New stats show small towns’ broadband is almost as good as in metro areas.

The latest Measuring Broadband Australia report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) reveals significant improvements in broadband performance for both urban and regional consumers on NBN fixed-line services since February 2022.

Comparing broadband performance in September 2023 to the last assessment in February 2022, the report highlights notable gains. 

In urban areas (cities with a population of at least 10,000 people), the average download speeds during peak weekday hours (7-11 pm) reached 99 per cent, up from 96.8 per cent in February 2022. 

Similarly, consumers in regional areas now experience average download speeds at 97.2 per cent of the plan speed, compared to 94.2 per cent previously.

Upload speeds have also seen improvements in regional areas, with the gap narrowing to just 1.8 per cent compared to urban areas, compared to a 5 per cent gap in February 2022. 

Average upload speeds in regional areas increased to 86.1 per cent of the maximum plan speed, up from 79.8 per cent, while urban areas reached 87.9 per cent of plan speed, up from 84.8 per cent.

However, the report identified that regional consumers still face a higher impact from underperforming services compared to urban counterparts. 

Underperforming services, which rarely or never achieve the plan download speed, were found in seven percent of regional services, compared to four percent in urban areas. 

This discrepancy is often attributed to known physical impairments in fibre to the node services.

The ACCC has called for collaboration between NBN Co and broadband retailers to address underperforming services, ensuring all Australians receive the broadband speeds they pay for.

In addition to these findings, the report highlighted that NBN fixed-line download speeds during peak hours reached a record high of 98.8 per cent of plan speed, compared to 98.5 per cent in the previous quarter.