NBN report card: FTTN connections trash otherwise-perfect run in latest ACCC update

Date:
Wed, 01 Sep 2021 06:37:59 +0000

Description:
The ACCCs latest broadband report shows improvement across the network, but FTTN services remain a problem.

FULL STORY ======================================================================

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commissions (ACCC) latest broadband report has found the NBN is finally living up to its promises, with data collected in May 2021 showing fixed-line users experienced record high
speeds.

On average, NBN users monitored for the report reached 98.4% of their plans rated speed during all hours, which fell slightly to 97.6% during the evening hours (between 7pm and 11pm when the network is at its busiest).

Its a decent increase from the ACCCs previous findings, which reported
figures of NBN users attaining 96.5% of their plans top speed during all
hours and 95.7% during the busy hours.

As the report points out, internet providers have mostly achieved this due to NBN Co overprovisioning the network. NBN plans : compare providers and best deals at every speed FTTN NBN is the worst NBN

As has been well-documented in consecutive reports by the ACCC, not all NBN connection types are created equal.

Despite the number of underperforming services decreasing among the NBN users monitored, fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) services overwhelmingly remain the problem, and are still not performing as well as other connection types.

As shown in the table below, the ACCC found that FTTN households on an NBN 50 or NBN 100 plan received lower speeds than the maximum plan speeds achievable at any given time. (Image credit: ACCC)

The figures are particularly dismal if youve got a FTTN 100Mbps plan, as its the worst for delivering on its speed promise, and has an average download speed about 17Mbps lower than other connection types on the tier.

The report found these monitored users reached 84.7% of their plans rated speed on average while other technologies were able to surpass 100% due to their overprovisioning.

Unfortunately, the only real solution for Aussies on underperforming FTTN NBN 100 plans is to move to a slower (and cheaper) plan. Cheap NBN plans :
compare the best internet deals in Australia Dodo and iPrimus show speed improvement

Along with recording record high speeds on the network during May 2021, the ACCC also found certain internet providers showed significant improvement in delivering promised speeds.

Dodo and iPrimus, which both form part of the Vocus Group, increased their performance during all hours and busy hours, up by 5.4 percentage points in comparison to the previous report, which was the biggest jump in performance among the telcos monitored.

These improvements come after Dodo and iPrimus were ordered to pay AU$2.5 million in penalties by the Federal Court for making misleading claims about the typical evening speeds on their plans.

Other improvements came from Vodafone and MyRepublic, who both recorded an increase in their speeds during the peak evening period. Vodafone jumped by 4.3 percentage points in comparison to the previous report, while MyRepublic improved by 3.7 percentage points.

Overall, the ISPs monitored reached between 92.2% and 100.5% of plan speed across all major NBN plans during busy hours, with Dodo and iPrimus recording 92.2% and Exetel topping 100.5% the figure above 100% is due to overprovisioning.

That means the gap between ISPs is getting smaller, as the numbers account
for a range of 8.3% between internet providers, compared with a range of
12.3% recorded in the previous report.

The performance gap between retail service providers download speed metrics has narrowed significantly in recent reports, says the ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey, however individual consumer experiences by retailer still vary.

And that varied experience, as we know, is largely due to your fortune, or misfortune, in connection type. Fastest NBN plans : compare 100Mbps internet and above



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/nbn-report-card-fttn-connections-trash-otherwis e-perfect-run-in-latest-accc-update/


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)