Australian broadband provided through NBN’s fixed-line connections saw slightly faster download speeds, while upload speeds haven’t improved since early 2020.
This is according to the ACCC’s latest quarterly Measuring Broadband Australia report, which shows in May, RSP’s average download speed performance was 99.3 per cent of plan speed during all hours, compared to 97.9 per cent in February.
During the peak hours (7-11pm), downloads were at 97.6 per cent of plan speed, compared to 96.5 per cent in February.
Average upload speed in May was only at 85.6 per cent of plan speeds during all hours, up slightly from February’s 84.7 per cent, but sitting at the same speed as users were getting two-and-a-half years ago.
“Download speeds have improved for many consumers over the last two years because NBN Co overprovisions the download component of some plans,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.
“Upload speeds are more substantially below maximum plan speeds because NBN Co doesn’t overprovision the upload link.”
The ACCC believes that NBN Co “implementing overprovisioning of the upload component would be an efficient way to boost upload speeds,” with its report showing “no significant improvement in upload speed performance” since early 2020.
“Upload speeds are important to consumers working or studying from home, or using cloud applications such as photo storage,” Brakey said.
Fixed wireless broadband performance has also improved, delivering 77.6 per cent of plan speed during busy hours compared to 74.7 per cent in February. During all hours, NBN’s Fixed Wireless Plus services reached a record high of 101.5 per cent of plan speed, meaning it overperformed on average. This is up from 92 per cent in February.
The proportion of underperforming services in the ACCC’s NBN fixed-line sample decreased from 7.1 per cent in February 2022 to 6 per cent in May.
NBN’s Ultrafast speeds also dropped. Consumers on Ultrafast plans received average download speeds ranging between 820 Mbps during the day and 659 Mbps during the busy evening hours, compared to 823 Mbps and 694 Mbps in February.
