The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released its latest report on Australian broadband measurements, and is encouraging NBN customers to upgrade their internet to FTTP for one very good reason: it has far fewer outages.
The latest report found that fibre to the premises connections, in which high-speed fibre is run directly to your home, only made up about 12 per cent of outages on most days in the last quarter, while fibre to the node (FTTN) experienced 48 per cent of observed outages.
Hybrid-fibre coaxial (HFC) connections experienced 32 per cent of outages, while fibre to the curb (FTTC) connections experienced nine per cent of outages. FTTN and HFC connections were also found to have the highest average latency among fixed-line connections.
It’s no surprise why this is; FTTP is simply better tech. While fibre lines are more insulated and protected from the elements, FTTN and FTTC connections are reliant on pit-based strategies, where internet distribution for a street or suburb is reliant on a fibre line that runs to a local node, which can easily flood in the rain.
Upgrading to FTTP is a no-brainer if you’re sick of outages and want a faster, more consistent broadband speed, though be prepared to spend more on your internet plan, as per the arrangements discussed with your NBN service provider.
“If a consumer is experiencing frequent outages, we encourage them to contact their broadband provider for assistance. They may be able to access a fibre to the premises upgrade at their address or obtain a mobile backup to provide service continuity during outages,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.
When Gizmodo Australia sat down with the head of customer strategy and innovation at NBN Doctor Robert Joyce to discuss the fibre upgrade program, he said that a household could rely on fibre connected to their home for as much as 50 years.
“Fibre [FTTP] is about 10 times more reliable than FTTN [and FTTC],” Joyce said.
Beyond outages, the latest report confirmed that most households were getting close to advertised download speeds. Nationally, speeds were found to achieve an average of 99.8 per cent of advertised download speeds and 87.3 per cent of advertised upload speeds (measured during busy hours).
State by state, Victoria was found to have the closest download speeds to advertised plan limits, at 100.7 per cent (86.5 per cent), though this was closely tailed by NSW at 100.6 per cent download and 89.7 per cent upload. The lowest score went to Tasmania, at 97 per cent download and 83.7 per cent upload.
During the busiest hours, the ACCC’s report found that Telstra offered the fastest average download speed, at 100.7 per cent of plan speed, Whistleout noted that it’s the first time Telstra has topped the chart. Optus tailed this at 99.6 per cent, TPG at 98.4 per cent, and Leaptel at 97.9 per cent.
You can read the ACCC’s report here.
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