Hi all,

Great news! Westnet is increasing the monthly download allowance on our 8Mbps Boost Broadband1 plans.

The increase in download allowance will be in effect Monday 18 February 2008.
Plan Name Peak Off Peak
Option 1 1GB /2GB
Option 2 7GB/ 10GB
Option 3 15GB/ 25GB
Option 4 25GB/ 45GB
Option 5 40GB /80GB

Members currently signed up on a Boost plan will be notified on Monday 18 February.

Changes to the member’s account can be viewed via MyAccount, as they may not be reflected in their next invoice due to billing cycles.

What if a member’s account has already been ‘shaped’ this month?
If they’ve already been ‘shaped’ but have not reached the new download allowance, ‘shaping’ will be removed. If they have been ‘shaped’ and have already exceeded the new limit, they will return to normal speeds at the commencement of the new month.

What if the account is in ‘held’ status?
As soon as the account is activated, they will receive the upgrade in download allowance.

Will excess charges change?
No – but they will come into effect as the new download allowance limit is reached (unless the ‘shaping’ option is enabled).

Yes, we know it’s a bit of a cheesy pun, but the deal is pretty cool!

We’re calling all Westnet members on a Broadband1 Starter or Everyday plan who want faster broadband.

Follow the simple steps on this page to get in now and upgrade your broadband speed for FREE - we’ll waive the usual speed upgrade fee! (valued at $19.95).

This offer is available to existing members and only when moving their current broadband speed to faster speeds.

Offer ends 17th March 2008.

Upgrade from a Starter plan on 256kbps and double your speed to 512kbps on an Everyday plan from as low as $44.95 ($34.95 when bundled with Westnet Phone).

Boost your speed all the way to 1.5Mbps on an Active plan, starting at $49.95 per month ($39.95 when bundled with Westnet Phone).

A major advertising initiative for Westnet commenced on Monday 21 January 2008, incorporating nationwide regional television commercials, local press advertising and a direct mail campaign. The campaign will promote our new two-way satellite broadband plans which waive basic set-up fees for eligible customers allowing customers to save $2750.

The free basic set-up offer for eligible households is made possible for a limited time as part of the Federal Government’s Australian Broadband Guarantee scheme to encourage the uptake of faster internet services throughout regional Australia.

The campaign puts renewed focus on Westnet’s Satellite Broadband service, offering faster internet speeds specifically catering to regional and remote locations where Broadband ADSL and wireless are not available. The campaign aims to leverage the Australian Government subsidy being provided to eligible households who have not previously connected to a broadband service.

The TV commercials feature real staff members describing the limited time offer and the award winning levels of customer service enjoyed by Westnet members.

See the new ads here::

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egqwgm4Tofg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW7dDdK1aJg

And all Westnet ads here::

http://www.youtube.com/westnetvideos

A dedicated phone number has been created for the campaign: 13 27 31.

About Satellite Broadband

The service uses a satellite modem and dish installed outside the home which communicates with a satellite positioned thousands of kilometres in space above the Australia/Asia Pacific region. The service is reliable and fast and the installation and set-up is completed by a technician, making it easy for customers to connect to the service.

Following an application, Westnet arranges a time convenient to the member where a qualified technician will come to install the equipment and ensure the customer is successfully connected to the service.

Households interested in connecting to satellite broadband can find out if their premises qualify for the service and free set-up incentive by using the Broadband Service Locator which will be accessed via the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy website (www.dbcde.gov.au/).

After entering the required information, individuals will be advised if they are eligible. If so, they will receive a reference number and an eligibility attestation form which must be completed and provided to Westnet to enable the service installation and free set-up. If customers are not eligible, the system will indicate this.

Westnet products, services and details on awards can be viewed on our homepage.

Hey there!
Have you jumped on the Westnet Blog and noticed something a little different?

We’ve had a bit of a makeover

Apart from all the nice, shiny looking pages in line with our main Westnet website, the new design will aid us from behind the scenes so we can bring you the best of everything and anything to do with Westnet.

Enjoy!

As part of Westnet’s ongoing support and expansion of the 3FL Gaming Network, we have added a number of new services and also revamped and improved some existing ones.

Server Booking System
3FL is proud to announce the beta launch of our server booking system initially for Counter-Strike Source with support for additional games (Team Fortress 2 is next) as demand increases.

Full details can be found in the news post that is found here.

Tournaments & Ladders
3FL has also introduced a Tournaments and Ladders system for our users. The first ladder to test things out is for Counter-Strike Source fitting in with our currently available bookable servers.

Details can be read in the following news post here

Expanded Mirror sections
As previously discussed on these forums, we have expanded several of the Linux distribution mirrors with the removal of the apt-proxy facility that we had with full mirrors now available for these distributions. The 3FL Mirror is now also an official Australian mirror for the Fedora and CentOS Linux distributions.

3FL Radio revamp
The popular 3FL radio has received a bit of a revamp with the site having been reskinned to fit in with the rest of the 3FL web site theme. Currently we are offering 48 relays of streams for some of the most popular radio stations found online.

Links to all of these new and revamped sections can be found by visiting the 3FL web site at the following URL - www.3fl.net.au

If you have any feedback or encounter any issues, feel free to post on the 3FL Forums which can be found at the following location: www.3fl.net.au/forums

**This is posted on behalf of Westnet CEO, Peter Brown**

We are thrilled to announce Westnet took out ‘Best ISP’ at the Australian PC Authority Reliability and Service Awards 2007.

The ceremony was held at Sydney’s Star City Casino on Tuesday night (27 November) and was attended by hundreds of key players and brands within the PC and telecommunications industry. The awards assessed suppliers in terms of Customer Satisfaction, Reliability, Satisfaction and an Overall rating. 95% of Westnet members were satisfied with its Customer Support, 95% with its Reliability, 76% with Value and a top-scoring 93% of members saying they would recommend Westnet to a friend. Westnet was the only ISP to score 6 stars in the Overall category.

It was a real honour to receive the awards in front of such a large audience representing so many fantastic brands. I couldn’t be prouder of our staff, our agents and all our members who have helped put us in this winning position. This accolade means a huge amount to Westnet as it’s driven by real experiences in the marketplace, from customers. We are pleased to perform well in categories representing a broad set of criteria, not just customer service, and will now take it upon ourselves to try to maintain this positive experience felt by our members, so we can continue to delight members and rate strongly next year.

About the PC Authority Reliability and Service Awards

• 14, 003 ISP customers polled,
• 10% increase in customers polled since 2006,
• 200 survey questions,
• Over 93,000 hardware items rated,
• Over 100,000 software items rated,
• PC Authority magazine has a readership of approximately 112,000 readers.

PC Authority magazine is distributed at newsagents nationally, and the website is

http://www.pcauthority.com.au

Westnet staff embraced all things Halloween today by decorating their office area and coming to work decked out in Halloween attire. Staff have been enjoying cakes, lollies, Subway and other snacks throughout the day. Our “Training Room” has also become the “Halo 3 Room” for the day for staff enjoyment.

Like most things in Westnet, our themed and dress up days seem to get bigger and better each year. Below are some pictures of the fun that has been going on in the office today.

Back in April, we hinted at preparations to release a wiki, with hopes it would one day replace our current Help section. Well, now it’s here - we are proud to announce the beta release of Westnet MyHelp.

You can visit it here : Home page: http://myhelp.westnet.com.au/

Unlike a traditional knowledgebase, a wiki is a special type of website with the ability to be edited directly by its readers. For the last year, we’ve been using a wiki internally and with great success – so the natural progression was to bring our members into the fold.

In other words, we’re giving our members the chance to share their knowledge by adding and editing articles on the MyHelp section of our website. Plus, we’ll be the first telecommunications company in Australia, and possibly the world, to introduce this sort of wiki for our members.

Westnet MyHelp will be launched today, Monday 24 September. It is a beta launch and will run alongside our current Help pages during evaluation.

We’ve tried to maintain the look and feel of our current help pages where possible, so it remains easy to learn how to use the wiki. For example, there are still portal pages with quick links and top FAQs. Behind these pages, related articles are divided into spaces. You’d generally find an ADSL modem’s set-up guide in the ‘Broadband’ space. Articles also have labels (e.g. categories) so related information can be linked across spaces and found with a single click.

All new/updated articles will be reviewed and moderated by a Westnet staff member. Whether or not it was approved or rejected will be clearly indicated at the top of each article.

Any questions on the release can be directed to myhelp@westnet.com.au.

Westnet MyHelp Update!

Following the recent release of Westnets’ new online wiki MyHelp, we are pleased to announce the site has now been added to the Westnet Neighbourhood.

What does this mean for our customers?

Basically any online activity a customer carries out on the MyHelp site will not be counted towards their download allowance, meaning they can enjoy unlimited use of this powerful new resource and have to not worry it will be contributing to their download allowance or be the cause of any excess charges on their Westnet internet account.

How will we be letting customers know?

The Westnet website has been updated to advise of this change.

We are delighted to announce the full launch of Westnet Satellite Broadband service today (Wednesday 19 September 2007).

With support from the Australian Government, we’re also participating in the Australian Broadband Guarantee (ABG) initiative. You can check your eligibility via http://bcoms.dcita.gov.au/BSL/. If you’re eligible, you will receive a complimentary standard Satellite connection (valued at $2,750)! Plus, as an introductory offer, members will also receive the first six months of Satellite internet at half price.
The range of Satellite plans are available on our website, (www.westnet.com.au/internet.satellite)

Westnet is introducing a new webmail platform full of powerful features designed to make webmail intuitive and easier to use.

The change over will take place in a staggered fashion (in ‘groups’ of customers), kicking off in November 2007 with an expected finish by the end of the year. Change over should take place overnight (midnight to 4am), on weeknights (Monday to Thursday) during this period.

Existing members should experience only a minor interruption of up to 5 minutes to their service during the migration – but existing emails, address book, tasks, notes, calendars, sent, archived and forwarded email, folders, and email flags will all be carried over to the new platform.

The new features include:

• innovative new design
• integration between web pages and your mailbox
• greater email management functionality
• enjoy a faster and more powerful search function
• use tags and message flags
• preview URL images and documents
• import calendars
• exporting emails
• share calendars

There will be two plans made available from launch; a free email plan to all Westnet members, and a more powerful plan available to those customers who currently pay for email protection.

All Westnet webmail users will be migrated to their new email account which will offer greater functionality and a new look, when compared with their existing Westnet webmail.

From early 2008, members can also opt to upgrade to higher end plan offering cutting edge functionality including mobile integration – a world class email experience to be offered at reasonable prices.

We’ll place more information about the new email platform on the Westnet website over the coming weeks to help members get a sneak preview of the system