Telstra claim that they are planning to deliver 5G services across 75 per cent of its mobile network by June next year in a bid to outdo their rivals, but if their 5G service in Port Macquarie NSW, where the carrier is openly bragging about their 5G capability, is anything to go by, Telstra, who yesterday left millions without broadband have a long way to go.
Port Macquarie is a key rural tourist town in NSW but despite this Telstra’s 5G and 4G service is shocking and if you’re a Telstra customer and are thinking of staying at the local resort Sails and you want broadband faster than 4.5Mbps then I suggest that you invest in a Optus SIM.
Not only is the Telstra service bad, it flies in the face of claims by CEO Andy Penn that Telstra is a key provider to rural Australia and that the Company leads in the delivery of 5G services in Australia.
After staying in Port Macquarie for one night, one has to wonder why the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is letting Telstra get away with openly misleading consumers about their 5G coverage and why is Telstra unable to deliver even the most basic of service in what they describe as a key 5G service area.
Sails at Port Macquarie Rydges is a resort that Telstra claims is smack bang in the middle of a 5G zone, when I checked in, I had two 5G smartphones with me including the Samsung Galaxy S20+ and a 5G LG smartphone.
Located at 20 Park Street Port Macquarie the Telstra 5G location map has the waterside resort which is only three storeys high with no major building close by, in the middle of a main Telstra 5G zone.
However, the fastest speed I was able to get was 8.40Mbps at 6.00am in the morning, my average was 4.82Mbps on average.
In my room I was unable to get past 4.5Mbps on both a 4G and 5G Telstra SIM.
When I spoke to reception, they told me that “Telstra customers are always complaining about their poor service”.
The front desk receptionist then demonstrated his coverage on the Optus network using a cheap Chinese smartphone, the speed was three times faster than what I was able to achieve.
I had banked on being able to watch the Raiders & Rabbitohs game on Foxtel but all I got was stutter vision courtesy of Telstra.
What is of concern is that the ACCC appears to be taking no action against Telstra who recently lifted their prices for their smartphone services.
A visit to the Telstra web site claims that with a Telstra 4G device in 4G areas, typical download speeds are 2 – 50Mbps which is a massive variation.
The 5G specification states that individual users should see a minimum download speed of 100Mbps.
Opensignal’s latest survey claimed that Telstra’s 5G service is hitting average download speeds of 157 Mbps placing it above average among the pack of telcos offering 5G services.
It’s obvious that they did not do the tests in Port Macquarie or in Telstra’s main 5G zone for the area.
Recently Telstra boss Andrew Penn told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that the telco’s decision in March to bring forward $500 million of capital expenditure, originally planned for the second half of fiscal 2021, has already helped it offer 5G services to more Australians.
“This investment means we have been able to accelerate our roll out of 5G, while injecting much needed investment into the Australian economy at this time.”
The Company who are struggling to grow sales, claim that they are rolling out their 5G service in 53 cities and regional towns across Australia and Mr Penn said that more than 10 million Australians now “live, work or pass through” the telco’s 5G network footprint on a daily basis.
Telco and media research firm Venture Insights’ managing director, Nigel Pugh said that consumers aren’t fully sold on paying more for 5G.
Which is not surprising if their Port Macquarie service is anything to go by especially as Port Macquarie does not have the same tall building or density that a metropolitan Australian city has.
We have yet had a response from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC).
