A new ADSL service designed to address the needs of Australian online gaming enthusiasts will be launched by online games network and Internet Service Provider (ISP), OzForces, later this month.
Offering unlimited monthly downloads exempt from shaping policies or excess data limitations, the new residential ADSL service from OzForces has been crafted by gamers for gamers, OzForces general manager, Chris Meder, said.
Services are available at download speeds of either 256/64Kbps, 512/128Kbps or 1.5Mbps/256Kbps, with monthly fees starting at $79 per month.
Two types of residential services are on offer. Type one, or Gaming ADSL plans, are targeted at experienced PC users and feature basic online technical support. Type two Home ADSL plans include both Web and telephone support service, but cost an additional $5-6 per month. Regional customers will also be charged extra to gain access to OzForces’ services. Even though the company welcomes all kinds of users, Meder said what separated OzForces from traditional ISPs was the company’s focus on the needs of online gamers.
“What makes OzForces Internet unique – or a Gaming Internet Service Provider (GISP) as we refer to it - is that we posses a greater knowledge and understanding of net connection performance-related issues while being able to address support issues that most ISPs do not have a grasp of, such as pings, lag, modem drivers and game configuration,” he said.
OzForces initially launched its online gaming service as CyberForces Gaming Network in July 2000. Since then, Meder said the company’s customer base had grown to around 2000 ISP subscribers from both the business and residential market, and 21,000 members across its community OzForum sites.
The company maintains 90 online game servers. The new ADSL service is hosted on Comindico’s national IP network and will be available in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, and Adelaide from March 20. Brisbane users can access services from March 25. Canberra and Hobart users gain access on April 15 and April 25, respectively.
Although OzForces predicts the promise of unrestricted downloads will attract gamers to its service, smaller ISPs Dodo Internet and Aardvark Internet are guaranteeing unlimited download usage in the hopes of enticing general Internet users to their new broadband plans. Like OzForces, both Dodo Internet and Aardvark Internet’s new ADSL services are based on the Comindico network.
Dodo Internet’s new ADSL service will be available from the first week of April across Australian metro cities. Dodo Internet spokesperson, Mark Baranov, said the ISP planned to extend its ADSL services into regional areas within a couple of months.
Dodo’s ADSL offering will be based on 256/64Kbps speeds and retail for $64.90 per month. A business grade service with 1.5Mbps download speeds will also be available from April. Business users can expect to pay just under $400 per month, he said.
While Dodo’s residential and business services both offer unlimited downloads, Baranov said the company would “throttle” data consumption to users who exceeded 10 times the average monthly usage for their chosen plan. He hinted, however, that users would be unlikely to reach such a limit.
In contrast, Melbourne-based Aardvark Internet was urging its new ADSL subscribers to download as much as possible across its network, rewarding those who download the largest amount of data with prizes.
Prices for the group’s ADSL 256/64Kbps service start at $79.95 with 35GB of downloads per month, or $99.95 for unlimited data downloads.
The ISP also offers 512/128Kbps and 1500/256Kbps plans. All services are available Australia-wide, in both city and regional areas.
