Westnet

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This article is about the Australian telecommunications company. For the railway operator, see Westnet Rail.
Westnet Pty Ltd
Type Subsidiary of iiNet
Founded Geraldton, Western Australia (1994)
Headquarters Perth, Western Australia
Key people Peter Brown, Managing Director
Chris Thomas, Head of Technology and Product Development
Industry Internet Service Provider
Products Broadband
Satellite Broadband
Dial-up
Telephony
Web Hosting
Revenue 133.6M (FY08)
Employees 553 (2008)
Parent iiNet
Website www.westnet.com.au

Westnet is a Perth based Australian telecommunications company providing Broadband ADSL, Broadband ADSL2+, Satellite Broadband, Dialup internet, telephony and web-hosting services to homes and businesses across Australia.

See also Internet in Australia

Contents

[edit] History

Founded in the West Australian city of Geraldton in 1994 by Chris Thomas, Westnet began in a spare bedroom. In 1996 it was purchased by local company Mitchell & Brown Communications and experienced rapid growth over the years as a local Internet Service Provider to the Geraldton region. With this expansion came the necessity of larger premises, which saw Westnet relocate to St. Martins Tower in Perth in 1999.

In 2000, Westnet had extended its local call Internet access throughout Western Australia and, though based in a capital city, Westnet continued to focus mainly on regional communities state-wide. By 2002, Westnet’s coverage increased nationally and opened the doors for the company to begin providing competitive Internet products to consumers Australia-wide.

On October 31, 2005 Westnet completed the move to new premises in Central Park Tower, Perth, WA in which the company now occupies two floors. The move was in response to continued growth, and requirements for expanded office space for staff and resources.

In 2004, Westnet began offering a telephone service in addition to its internet products. At this time, the company began referring to itself as a telecommunications service provider, rather than only an internet service provider. Initially the telephone service included only long-distance and international calls; in 2006, a full phone service was offered for the first time. [1]

On January 1, 2007 Westnet introduced a new range of home Broadband ADSL plans featuring speeds of up to 8 Mbit/s, using Telstra DSLAMs. With this move Westnet discontinued some old plans to new customers. ADSL2+ is now available, offering speeds up to 20 Mbit/s.

[edit] Acquisition by iiNet

On May 8, 2008 Western Australian based internet service provider iiNet announced acquisition of Westnet in a deal worth $81 million (AUD). [1] The two companies will continue to manage two separate brands and operate separately.

[edit] Broadband ADSL Internet

Westnet offers a wide range of Broadband internet plans with speeds from 256 kbit/s through to 8Mbps (8000kbps). Broadband internet plans feature:

  • Email Protection Option
  • Award Winning Customer Service
  • 7 Day Technical Support
  • Easy Account Administration
  • Global Roaming
  • Dialup Option
  • 6 Free Email Addresses
  • 20MB Web Space
  • No Idle Disconnection
  • Credit Card & Direct Debit
  • Free Express Backup

[edit] Broadband ADSL 2+

Westnet’s Broadband ADSL2+ plans offer speeds of up to 20 Mbit/s, which is almost 100 times faster than a 256 kbit/s connection

[edit] Satellite Broadband

Two-way Satellite Broadband is a service delivering high speed internet to regional Australians who do not have access to traditional Broadband ADSL internet. Using two-way Satellite technology to send and receive data instead of a telephone line means customers don't have to be in a Broadband ADSL enabled area.

[edit] Dialup Internet

Westnet provides a range of Dialup internet plans to suit various usage needs, with a 56 kbit/s connection speed

[edit] Awards

Westnet has won numerous awards for their customer service:

  • 16th and 17th ACNielsen Consult Australian Online Survey
  • Australian Broadband Survey 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
  • Roy Morgan Single Source Telecommunications Monitor 2005, 2006
  • CSIA’s Australian Service Excellence Awards 2006/07 Highly Commended – Small Business
  • Choice ISP Survey 2007
  • Best ISP - PC Authority Reliability and Service Awards 2007

[edit] MyWestnet

On October 19, 2006, Westnet launched MyWestnet, a new Australian internet portal providing media content and services from both Westnet and Fairfax Digital.

MyWestnet provides a range of web services such as account tools, Google search, news and video content, classifieds and Lifestyle services, online information and guides as well as exclusive member competitions.

[edit] Bandwidth management

[edit] P2P deprioritisation

In June 2007, Westnet stated that it had been "trialling" traffic prioritisation for a year, deprioritising peer-to-peer traffic, and would be continuing to do so in future. The announcement was made on the Westnet Blog[2] and on Whirlpool.net.au, to mixed reactions. Some praised Westnet for openly declaring its use of prioritisation, while others (including a Whirlpool News editorial[3]) criticised the company for using it silently for a year, or for doing so at all. Whirlpool News's article also suggested that the admission followed assertions by competing ISP Exetel that it was not the only ISP restricting peer-to-peer traffic.

[edit] References

 This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications.
Primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of the article are generally not sufficient for a Wikipedia article. Please include more appropriate citations from reliable sources, or discuss the issue on the talk page.
This article has been tagged since December 2006.
  1. ^ Westnet Joins Forces with iiNet. Westnet (8 May 2008). Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
  2. ^ Ryan Bunter (25 June 2007). Westnet Traffic Prioritisation. Westnet. Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
  3. ^ Phil Sweeney (26 June 2007). Westnet admits P2P prioritisation. Whirlpool. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.

[edit] External links


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