iiNet CEO Michael Malone offered a strong opinion of Telstra’s wholesale 3G offering today in a call to journalists, decrying the telco giant for offering ‘yesterday’s technology’, according to report from IT site ZDNet.

iiNet offers a mobile phone service to some 80,000 customers as an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator). iiNet and its subsidiary brands (including Internode) own no mobile towers or infrastructure, and instead purchase airtime off of Optus, currently the champion of mobile network wholesaling. iiNet and other internet service providers offer these services to attract customers looking to bundle all of their telephony and data services into one easy bundle, despite not strictly being in the mobile industry.

Last month, Telstra announced plans to offer their NextG network to wholesale soon, with some disappointing caveats- namely, capped data speeds. Optus engages in this practice as well, but only for strictly budget brands like Virgin mobile. Many MVNOs, including iiNet, TPG and Amaysim, operate directly on Optus’ network with no differentiation from direct Optus customers. Telstra have only offered to wholesale their network (which does have a much larger coverage footprint, especially in regional areas) now that they will be rolling out a 4G network, with greater data speeds.

Optus will be rolling out their own 4G network from April, and will be offering wholesale services from the get-go. Malone stated that he would expect to be able to on-sell these services to eligible customers at around the same time as Optus starts selling to their own customers. "We have no appetite for selling the Telstra product" he went on to say, quashing speculation that iiNet would be amongst the first to line up for Telstra’s wholesale offering. Malone also revealed that iiNet and Internode will start offering handsets later this year as well, signifying a greater commitment to the mobile space.

TPG would be the next likely reseller of Telstra’s wholesale product, but may continue their own relationship with Optus. Eftel, Dodo and Club Telco have engaged more readily with regional and rural customers, the most likely to want a Telstra NextG service, and so may represent a more likely candidate.

Optus currently offers a range of top handsets on great value plans, like the kevlar backed Motorola RAZR Android smartphone, available for $0 on the $59 cap, with $750 of call credit and a whopping 2GB of data. Call Optus on 1300 137 897 for more info.