SINGAPORE - StarHub has joined the pack - becoming the last Internet service provider (ISP) to rev up broadband speed to 1Gbps. This is some 11 months after MyRepublic started a price war with its $49.99 a month 1Gbps plan, the cheapest per MB package available then.

These high-speed connections, which previously cost as much as $400 a month, allow high-definition video streaming and several PCs to be connected at one time with little or no lag. But users' existing computers and wireless routers may need an upgrade to hit the top speed.

StarHub is bundling cable broadband connections of 100Mbps as part of its 1Gbps package, priced at $69.90 a month (usual: $99.90 a month). The plan, dubbed Dual Broadband 1000, is available for signup this Saturday.

Customers of this plan will not be subjected to "throttling". This means users can download online video or files without being subject to the restriction on bandwidth use that comes with most broadband plans.

The "no throttling" vow was also marketed prominently by SingTel in August when it cut the price of its 1Gbps plan - called the Unlimited Fiber Plan - by 30 per cent to $69.90 a month (usual: $99.90 a month).

M1, too, threw in the "no throttling" sweetener in September, when it halved the price of its 1Gbps home broadband plan to $49 a month (usual: $99 a month).

The "no throttling" concept was pioneered here by smaller fibre broadband players such as ViewQwest and MyRepublic.

Last week, ViewQwest unveiled its 2Gbps plan, the first of its kind in the world outside Japan. The service will only be available in the first quarter of next year. In Japan, the service costs US$51 a month. ViewQwest also slashed the monthly price of its 1Gbps plan from $149.95 to $89.95.