use at other ISPs. It claims it was the first ISP to offer PPP access in Australia, and to be the first to base operations on the then new Linux operating system.

The company outgrew its suburban home in 1995 and moved to CBD office accommodation. Its early growth during the Internet boom was hampered by the ability of Telstra (not itself an ISP until 1997) to deliver enough telephone lines to cope with demand, and by the sheer competitive pressure in the Perth market, which had a comparative oversupply of low-cost providers. In 1996, iiNet successfully expanded into the Adelaide market under the name light.iinet.net.au (named after Colonel Light), in partnership with locals John Lindsay and Leigh Hart. The SA arm moved quickly to become the number three ISP in the state, before being acquired by Auslink in 1998.

Early growth
A growing demand on infrastructure and a rapidly increasing number of staff saw the company relocate again in 1997 to the central QV.1 building. Also in early 1997, the Western Australian Internet Association, formed in 1995 to represent the Internet community in Western Australia, created a peering and interconnection arrangement known as WAIX (Western Australian Internet Exchange) between its members, which included iiNet and several other Perth-based ISPs.

In late 1997, the Internet market was moving towards 56K technology. As one end of a 56k connection must be digital, the racks of modems found in every ISP became redundant overnight and expensive CBD-hosted equipment offered by Cisco, Ascend and Livingston became a requirement in order to survive in the marketplace. Also, in 1998, competitive pressure from budget national providers, led by One.Tel, started to reach the Perth market.

In 1998, founding partner Michael Malone purchased the company outright and listed it on the Australian Stock Exchange in September 1999 under ticker symbol IIN. The newfound capital was used to acquire its two major local rivals in the Perth area - Wantree Internet and Omen Internet - along with numerous smaller rivals such as Networx Internet, Infinite Data, Octal and NetTrek Internet Services.

This was perceived by most observers as a rationalisation of an unsustainable services market, and allowed not only iiNet, but also other providers such as Westnet, EFTel (itself an agglomeration of several ISPs formed in 2000), ArachNet and Global Dial among others to grow in the local market and to expand into fully-fledged national providers.

After the dot-com bubble burst in mid-2000, iiNet fared poorly on the markets - with shares at one stage falling to A$0.20 from a A$1.00 issue price - however its share price recovered as time progressed. In September 2000, iiNet became the first Western Australian provider to offer ADSL technology.

Growth through acquisition
The company created a new registered telecommunications provider iiTel, later renamed Chime, 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, and provided the foundation for iiNet's later move into telephony (via its iiPhone and iiNetPhone products).

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. The acquisitions were:

RuralNet (Mildura and regional Victoria)
Tas Access (Tasmania)
Granite Internet (Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia)
RockNet (Rockhampton, Queensland)
Hartindale (Sydney)
Country Netlink (regional Victoria)
Origin Internet (regional Victoria)
Froggy Internet (Sydney)
Virtual Communities (Melbourne)
Octa4 (Darwin)
With the advent of ADSL access, iiNet and several other Western Australian providers on the WAIX were at the forefront of the price and service wars, and were able to make a sizable push eastwards into larger lucrative markets.

In 2003, iiNet made what was then its biggest acquisition, purchasing key New Zealand provider ihug. The acquisition significantly increased iiNet's share of the Australia/New Zealand Internet market.

In 2005, iiNet acquired the residential ISP business and trademarks of rival OzEmail. The business side and infrastructure of that business remained in the ownership of US-parent MCI. OzEmail had been Australia's largest ISP until 2000, when it was acquired by MCI. The retail arm had been neglected, and the company moved very late into ADSL, meaning that it had difficulty positioning itself as a broadband player. iiNet initially used both the OzEmail and iiNet brands on the east coast, but by 2006 iiNet had largely abandoned the OzEmail brand, using its own corporate designs across Australia.