FTTN speeds remain way behind other NBN tech: ACCC

Fibre-to-the-node remains the worst performing NBN technology in terms of internet speeds, a report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) revealed.

According to the ACCC’s latest Measuring Broadband Australia report (pdf), FTTN only reaches 81.9 percent of the promised maximum download speeds and 78.4 percent of the promised upload speeds. In comparison, fibre to the premises (FTTP), fibre to the curb (FTTC) and hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) connections are delivering at least 90 percent of maximum speeds.

FTTN also recorded the longest outages of the three, with 34 percent of outages lasting three to ten minutes and 10 percent lasting more than ten minutes. By comparison, most outages of other technologies lasted either between 30 to 60 seconds or between one to three minutes.

In the announcement for the report, the ACCC said that many FTTN connections “still don’t come close to performing as promised”.

“The results show that about a quarter of those consumers on FTTN connections, who are paying for high-speed 50 Mbps and 100 Mbps plans, still did not receive anywhere near their full plan speeds, at any time,” the announcement read.

The agency also pointed out that the speeds could be improved by up to 6.2 percentage points better “if issues causing poor performance on some FTTN connections, such as problems with in-house wiring, had been addressed”.

ACCC chair Rod Sims said that while NBN speeds as a whole have “generally improved”, he is urging NBN Co and retail service providers to help customers reach the promised speeds.

“This Measuring Broadband Australia data clearly shows that too many consumers with FTTN connections are not receiving the speeds they are paying for,” Sims said.

Sims added that customers with those underperforming connections are encouraged to reach their RSPs to see whether a technician can fix the connection issues or if they can be moved to other plans.

“Otherwise, they should be able to move to a cheaper plan with top speeds their connection can actually provide,” Sims said.