Internode And iiNet Are Merging To Face The Challenges Of The NBN

Over at our sister site Lifehacker, Angus Kidman has a great look at how the iiNet/Internode merger will affect customers of either brand but, interestingly enough, it appears as though the merger came about as result of the impending challenges of the NBN.

According to Internode’s Managing Director Simon Hackett, it’s all about managing the size and relative strengths of both companies.

“We are heading into the NBN era and it’s all about scale,” he said. “We would have had the money in the bank but we wouldn’t have had scale. The size of Internode on its own is right at the bottom edge of what we’ve considered to be viable for an NBN retail provider. It would be a dangerous thing for us to go into that era only just being big enough.”

As for the nitty gritty of how it affects consumers, it hasn’t quite been nailed down yet, and things will continue to evolve over time.

“Internode will get extra Fetch TV channels and we’ll expand their access to our Freezone content,” said iiNet CEO Michael Malone.

iiNet users also get unmetered access to iTunes, but Malone is unsure as to whether that deal will be applied to Internode users after the merger goes through.

“In terms of the specifics, we’ll hammer that out over the next few months,” Malone said. “It’s still to be decided.”

There are no current plans to change either iiNet or Internode’s pricing plans.

How The iiNet Deal Affects Internode Customers [Lifehacker]