iiNet earmarks Melbourne freezone additions

The ISP's general manager of retail, Andy McIntyre, said iiNet had recently embarked on an aggressive marketing campaign to promote the availability of ADSL services in Melbourne.

It has already attracted some 40,000 customers in 18 months, but McIntyre said the freezone - a server of unmetered content - could be the key to winning over more customers.

"We want to get more content in that's specific to Melbourne," McIntyre said.

"We're looking at what more we can put in the freezone and what partners we can work with to get content that's more relevant to the market's requirements."

McIntyre was coy on what content deals iiNet is examining, sayingit is ‘early days' since the survey results were made available to the ISP.

The survey showed that AFL content was one of the main reasons that Melbourne users turn to the internet at home, but McIntyre is well aware of the challenges in that space.

"AFL is pretty much [already] tied up," he said.

He said iiNet had freezoned content from the likes of the English Premier League, and rugby tournaments such as South Africa's Currie Cup. IPTV is also on the cards, he said.

McIntyre also said iiNet would also look to potentially beef up its social media presence after the survey revealed its popularity among Melbourne internet users.

But he could not say how this would play out in terms of content deals or unmetered content.