26 September 2023

NBN plans picking up speed

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A new report into broadband speeds from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has revealed that internet providers are delivering more than 80 per cent of maximum plan speeds in the busy evening hours.

The latest Measuring Broadband Australia report, based on speed tests carried out during November last year, showed broadband plans achieved an average download speed of 85.3 per cent during the busy 7pm to 11pm period.

Chair of the ACCC, Rod Sims said that while he was pleased with the report findings, there was still more work to be done.

“We are pleased to see that speeds have generally improved, however we need more action from NBN Co and retail service providers so that all consumers can access their full NBN plan speeds,” Mr Sims said.

“This Measuring Broadband Australia data clearly shows that too many consumers with FTTN connections are not receiving the speeds they are paying for.”

He said consumers on lower-priced plans were more likely to come close to getting the fastest download speed possible on their connections.

“Across all plans, most retail service providers achieved scores of between 84.3 and 86.6 per cent, while Optus recorded the highest score of 89.9 per cent,” Mr Sims said.

He said however many high-speed fibre to the node (FTTN) connections still didn’t come close to performing as promised.

“The results show that about a quarter of those consumers on FTTN connections, who are paying for high-speed 50 Mbps and 100 Mbps plans, still did not receive anywhere near their full plan speeds, at any time,” Mr Sims said.

He said NBN services continued to outperform ADSL services across a range of measurements.

“Consumers on entry level NBN 12 Mbps plans received an average download speed of 10.8 Mbps in the busy hours, while those on ADSL services delivered just 7.7 Mbps.”

NBN users also experienced fewer outages, lower latency and less packet loss than those on ADSL, he said.

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