Australia’s internet speed falls to 68th in the world – behind Kosovo – despite $51BILLION NBN

Australia’s internet speed falls to 68th in the world – behind Estonia and Kosovo – despite $51BILLION being spent on the under-fire NBN

  • Australia’s average download speeds of 41Mbps means country ranks just 68th
  • Ahead of Australia in rankings are countries like Estonia, Kosovo and Vietnam
  • Results mean Australia is fourth from bottom in rankings out of 35 OECD nations
  • The OECD grouping is comprised of countries with similarly-sized economies
  • Rankings come as the controversial $51million NBN nears June completion date

Australia’s internet speed has fallen to 68th in the world behind Estonia, Kosovo and Vietnam.

Average download speeds reached just 41.78 megabytes per second Down Under in the latest month-to-month report – almost half the global standard of 73.58Mbps.

With similarly sub-par upload speeds of 18.77Mbps, less than half the global average, Australia fell three spots in Speedtest Global Index’s rankings between November and December.

An NBN contractor works on the network’s roll-out in Sydney in 2017. Australian average internet download speeds of 41.78Mbps mean the country ranks 68th in the world – lower than Kosovo and Vietnam

The results also left Australia sitting fourth from bottom out of 35 countries within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – whose economies are of a similar size. 

Curtin University’s associate professor of internet studies Tama Leaver said the NBN – which is six months from completion – was significantly lagging behind countries of similar wealth.

‘[The NBN was] supposed to future-proof Australian internet speeds and capacity and has instead failed to meet even current speed and capacity requirements,’ he told The New Daily.  

Dr Leaver said the NBN’s lack of fibre connectivity to every home was linked to the low speeds indicated in December’s rankings.

RMIT associate professor of network engineering Mark Gregory added the Coalition had justified a lower internet quality by saying they were providing internet to all.

In 2009, then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced they would bypass the existing copper network by constructing a new national network. 

‘High-speed broadband will spur innovation and enhance our economy’s growth and productivity in the long term,’ Mr Rudd said at the time. 

In 2011, the goal was set at fibre-to-the-premises for 93 per cent of Australian homes.

But when the Coalition come to power in 2013, incoming prime minister Tony Abbott promised a scaled-down version of the NBN.

A network engineering expert said the Coalition had justified a lower internet quality by saying they were providing internet to all (stock image)

A network engineering expert said the Coalition had justified a lower internet quality by saying they were providing internet to all (stock image)

It would be based on fibre-to-the-exchange instead of direct fibre-to-the-home, in a bid to save on costs and reduce delays. 

In response to the December rankings, an NBN Co spokesperson said speeds had more than doubled in six years from 16Mbps to 40Mbps, according to AlphaBeta reports. 

‘We’re extremely proud of what we’re doing with the NBN access network to deliver high-speed broadband to eligible Australian homes and businesses and help raise the digital capability of the nation,’ a spokesperson said.

The Speed Check report highlights that the work we’re doing has set us in good stead among other world leaders, particularly as we near the completion of our build. 

NBN Co is expecting the access network to be completed by June 2020, with 11.5million homes able to connect. 

Fastest countries for fixed broadband Internet – December 2019

 1. Singapore

2. Hong Kong

3. Monaco 

4. Romania

5. South Korea

6. Switzerland

7. Liechtenstein

8. Taiwan

9. France

10. Sweden

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