This is not something I thought an ISP in Australia would open, an R&D facility, but iiNet seem to be on a roll here, with acquisitions, customer satisfaction, products on offer and competitive pricing/allowance, they're really smashing down the walls of broadband hell that have kept this country in the dark ages of broadband for years.

Speaking at iiNet's annual general meeting today, iiNet chief executive Michael Malone said that iiNet Labs had already commenced with new products to be available in the coming months.

Malone added that the lab will expand on the ISP's projects - BoB, fetchtv and Naked DSL, it will also give iiNet more control of development and the ability to change quickly as consumer demands and trends change.

iiNet's chief technology officer (CTO), Greg Bader said that the new division would act as an extension of the ISP's current in-house testing facilities. "We'll be looking to build on the success of BoB [iiNet's wireless modem], and bring some of that development in-house and rather than buying products off the shelf, we want to get our fingers in there and customise and tailor products for what we need," Bader said. "We've seen in the marketplace more mobile media devices and so all those things are on the drawing board."

The new division is going to be run by the current general manager of business, Steve Harley - and while the iiNet HQ is in Perth, Bader said that the facility will be "a bit of a virtual lab". Scenes of Minority Report run through my head as I type that line...

Earlier in the year, iiNet flagged potential plans to stop carrying the ABC's TV service - iView, in it's "Freezone" due to strain it puts on it's network, with Bader maintaining no decision had been made on that yet.

"We'll be looking to build on the success of BoB [iiNet's wireless modem], and bring some of that development in-house and rather than buying products off the shelf, we want to get our fingers in there and customise and tailor products for what we need," Bader said. "We've seen in the marketplace more mobile media devices and so all those things are on the drawing board."