Australia’s internet speeds over the next ten years with peak below the 50mb/s threshold that NBN says it will provide, according to a new report from the Bureau of Communications and Arts Research.
The Green’s NBN Spokesperson, Senator Jordon Steele-John, says the speeds in the report are already below international standards, and would cement Australia’s position as a second-rate digital player globally.
The report has been described by the Greens as “sloppy, unfounded and deliberately vague”.
Senator Steele-John says connecting to the Turnbull government’s “mixed technology mongrel” National Broadband Network has “overwhelmingly been a negative experience – in terms of cost, connectivity and speed – for individuals and businesses.”
“What this report suggests, almost comically, is that the requirements of Australian internet users will plateau at or near current speeds over the next decade, with an average peak requirement of 49mb/s conveniently peaking just under the 50mb/s promise of this government.”
Senator Steele-John says there is no historical data on Australia’s bandwidth requirements and therefore no real accurate predictions on what might be needed into the future.
He points out that 24 hour trends are not reliable data sets for a decade-long prediction.
“What the report fails to acknowledge, in basing its predictions on current uptake, is the extremely cost-prohibitive nature of the speed packages offered by the NBN and their ability to actually achieve those claimed speeds,” Senator Steele-John said.
“Australians are fed up with the NBN compromise and want access to a network that meets our current and future digital needs.”