Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) is becoming a national embarrassment.
The NBN cost more than $50 billion to build, its CEO Stephen Rue is paid $3 million a year, and Australians pay some of the highest monthly fixed-line broadband charges in the world.
According to a Point Topic assessment, Australia had the least affordable entry-level broadband access among OECD countries in 2019, ranking 67th out of 83.
Australia also has a higher average cost for a 100Mbps package than most other countries.
New data from Speedtest shows that Australia’s fixed-line broadband speed is among the slowest in the world, dropping to 93rd place:
Source: Speedtest
This is a sharp downgrade from 60th place in 2019.
Australia’s fixed-line broadband speed is currently slower than occupied Palestine (76th place), war-torn Ukraine (67th place), bankrupt Argentina (69th place), and Mongolia (74th place).
But at least we’re narrowly beating Nicaragua (94th place), which is one spot behind!
There is better news with regard to mobile broadband speeds, with Australia ranking a solid 26th in the world, albeit down five places year-on-year.
This stronger performance helps explain why mobile broadband continues to steel market share from the NBN, threatening its longer-term viability.
