Engin Dives Into Broadband Market

June 15, 2007: Competition in the Aussie broadband market is heating up again, with VoIP specialist Engin announcing that it will be launching a new high-speed broadband service, piggybacking on the Optus ADSL2+ broadband network.

The company claims it will be offering speeds of up to 24 mbp/s and unlike other packages on the market, Engin will be waiving the standard fixed-line rental fee. This means that provided customers are willing to rely on VoIP, one service with no line rental could cover all voice and data needs.

Engin (which the Seven Network holds around a 30 percent stake) is rapidly scaling up its Australian services, pushing both its VoIP services harder and adding new capabilities such the digital television recording service/device TiVo.

Overall Engin is developing a complete “triple-play” service in which internet telephony will be the cornerstone.

“Our focus is currently to drive aggressive growth in terms of internet telephony,” Engin chief executive Ilkka Tales told The Australian Associated Press.

“Bundling that with a broadband service where you don't have an expensive fixed-line rental component to it will assist in driving us further into the digital media home.”

The new service is expected to be rolled out in Q3 of this year, and while no pricing has been set as yet the company claims its services will be significantly cheaper than its competitors.

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