Pacific Internet adds Optus for premium DSL

Pacific Internet has added Optus as a new wholesale provider of premium DSL services to meet rising business customer demand.

Sarah Watt, corporate communications manager at Pacific Internet, said in a statement that the signing would make the ISP's premium grade broadband available to more Australian businesses.

"The deal, signed last week, expands geographic reach of Pacific Internet’s existing range by 45 percent," Watt said.

Pacific Internet (Australia) is a subsidiary of Asia-based Pacific Internet.

Dennis Muscat, managing director at Pacific Internet, said in a company announcement that the ISP had seen a 40 percent increase in uptake for its premium broadband offering over the past year.

Technically advanced Australian SMBs were looking beyond the regular DSL network, Muscat said.

“By partnering with Optus, we can now offer customers access to a very large premium network in Australia, reaching the majority of Australian businesses with significant coverage across capital cities and key regional centres.”

David Katz, sales director at Optus Wholesale, said broadband was becoming key to businesses working smarter.

"When compared to standard DSL, Optus’ premium network offers significant performance advantages,” Katz claimed.

Premium wholesale provider NEC Nextep Broadband would keep providing connectivity for its own premium DSL offering, Pacific Internet said.

Customers' site locations, speed and contention ratio selections would determine which wholesaler's network was used, the ISP said.