2008

iiNet acquires Up'n'Away
iiNet kicks off the year by acquiring local ISP Up'N'Away. The deal signs off on January 10, bringing over a customer base of approximately 3,000 customers, along with 3 other brands - Power DSL, iClick and Netway Internet.

iiNet Signs International Bandwidth Capacity Deal with Pipe
iiNet enters into a 15 year agreement, becoming a foundation customer with Pipe International. Pipe's plans to construct new cable infrastructure from Australia to Guam, means iiNet customers can look forward to bypassing the internet access 'bottle-neck', further down the line.

Manifesto 2 Campaign launched
iiNet kicks off the next installment of its Manifesto campaign with Finn introducing Naked DSL (and his gran). A few weeks later we win Campaign of the Year at Oasis, the WA advertising industry's biggest awards night.

Carrier of the Year - ATUG
In March, the Australian Telecommunications User Group (ATUG) crowns iiNet as Carrier of the Year. The heavyweight title recognises iiNet's cost effective approach and efficient service to the Australian broadband community.

Westnet Acquisition
With the rumor mill kicking well into overdrive in May, iiNet announces an $81 million deal to acquire industry neighbours, Westnet. With Westnet on board, iiNet cements its position as the third largest ISP in the country and its status as a serious telecommunications competitor.

Customer Charter
Taking its relationship with customers to the next level, iiNet introduces a Customer Charter. The charter spells out what customers can (and should) expect from iiNet and builds on its commitment to delivering awesome customers service.

WA's most improved brand... again!
For the second year running, iiNet takes out top honours and is named WA's Most Improved Brand. The 2008 WA Business News annual brand survey also ranks iiNet as number 2 in the Top 5 Emerging Brands, while making a debut in WA's Most Recognised Brands list.

Mighty Milestones
In the middle of July, iiNet connects its 300th exchange in North Balwyn, Victoria. This brings iiNet's total number of sites in Melbourne up to 64, giving it almost 40% of the market in the Garden State. Later in August, over 30,000 iiNet customers have gone Naked.

In September iiNet's 200,000th active port is connected, the ISP also builds its first outdoor cabinet on the streets of Glen Iris (Melbourne) to bypass excessive costs. The new cabinet has 576 DSLAM ports (with room for another 288) and is connected by dark fibre to iiNet's main Point of Presence (PoP), complete with backup battery, air conditioners and security alarm.

iiNet Follows the Sun
iiNet introduces its Follow the Sun strategy and officially launches its fourth customer service centre in Cape Town during October. Now with operations across four time zones in three countries, the approach ensures that customer service levels are consistent and seamless, regardless of time of day.

2007

Partnership with Apple (late April) and later iiTunes (May)
iiNet partners with Apple and becomes the first Australian ISP to offer unmetered downloads for iTunes. The relationship gives customers VIP access to music, audio books, iPod games, TV shows and other exclusive content.

Manifesto campaign unveiled
After months of research (and late nights), iiNet's lovable Irishman 'Finn' bursts on to the Perth and Sydney scene in Manifesto - iiNet's first major advertising campaign. Splashed across TV, newspapers, the radio, buses, giant billboards, Pedapods and the Sydney Monorail, Manifesto introduces the public to who iiNet is and what it stands for.

ACCC decision delivers iiNet with a $16m windfall
iiNet wins its LSS (line sharing service) dispute with Telstra. The ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) finalises its decision in July, resulting in the issue of one very large ($17,590,386.94 inc. GST) cheque made in iiNet's name. The lump sum covers refunds to iiNet for the over charge of LSS backdated from June 2004. Moving forward, the decision means iiNet will save millions in LSS charges.

The Naked revolution
iiNet leads the pack in November as the first national provider of Naked DSL. Set to change the way we connect, Naked delivers broadband without a landline phone, meaning we can wave goodbye to phone line rental bills.

Over 150,000 on-net customers
Having invested over $50 million in ADSL2+ infrastructure, iiNet continues to build on the strength of owning its own network. In December, iiNet increases its on-net customer base by 11.5 percent to 152,000.

Naked DSL wins Product of the Year
Australian PC Magazine names iiNet's Naked DSL as 2007's Product of the Year - an incredible achievement considering the fierce competition against mobile phone plans, PCs, cameras, software... the lot!

2006

iiNet refocuses on improving service
A difficult start for the company in 2006. From January 1st, new pricing is implemented for certain wholesale products by Telstra. This is coupled with a heavy call load following the integration of OzEmail in November, affecting call centre queue times. The iiNet share price falls significantly over a few short months. After years of rapid growth by acquisition, iiNet takes a time out to focus exclusively on improving service levels and product profitability.

Virtual Contact Centre (VCC) in place
iiNet faces its critics and finishes the implementation of world-class contact centre technology, establishing a single virtual contact centre (VCC) spread across three centres in Perth, Sydney and Auckland. The VCC system allows more sophisticated reporting techniques and control over the entire customer service experience. By April, the investment has produced major improvements. In July, iiNet wins the ATA Call Centre of the Year, evidence of the rapid turnaround.

ADSL2+ breaks the 100k limit
In June iiNet surpasses a milestone of 100,000 customers on its ADSL2+ network, by far the largest ADSL2+ in Australia. The expansion of the broadband network is matched by rapid growth in VOIP subscribers. By March more than 30,000 customers are connected to the iiNet VOIP network - making iiNet the fastest growing VOIP provider in Australia.

PowerTel alliance struck
iiNet forms a strategic alliance with Telecommunications Carrier PowerTel to offer wholesale ADSL2+ to other ISPs. The alliance further strengthens iiNet's position in the market and aids in the company's continuing network expansion.

WA Contact Centre of the Year
In July iiNet wins the award for Contact Centre of the Year for its Virtual Contact Centre. The ATA Awards are recognised within the contact centre industry as being the pre-eminent awards, recognising achievement and excellence of the highest level. The company also wins Telecommunications Project of the Year for its VoIP product, the Service Providers Association (SPAN) Award for Excellence in Competition and Growth for its ADSL2 product range, and took out Gold in Money magazine's Best of the Best 2006 Awards .

Updated broadband plans launched
August sees iiNet launch a wide ranging update to its residential and business broadband plans. The update sees an improvement to features, particularly for those on the iiNet ADSL2+ network, including an increased entry level speed of 3000kbps - twice that offered by the industry incumbent.

NZ business ihug sold
iiNet sells off New Zealand arm ihug to Vodafone in late 2006. The deal signs at an attractive price and enables iiNet to focus on Australian operations. Part of the proceeds from the $36 million sale goes towards further expansion of iiNet's ADSL2+ network.

ADSL2+ network continues to grow
Nearly 268 exchanges are supplying ADSL2+ broadband by the year's end, servicing over 124,000 "on-net" customers. Additional infrastructure upgrades, including dark fibre, are brought online to further decrease broadband costs for iiNet customers.

2005

Next Generation Broadband
iibroadband2, the next generation of broadband, launches on February 1. iibroadband2 starts where other providers' plans finish - at 1500 kbps. Customers on iiNet's DSLAM infrastructure can now receive super fast speeds of up to 8000 kbps, making iiNet the first ISP in Australia to offer up to 8000 kbps to customers.

Full Phone Service
iiNet unveils iiphone, its new full home phone service on February 1. The service enables customers to bundle their Internet and phone services for very competitive prices - all on one invoice. iiphone includes line rental, local calls, calls to mobiles, national and international calls. By offering a full phone service with leading Internet products, iiNet joins the nation's largest telecommunications companies as a serious competitor.

Sale of satellite business
iiNet sells its satellite business (operated under the ihug name) to Bordernet, an Australian-based satellite specialist. iiNet and ihug then focus on their core competencies in delivering innovative dialup, broadband and phone service, leaving satellite customers in expert hands with Bordernet.

iiNet acquires OzEmail
iiNet completes its acquisition of Internet service business OzEmail on February 28. The move makes iiNet the third largest ISP in Australia, allowing it to reclaim its position as second largest provider of broadband services. With its increased customer base in Australia's Eastern States, iiNet now has more than 620,000 customers nationwide and is positioned to accelerate its DSLAM deployment in the region.

12000kbps speeds arrive
On June 10, iiNet launches ADSL2 with speeds of up to 12000kbps. Commonly known as Triple Play, the new speed ADSL2 allows for effective transmission of voice, video and data over the Internet. Customers on an iiNet DSLAM receive the super fast speed at no extra cost. Actual maximum speed obtained is dependent on factors such as distance from the exchange, the line and hardware quality.

New business plans unveiled
Also on June 10, iiNet unveils its new business plans. Modeled on the popular iibroadband2 range, the new plans incorporate customer feedback into the offering. The stand-out addition, iibusiness pack can be added to a business plan and provides all the necessary features a growing business needs (including priority support).

VoIP is launched
iiNet becomes the first Australian company to provide a large-scale, premium-grade Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service on August 29. VoIP enables customers to save money by making and receiving calls via the Internet instead of over the traditional copper telephone network. Bundled with iibroadband2 and iiphone, the new VoIP service (called iinetphone) provides customers with an additional phone number for premium-grade Internet-based calls, at substantially lower rates and with no monthly rental fee.

ADSL2+ speeds
On December 15, iiNet flips the switch to provide ADSL2+ speeds of up to 24000 kbps. iiNet is the first ISP to offer the super fast broadband speeds on a national scale in Australia. iiNet and OzEmail bundled customers, who are connected to an exchange with an iiNet DSLAM installed, area able to upgrade to the ADSL2+ speed free of charge. The actual speed a customer receives depends on their distance from the exchange, quality of their line and type of hardware in use.

iiNet voted ISP of the Year
Also in December, Atomic Magazine readers vote iiNet as ISP of the Year again. While other publications nominate products for awards, chosen by editors, the Atomic readers (PC and internet enthusiasts) are the real the decision makers here - it's their choices and opinions that really count.

iiNet makes the Fast 50 list
iiNet makes its debut in Deloitte's Technology Fast 50. The list recognises the most dynamic and fastest growing technology companies in Australia and includes industries such as communications, software and the internet. On the global stage, iiNet also makes an appearance in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific 2005 Program. The honour acknowledges emerging tech companies to keep an eye on across the region .

2004

One Step Ahead
In line with aggressive pricing of entry-level products in the marketplace, iiNet launches a $24.95 entry-level broadband account wiink, when bundled with iiPhone service. The award-winning dialup Explorer account is slashed to $19.95 with iiPhone bundle.

The iiNet Group Continues to Grow
iiNet adds 35,000 customers with the February acquisition of Sydney-based FlowADSL and Froggy dialup. iiNet also acquires Wave in New Zealand. In October, iiNet acquires the Internet Services component of Virtual Communities, headquartered in Melbourne, pushing the total customer number to over 400,000.

New Initiatives
iiNet rolls out a National Dialup Number for all customers, regardless of location in Australia. In NZ, ihug launches Connect (its first wireless broadband service) and the bliink broadband product which both garner significant media interest.

Infrastructure Rollout Begins
iiNet begins deployment of its own infrastructure called DSLAMs. By 2005 iiNet expects over half of its customers will be connected to its own network - the iiNetwork.

Brand New Day
iiNet rebrands. "ii" is launched to keep pace with an increasingly competitive marketplace, and to allow for a broader product direction.

2003

Acquisition machine
iiNet expands by over 200,000 subscribers by acquiring ISPs Country Netlink, Origin Internet, RuralNet, TasAccess, WebOne, Octa4 and ihug. iiNet opts to retains the Sydney and Auckland iHug offices and adds 130,000 customers throughout Eastern Australia and New Zealand.

iiNet Share Prices Boom
iiNet share prices reach an all-time high of $3.40 in November.

New NOC in place
iiNet creates a Network Operations Centre (NOC) to monitor the state of the network 24/7. The NOC allows focused attention on the health of the network, which means the company can provide early information to customers about network faults.

iiNet takes a bow
iiNet scoops up a bag of titles in Money Magazine's Best of the Best awards - Best Dial-Up Service, Best Dial-Up Speed, Best Dial-Up Reliability and Best Broadband Product (bliink 512). Atomic Magazine readers name iiNet as ISP of the Year while the AC Nielson Poll ranks iiNet as Top ISP for Overall Customer Service and Top ISP in Customer Satisfaction.

2002

bliink broadband
iiNet offers flat rate Broadband Internet Access with the new bliink product range, throughout WA, and releases it soon after in NSW and Victoria. iiNet also offers its range of Broadband Internet services to W.A. country customers at the same rates charged in the metropolitan area.

ISO 9001
iiNet achieves ISO9001 and becomes a fully accredited, quality endorsed company. iiNet is committed to providing excellent Internet products and access and customer service in Australia.

2001

Chime and Jiva launched
iiNet Limited launches its wholly-owned telecommunications carrier, Chime Communications, and wholly-owned application hosting business, Jiva Online. Chime's focus is to provide wholesale telephony and data services to corporate clients and ISPs, while Jiva provides web designers and ISPs with solutions that enable the automated deployment of applications for their clients.

iiNet applies for its first patent for the caching of peer-to-peer transfers, in order to reduce the cost of delivering shared files (particularly audio files) between users.

The Company consolidates its four premises around the Perth metro area into a single location at the Durack Centre, 263 Adelaide Terrace, Perth.

Telstra Interconnect Settlement
Telstra and Chime Communications announce settlement of their long running dispute over PSTN Terminating Access for data calls.

2000

iiNet introduces Broadband
iiNet launched various broadband services: Cable Internet Access, Cityspan Wireless Internet Access and ADSL Internet Access. The company announces its first-half profit for 1999-2000 at $0.91million and decides to pay the GST for all its current dialup, ISDN and cable Internet products, without on-charging it to users.

The Australian Consumers Association again ranks iiNet number one in the country for customer service.

This year the size of the WWW is estimated by NEC-RI and Inktomi to surpass 1 billion indexable pages.

1999

iiNet acquires Wantree and lists on the ASX.
iiNet Limited becomes a public company and lists on the Australian Stock Exchange. The Prospectus closes early due to huge demand for the shares. As part of the listing process, iiNet sets its sights on 50,000 customers by the middle of 2000, a seemingly impossible target with less than 20,000 in July 1999.

iiNet merges with Wantree, the second largest ISP in WA. Directly following the listing, iiNet rapidly acquires Omen Internet, Networx, Nettrek and Infinite Data in Perth, as well as regional service providers MNS and Comtech.

The company starts 24/7 customer support, as well as opening new services in Gingin, Margaret River and Toodyay. It also introduces two convenient invoice payment methods: BPay, and "Pay it at Post" where bills can be paid at any Post Office.

iiNet launches its first motion picture advertisement across Perth, the now infamous "boy scout and granny" ad, which later wins an Art Design award for Best Cinematography. Worldwide, the technologies of the year are: E-Trade, Online Banking and mp3.

1998

iiNet increases its market position.
iiNet becomes the largest of the Tier 2 ISPs in Australia, second only to the Tier 1 operators, OzEmail and Telstra Big Pond. iiNet is now one of 12 ISPs with client bases between 10,000 and 20,000. An 8 mbps satellite link direct to the US is deployed, offering a massive improvement in service to many of iiNet's clients.

Customer support extends from 6:00 am to midnight, seven days a week. A new phone system and phone number is introduced to cater for the huge demand for phone support services.

Following the success of the Online Information Systems acquisition in December 1996, iiNet acquires 14 micro ISPs in 1998. Many of these companies were "virtual ISPs", who were actually reselling iiNet's services under their own brand name.

Internet users judge a world championship ice-skating competition, marking the first time a television sport show's outcome is determined by its viewers.

1997

iiNet grows again and introduces digital modems
Within 10 months, iiNet SA becomes the third largest dialup ISP in South Australia and the operation is sold at a profit.

By now, iiNet in WA has introduced its first digital modems. Not only are these smaller, with 60 digital modems fitting into the space occupied by 16 of the superseded analogue modems, but they are also faster; digital modems run at a rate of 56kbps as opposed to the 33.6kbps of analogue modems.

This provides a significant competitive advantage to the company, as it is one of the first in Western Australia to adopt such technology.

A sophisticated support phone call queuing system is implemented allowing the support team to keep up with the increasing number of clients.

The first Perth radio live on the Internet is broadcast by iiNet after Triple M Perth start their RealAudio service.

1996

iiNet expands
iiNet expands into regional WA, with the first regional service opened in Bunbury. iiNet's homepage is rated Best in WA by The West Australian newspaper.

The company outgrows its premises and in December moves into QV1 at 250 St Georges Tce, Perth. In the same month, Charlie Stephens is hired as the company's first sales person.

iiNet SA is now run in partnership with two local contacts, and flat rate accounts are launched in the SA market, which quickly prove to be popular.

Users in almost 150 countries around the world are now connected to the Internet. The number of computer hosts approaches 10 million. iiNet acquired one of its largest competitors, Online Information Systems, as well as Access Communications.

1995

iiNet hires its first paid employee.
Justin Lowe is iiNet's first paid employee. His office is a bedroom at Michael Malone's house that he shares with Michael, Deanne Godfrey, a cat and a pool table. Michael O'Reilly works in a storeroom that doubles as iiNet's server room.

Mid year, Michael Malone leaves to start iiNet South Australia (SA) in Adelaide, while iiNet WA moves to premises at 105 St Georges Terrace in the Perth CBD. This move is primarily driven by a lack of phone lines in the suburbs to service the rapidly growing customer base.

iiNet introduces a $400 pa unlimited download, premium dialup account (which is now known as the Explorer account). This is the year that the "long-established," online dialup systems - Compuserve, America Online and Prodigy - begin to provide Internet access in Australia. On the local front, iiNet joins with other interested parties to form the WA Internet Association.

1994

Netscape's release sees Internet use skyrocket.
Netscape is the first Internet browser commonly available.

The number of Internet users in Australia starts to explode, as does the number of ISPs. Many of these early ISPs are no longer in business, having been acquired, merged with other companies, or forced to closed their doors due to the fast-paced, competitive marketplace.

iiNet is one of only five or six ISPs in WA at this time, and the company launched its first "always on" product, the Network Affiliate.

1993

iiNet commences business.
After completing their degrees, University friends, Michael Malone and Michael O'Reilly, established iiNet in the garage of Michael Malone's family home.

iiNet becomes the first organisation in WA to offer dialup Internet access to the public. The initial modems are a combination of 2,400 and 14,400 bps and the price is $25/month flat rate.

Email, file transfers and online chatting are text-based, making the connection speeds quite acceptable. The web is yet to come.