Telstra gets real about broadband

Telstra will finally bring Australia's internet speeds in line with those offered in the rest of the developed world when it lifts the brakes on its copper wire-based ADSL broadband service today.

The telco will flick the switch on the technology known as ADSL2+ and branded HS (high-speed) ADSL, which will offer speeds up to 40 times faster than entry-level broadband.

The launch will bring Telstra into line with industry rivals such as Optus, iiNet, Internode and Primus and ends more than a year of waiting since it shelved plans to launch on the service in September last year.

But Telstra will only offer the faster service to about 50 per cent of Australian homes. It is still worried the competition regulator might force it to let rivals piggyback on the new service despite recent comments from competition chief Graeme Samuel saying he won't let them.

Other consumers will be offered faster speeds on existing ADSL technology after Telstra removes artificial caps on the service.

Recent statistics indicate that it takes Australians almost two hours to download a movie using an average 1.5Mbps ADSL internet link provided on Telstra's network. French, British and Korean users can down the same movie in less than 10 minutes.