TELSTRA will finally bring Australia's internet speeds in line with those offered in the rest of the developed world when it lifts the brakes on its copper wire-based ADSL broadband service today.

The telco will flick the switch on the technology known as ADSL2+ and branded HS (high-speed) ADSL, which will offer speeds up to 40 times faster than entry-level broadband.

The launch will bring Telstra into line with industry rivals such as Optus, iiNet, Internode and Primus and ends more than a year of waiting since it shelved plans to launch on the service in September last year.

But Telstra will only offer the faster service to about 50 per cent of Australian homes. It is still worried the competition regulator might force it to let rivals piggyback on the new service despite recent comments from competition chief Graeme Samuel saying he won't let them.

Other consumers will be offered faster speeds on existing ADSL technology after Telstra removes artificial caps on the service.

Telstra said it would lift speeds on its ADSL 1 to 8Mbps and offer speeds up to 20Mbps from High-Speed ADSL2+ exchanges.

The carrier has also revised pricing and service availability across BigPond ADSL offerings. It has withdrawn its 128Kbps and reduced monthly charges across 1.5Mbps ADSL plans.

Telstra's has also offered to upgrade customers currently subscribed to its 512Kbps ADSL service to a faster 1.5Mbps connection for the same monthly fee.

It's basic 256Kbps ADSL 1 service, which offers a 200MB download allowance for $30 per month, has been retained.

Pricing for the new HS ADSL2+ plans has been pegged to monthly download allowances rather than speed.

Customers that currently rent their copper line from Telstra can subscribe to the carrier's basic ADSL2+ service, which has a download allowance capped at 600MB, for $59.95 per month. Telstra is offering a shaped 12GB plan for $89.95 per month, and 25GB and 60GB plans

tmnet heading this way as well?