I remember the early days of the NBN. They were so full of hope with the promise of fast, reliable broadband for everyone. Flash forward a few election cycles, lots of idealogical bickering and a bunch of wannabe telecom engineers in parliament and Australia is still ranked 75th in the world when it comes to fixed broadband.
Those billions of dollars have resulted in much faster broadband. According to the most recent Speedtest Global Index, our average download speed for fixed broadband is a touch under 88Mbps – a number Australia would have been proud of – in 2018. The global average is 103.09Mbps. But that differential between Australia and the world is even wider when we look at upload speeds.
Australia’s average upload speed languishes at a piss-weak 18.82Mbps – less than a third of the global average of almost 57Mbps.
The good news is that wholesale prices for NBN services are coming down. Or, more accurately, the performance is being boosted with no additional cost for about a quarter of users. Retail Service Providers (RSPs) don’t want to see revenues or margins crunched so NBNCo’s recent shift is a welcome change. The 100/20 NBNCo wholesale service will be boosted to a 500/50 service at no extra cost. This is what has allowed Exetel and Tangerine to offer faster and cheaper NBN plans.
Across the board there will be a number of changes made to broadband plans.
- NBN 100 plans will be upgraded to maximum download speeds of 500Mbps
- NBN 250 plans will be upgraded to maximum download speeds of 750Mbps.
- NBN 1000 plans will stay at 1000Mbps, but upload speeds double to 100Mbps
- A new NBN 2000 speed tier will also be introduced
All this happens on 14 September 2025.
According to NBNCo’s most recent Wholesale Market Indicators Report, there are about 8.8 million active NBN services. Of those, a little over two million of those are on 100Mbps plans but 3.6 million are still on NBN50 plans and almost 1.8 million are on 25Mbps. But, with all those 100Mbps users shifting to five-times faster services, we could see Australia climb up from 75th position.
A look at NBN 50 plans makes for interesting reading. Prices for those services vary from about $60 per month up to $95. Although why anyone is paying $95 per month for such a service can only come down to some sort of special bundling arrangement with other services. But if anyone is paying close to $80 per month for a NBN50 plan, upgrading in September to the new NBN500 option seems like a no browner.
If RSPs can convince a significant number of the 3.6 million NBN50 subscribers to shift to faster plans, that climb up the global rankings should be even stronger.
Singapore, Hong Kong, France, Chile and UAE have stood as the top five for some time, shuffling positions from month to month. Singapore sits atop that pile with average speeds of almost 400Mbps while the other four countries hover between 310Mbps and 325Mbps. The market changes NBNCo is introducing could see Australia get closer to the 200Mbps mark which jumps us into the Top 30 in the world. 225Mbps brings us into the Top 20.
That’s a far cry from when Tony Abbott, as leader of the opposition, said “We are absolutely confident 25 megs is going to be enough — more than enough — for the average household” and that copper was the key to delivering last mile fast access.
Fast, reliable internet access is no longer a luxury. Remote working is here to stay and the shift from terrestrial TV services to streaming is in full swing. Many households watch free to air TV over streaming in an addition to the dozens of subscription streaming services. NBNCo reports that the average household now has 25 connected devices and that the number will almost double of the next five years as smart home technologies and other innovations become more common. Downloads and uploads are expected to surge over that time.
While ranking highly on global scales is important, let’s hope the NBN and other broadband services can keep pace with our constantly growing demands.
Anthony is the founder of Australian Apple News. He is a long-time Apple user and former editor of Australian Macworld. He has contributed to many technology magazines and newspapers as well as appearing regularly on radio and occasionally on TV.