NBN enters ‘cone of silence’ on estimated internet speed

The National Broadband Network has a database setting out ­estimated internet speeds for new connections for millions of homes nationwide but is denying the public access, despite gouging by telcos selling high-speed connections that are unattainable.

NBN Co has confirmed it has the nationwide figures but will provide that information only to internet providers such as Telstra and Optus, despite revelations of widespread overselling of internet packages by those companies. “At this time, we believe the retail service provider is in the best position to advise their customers on performance information, including service speed, regarding their retail products,” an NBN Co spokeswoman said.

ALP spokesman for regional communications Stephen Jones said NBN’s stand was inadequate and called on it to make the data public to ensure transparency and prevent scamming by phone companies.

“It is absolutely essential that as much information is available to end users; this is about the reputation of the NBN, the phone companies and consumer con­fidence,” he told The Australian.

“At the moment, people (are) being bounced between the phone companies who are pointing the finger at the NBN and the NBN is pointing their finger at the phone companies and it’s the poor old customer caught in middle who doesn’t know who is telling the truth.”

The NBN Co spokeswoman said speed estimates were available for all premises that had existing copper phone lines.

While retailers who sell the NBN to customers — of which there are more than 400 — can ­request speed estimated on behalf of would-be customers before they sign up, this very rarely happens and telcos seeking to sell inflated packages are incentivised against doing so.

Telstra and Optus declined to comment when asked how often they accessed the data on behalf of prospective customers.

As previously revealed by The Australian, some NBN customers are achieving speeds as low as 1-500th of the “up to” speed packages they have signed to.

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has been telling phone companies since at least 2011 to not advertise “up to” broadband speeds because they can be highly misleading. Despite this, all the major providers have snubbed the ACCC’s demands and continue to advertise maximum speeds to customers.

The ACCC has taken no action against any telco for the practice, leading critics to argue it is asleep at the wheel.

NBN Co sells speed packages, including 25Mbs, 50Mbs and 100Mbs, to phone companies, meaning those speeds can theoretically be achieved on each of those connections.

However, the phone company must also purchase adequate “bandwidth” from NBN Co to allow for those speeds to be ­delivered when multiple users are online at once.

NBN sells bandwidth at a higher price compared to other international internet wholesalers — such as New Zealand’s wholesaler — meaning telcos heavily factor in how much or how little bandwidth they buy in order to maximise profits.

The bandwidth issue is the key reason why many users have found the NBN to be slower than their previous connections.

Weekdays from 5pm to 8pm is peak internet use time and when many users from one phone company are online simultaneously, speeds can drop as low as 0.1Mbs.

The bandwidth issue and profits being enjoyed by telcos who under-purchase are key reasons behind calls for increased transparency.

The Australian has obtained emails from Telstra that show its internet salespeople are at times not aware of what speeds are available in whole regions, let alone individual homes.

If NBN Co were to make its ­estimated speeds publicly available, individual customers would be able to determine what speeds they could expect.

The NBN Co spokeswoman said the estimated speeds were based on “cable records”.

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A direct result of Conroy planning the NBN off a napkin.

TheFunPolice wrote on May 17^th, 2017 at 12:42pm:


And you get the world record for the biggest leap, by going from internet speeds to melting ice!