Internode claims to be the first to introduce a "true" terabyte plan in spite of a number of plans from competing ISPs that offer a monthly data quota of a terabyte or more. Primus, TPG, Spin and iiNet have all recently introduced plans that offer at least one terabyte of data per month. Optus, on the other hand, have previously offered 'unlimited' plans that limits speed once a quota is reached.

The common denominator among the plans on offer is the differentiation between peak and off-peak use. Some have a relatively generous definition of off-peak. Optus has it from midnight to midday. Others are more restrictive.

For example, TPG has off-peak hours from 2am to 8am. The ISP also offers an unlimited ADSL2+ plan that has no restrictions on quota and peak hours, however, it only has "limited coverage availability at selected TPG exchanges".

What makes comparisons between plans tricky is the fact that some quotas only apply to downloads, while others count uploads into the quota.

The difference in the plans allows customers with different patterns of use to arrive at different conclusions over the value for money of a particular plan. Internode has changed the terms of its Easy plans to offer increased data quotas without off-peak periods.

Internode's five Easy plans range from the $A59.95 100GB Easy S to the $A159.95 1TB XXXL. Users get a $A10 discount when an Internode phone service is bundled with the Easy plan.