The latest Speedtest Global Index results are out and Australia continues to climb the global broadband rankings. Australia has climbed a further six places to now be ranked 42nd in the world. Upload and download speeds have increased significantly as NBNCo’s Accelerate Great program takes effect.
The last set of results reported that Australia’s fixed broadband performance was:
- Download: 135.31 Mbps
- Upload: 33.91 Mbps
That has now risen to
- Download: 164.09 Mbps
- Upload: 38.92 Mbps
According to the data, Australia’s fixed broadband services are now significantly faster than mobile broadband services. It wasn’t so long ago that mobile broadband services were significantly faster than fixed broadband.
Compared to the average global figures, Australia now boasts some of the best broadband service in the world. Global performance stands at 115.43 Mbps for downloads. However, we still trail the world when it comes to upload speeds with the global average sitting at 58.94 Mbps. Australian service providers remain locked into an asymmetric delivery models that vastly favours downloads over uploads.
This is largely due to the nature of our network infrastructure and its continued reliance on HFC (Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial) and other legacy technologies. As the amount of fibre optic cable int he network increases, there is greater potential for symmetrical services to be offered. But, as things stand, symmetrical broadband services, where download and upload speeds are equal, are mainly offered to business and enterprise customers.
NBNCo’s Accelerate Great program automatically increased the internet speed of many Australians at no cost and without the need to change providers. The speed boosts were significant.
- 100Mbps plans went up to 500Mbps
- 250Mbps plans went up to 750Mbps
- 500Mbps plans went up to 1000Mbps
Over the last few months Australia has moved up from 60th position and is now well ahead of the global average.
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.