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| Internet business online for growth | 02 Jun 2007 |
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| Few Adelaide companies provide a greater glimpse into the world of the future than Adam Internet. The Adelaide company is on the verge of the holy grail of communications, a service that will revolutionise home phone, computer and television use. It will soon launch a Triple Play Service which will cut local and national call costs from home phones to only 12c a call, while a television set-top box will provide videos on demand, starting with 1000 titles. Adam Internet has been one of the most successful companies in South Australia since it started in 1994. As access to the internet in SA has grown from 12 per cent in 1998 to 56 per cent in 2005-06, Adam's annual growth has more than doubled in the past few years. Adam Internet managing director Scott Hicks, 29, said the company expected to boost its employment from 95 people to 200 in about a year as the business expands. But it has been a long hard road for Mr Hicks and his father, chairman Greg Hicks, who started the forerunner of the business in 1985 with the purchase of his first Amiga computer and modem. It grew into the Adelaide Amiga Club in 1986 and the creation of the Adam Bulletin Board, leading at one stage to 200 phone lines leading into the Hicks home. Mr Hicks said that under its new Triple Play service, use of the home telephone, computer and television would never be the same. The service would be available in months, following a successful year-long trial involving 1000 clients. Mr Hicks said it's home internet service offered good value because it had invested $9.6 million in it's own fiber line covering 99 per cent of Adelaide. Adam Internet has up to 35 per cent of the SA internet market, with 70,000 subscribers. Mr Hicks expects Adam will become big enough to take over the entire city building where it is located in the longer term with 400 to 500 staff and 200,000 to 300,000 customers. The Advertiser article |
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