Australian ISP Internode today released its pricing for plans running on the National Broadband Network, the nation-wide government fibre-optic broadband network that intends to bring lightning-speed Internet to 97% of Australian premises.

But Internode managing director Simon Hackett said that these prices are “vulnerable to upward pressure” due to flaws in the way NBN Co’s wholesale program is structure and the ACCC’s decision to require 121 points of interconnect.

The plans are slightly superior to Telstra Bigpond’s current unbundled ADSL2+ in value for money, and more expensive than iiNet’s current offerings, provoking mixed feelings as to whether the NBN is really fulfilling the goal of making broadband more affordable for everyday Australians.

The NBN is in the very early stages of rollout, with parts of Tasmania and a few rural mainland towns currently having access to the network, which offers potential top speeds of 100Mbps downstream and 40Mbps up.