Australian consumer group CHOICE's latest ISP satisfaction survey report indicates a majority of NBN users experienced connectivity issues in the last six months.
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Conducted in May, the survey was completed by 1,910 Australian residents aged 18 or over. Providing a snapshot of broadband usage in Australia, it indicated:
- 32% of Australians with internet access have ADSL2 or 2+ connections and 14% are on ADSL.
- 28% are connecting via the National Broadband Network (NBN).
- 12% are on cable.
- 8% have mobile broadband.
- 3% have fixed wireless connections.
- 1% connect via satellite.
- Australians in metropolitan areas are more likely to have ADSL2 or 2+ internet connection (36%), while people in regional and rural Australia are more likely to have NBN (40%).
- 31% are on unlimited data plans, 38% have data caps between 50GB and 1000GB, and 5% are on unlimited data plans with some speed restrictions after a certain data level has been reached.
With regard to the NBN, CHOICE says:
"Unfortunately, our brand-new NBN is not without its problems when it comes to providers delivering service on the network."
CHOICE reports 60% of respondents with NBN access reported issues with their ISP in the last six months. 44% of those problems were in connection to very slow speeds, 42% reported disconnections/dropouts and variable performance issues, and 31% mentioned problems connecting to the NBN.
The full ISP satisfaction survey 2017 report can be viewed here.
In other NBN related news, The Australian reports more than 200,000 Australian premises face major delays in being connected the National Broadband Network - double the estimate of just a few months ago.
NBN Co Chief Network Engineering Officer, Paul Ryan, has also recently defended the decision to use a mix of technologies in Australia for the NBN, rather than it primarily being a Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network. Among the issues he says is the cost of FTTP in Australia; which is among the highest in the world.
Mr. Ryan points out that Google Fiber hit the same challenges in the USA and dumped its model in favour of fixed wireless broadband.
NBN Co was established in 2009 to design, build and operate Australia's national broadband network and is wholly owned by the Commonwealth of Australia as a Government Business Enterprise (GBE).
