Telstra, the telecommunications and media company, confirms that it will be cutting the cost of its BigPond Elite products. The discount, which takes off $40 a month from the company's 50GB plan and $90 a month from its 200GB offer, will broaden the gap between the company's wholesale and retail prices. The move is expected to cause competition regulators to intervene.

ISP Internode has accused Telstra of "anti-competitive conduct" in a letter to Graeme Samuel, chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Telstra's 200GB plan now cost $89.95 a month with a "full-service fixed phone." A similar plan from Internode, which uses Telstra Wholesale infrastructure, has a price of $189.95 a month.

Simon Hackett, managing director of Internode, said in a post on the Whirlpool forum that the company's staff are "off talking to the ACCC" and that "lots is going on behind the scenes."

He says that Internode "can't and won't go broke matching pricing [on resold Telstra ports] that is now so far underwater financially that it would be insane to try".

He adds that his company will "re-examine our pricing where we can do something especially on our own ports and Optus ones in the light of the new BigPond release".