Reading time: 6 min · Last verified: July 2026 · SMTPedia editorial team
Exemail was retired from Exetel and moved to The Messaging Company paid platform
Exetel (owned by Superloop) transitioned its legacy Exemail service (@exemail.com.au) to The Messaging Company between 23 September and 16 October 2025. Existing users had until 9 December 2025 to opt in to a paid subscription; sign-ups have now closed and any @exemail.com.au addresses not migrated by that deadline have been permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. This follows the same pattern as the July 2023 TPG Telecom email shutdown (iiNet, Internode, TPG.com.au also moved to The Messaging Company).
Exemail.com.au SMTP, IMAP, and POP3 settings
There are no publicly documented settings for @exemail.com.au after the shutdown. Users who successfully opted into the paid Messaging Company platform before the 9 December 2025 deadline keep their address working; The Messaging Company provides the exact hostnames and ports directly to migrated customers as part of their account setup. Users whose mailbox was deleted after the deadline have no server to reconnect to, the address is permanently gone. The sections below cover the recommended replacement paths (Gmail, Outlook, or an ISP-tied Australian mailbox) for users who need to rebuild their email presence.
What happened to Exemail
Exemail was Exetel’s legacy consumer email service, providing @exemail.com.au addresses to Exetel broadband subscribers. Exetel is an Australian ISP acquired by Superloop, which itself has consolidated multiple smaller Australian broadband brands over the past decade. Exemail was branded as a simple, no-frills personal and small business email platform tied to Exetel broadband subscriptions.
The broader Australian ISP email retreat began in July 2023, when TPG Telecom (parent of iiNet, Internode, and TPG.com.au) announced it would discontinue its own consumer email services and partner with The Messaging Company, a third-party paid email provider, for existing customers who wanted to keep their addresses. Superloop followed the same playbook with Exetel: between 23 September and 16 October 2025, Exemail was transitioned to The Messaging Company platform. Existing users had until 8 September 2025 to sign up for continued service at a discounted rate; the final sign-up window closed on 9 December 2025.
As of December 2025, any @exemail.com.au address whose owner did not opt into The Messaging Company subscription has been permanently deleted. Data was hosted on AWS Sydney and did not persist beyond the deletion window. The Messaging Company’s Terms also cite recent updates to Australia’s online safety laws: the service is not available to customers under the age of 18.
Alternative replacement providers
Common issues after the shutdown
Non-migrated @exemail.com.au addresses hard-bounce
Since 9 December 2025, mail sent to @exemail.com.au addresses that did not opt into The Messaging Company subscription returns a permanent 5xx bounce. If you are on the sending side, suppress @exemail.com.au addresses that have not confirmed migration, a large portion of the historical user base did not opt in.
Cannot recover mail deleted after 9 December 2025
Non-migrated mailbox data was permanently deleted from AWS Sydney. There is no recovery mechanism. If you missed the sign-up window and need archived mail, check local backups (Thunderbird, Apple Mail, Outlook POP3 downloads), server-side data is gone.
Under-18 users cannot subscribe to The Messaging Company
Per Australia’s updated online safety laws (2025 amendments), The Messaging Company does not accept customers under 18. Any @exemail.com.au address whose subscriber was under 18 at migration time was deleted regardless of intent to pay. Minors need a Gmail, Outlook, or age-appropriate provider account.
FAQ
Is @exemail.com.au still working in 2026?
Only for users who opted into The Messaging Company paid subscription before 9 December 2025. Non-migrated addresses were permanently deleted on that date.
Can I sign up now to keep my @exemail.com.au address?
No. Sign-ups closed 9 December 2025. Any @exemail.com.au address not migrated by then was permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.
How much does The Messaging Company cost?
Plans start at the SAVER tier with a 50% discount for the first six months of service. Exact pricing was on themessaging.co/exetel/ during the sign-up window. Each email address requires its own subscription.
Does Exetel still offer email with broadband subscriptions?
No. Exetel (under Superloop) no longer bundles email with broadband. New customers do not receive @exemail.com.au addresses. Existing customers who did not opt into The Messaging Company lost their addresses.
Which other Australian ISPs have shut down consumer email?
TPG Telecom’s brands (iiNet, Internode, TPG.com.au) discontinued email services in July 2023 and moved to The Messaging Company. Optus and Telstra stopped offering email to new customers. Starlink and Launtel have never offered email. Aussie Broadband still offers up to 5 free addresses with a broadband subscription (as of December 2024).
Historical timeline
Exemail chronology (Exetel/Superloop, 2023-2025)
- July 2023: TPG Telecom announces shutdown of iiNet, Internode, and TPG.com.au consumer email; existing users can opt in to The Messaging Company paid platform.
- Early 2025: Superloop begins customer notification for Exemail migration to The Messaging Company.
- 23 September – 16 October 2025: Exemail migration window; users opting in have their mailboxes transferred to The Messaging Company platform hosted on AWS Sydney.
- 8 September 2025: Deadline for the early sign-up discount (50% off first six months).
- 9 December 2025: Sign-ups permanently closed. All non-migrated @exemail.com.au mailboxes deleted from AWS Sydney with no recovery path.
Where to go next
- Discontinued email providers hub
- Legacy email providers hub
- Gmail SMTP, IMAP, POP3 settings
- Outlook.com SMTP, IMAP, POP3 settings
Cleaning a list of Australian ISP-provided addresses? The TPG/iiNet/Internode/Exemail retirement cascade has left many defunct Australian ISP email domains in mailing lists. SMTPing verifies addresses with a real SMTP handshake before you send, catching these deleted mailboxes in one pass.
About the Author
Alaa · LinkedIn
Email infrastructure specialist with 8+ years of hands-on experience in SMTP, deliverability, and email verification. I’ve configured and troubleshot mail systems across Postfix, Exchange, and cloud relays, managed IP reputation and warmup campaigns, and built verification pipelines processing millions of addresses. My work spans DNS authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, BIMI), bounce handling, blocklist monitoring, and compliance frameworks including CAN-SPAM and GDPR. I write every article on SMTPedia to give email professionals, developers, and marketers the accurate, RFC-grounded reference they need.
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