The difficulty will actually be getting an answer from an RSP. They will have plans that show unlimited but on implementation they may advise because a tower is congested they cannot give an unlimited allowance and then like MyRepublic have to void the contract or allow the user to reduce to a limited data allowance. NBN Co have given themselves until Sept this year to address congestion issues on the problem towers, but where once they advised in reports which towers were affected they really only list numbers affected. They have also likely (read have here) been under reported because until now they only looked at cells and not the backhaul (about 1 in 10 suffer) and similar.
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Thanks for that. I will pass that on. The 128kb/s only applies once the 200gbâs have been reached, I believe.
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Perhaps of historical interest only, it appears Toogoolawah was originally intended to receive FTTN.
This report by ITNews says it all.
iTnews can reveal whole towns that were originally in the FTTN footprint have now been allocated fixed wireless.
They include Coraki and Tumbarumba in NSW; Childers, Millmerran, Toogoolawah in Queensland;
Itâs all about minimising cost ahead of quality of outcome, with the observation the ABS defines broadband as any speed faster than 256kbps!
âNBN Coâs mandate is to provide broadband access to all premises in Australia with some form of NBN technology, whether that be fixed line, fixed wireless or satellite,â the company said.
âThe technology that may already be available in an area (for example ADSL or 4G etc) is not so much a driver of NBN Coâs technology choice as other factors such as the cost per premises of servicing the area.â
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I went searching for this, and found the definition on page two of the ABS December 2018 Order Internet Activity Record-Keeping and Reporting Rules (PDF):
Broadband means an internet connection that enables high speed usage with high capacity limits and download speeds of greater than or equal to 256kbps.
That was a definition tabled in Parliament in 2018! It was also the last year the ABS produced its Internet Activity Survey, which the ACCC replaced with the Internet Activity Report upon which this ânewâ definition is based!
The December 2018 Internet Activity Report (PDF), published by the ACCC in May 2019, states on the penultimate page that it is also going to be replaced (emphasis added):
The ACCC will be discontinuing the collection of information relating to retail broadband SIOs by estimated download speed. However, the ACCC will be collecting and releasing a richer dataset of internet activity information with a greater level of granularity and disaggregation.
It goes on to list âincludedâ changes, basically all sorts of not-very-informative information for the actual end user.
Edit: while that 256kbps definition may be literally correct, if one defines broadband as anything faster than dial-up, it is useless in the context of a modern Internet connection.
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1,000 million percent agree!
Apologies if anyone was alarmed by the revelation, although it is consistent with the attitude of the NBN Co and minimum deliverables set by government. I was surprised that Australia was officially still hanging on to the old speed definition.
In comparison the FCC (USA) changed the definition for their nation in 2015. The minimum download speed four years ago was very simply 25Mbps! No nonsense about up to xy-Mbps or typical peak hour speeds.
The relevance of all of this is that for rural Australia the NBN Co commitment falls well short of delivering usable and workable broadband to rural and regional Australia. That is when measured in a âWorld classâ sense, as related by @bottville and others examples within our community topics. The NBN Co elected not to run a fibre backbone through the Upper Brisbane River and Esk Valley in Qld. As it also elected not to for many other parts of rural Australia.
@bottvilleâs story and friend could be relevant to any one of the 1.1million plus premises the NBN Co intends to service by satellite or fixed wireless. That is out of 11.2 million planned premises to have service available (passed).
For anyone considering whether rural Australians will be getting a fairer outcome from the NBN in future, there was a major parliamentary enquiry completed late last year. It specifically enquired into communications in rural and remote Australia, and reported to the Deputy Leader of the National Party, Bridget McKenzie, as Minister for Sport, Minister for Rural Health, and Minister for Regional Communications.
The report, from my read had a focus on business, education and health/social services outcomes in relationship to communications and also the internet. Itâs a revealing read in what it does say and also in what it does not say. There is a consensus of opinions, that rural internet is not performing adequately. A number of businesses made submissions including Aussie Broadband.
Of some relevance to another Choice communications topic relating to a âNetflix Taxâ is that the delivery of media for entertainment using streaming services to rural Australia appears to have a low priority. However the future of the wonders of 5G and low earth orbit satellites bringing competition to rural areas does get a mention.
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- 5G is a solution in search of the right problem, and needs infrastructure (sorta like the NBN)
- Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites are not going to be delivered by any Australian government any time soon. Does this mean that rural Australians will be relying upon Elon Muskâs Starlink or one of the competing projects?
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Iâm hopeful of encouraging others to read the report and make any observations that relate to regional outcomes of the NBN. Rather than specifically debate the reliability or relevance of the suggestions in the report to 5G etc.
For consumers in rural and remote Australia the report offers insights into how the government, notably the Federal members in rural and regional Australia may view the NBN and communications needs.
The reference to 5G and low orbit satellite services in the report was not qualified.
Like any well written government departmental report it is possible to read most things in more than one way. Typically empathetic to key voters while reassuring on the success of government policy.
P.S.
Just for the record, Iâm open minded about the future implementation of 5G. Whether it offers part of a solution to improving internet services to rural and remote Australia it is unlikely to be a reality any time soon?
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I think this news article answers your question @bottville. Please note the very âLiberalâ (pun intented) interpretation of the speeds that should be achieved.
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The first paragraph of that article states:
About 10 years ago, when the original plan for a mostly fibre NBN was first hatched by Kevin Rudd and Stephen Conroy, streaming TV was not a thing.
Wikipedia states that âNetflix expanded its business in 2010 with the introduction of streaming media while retaining the DVD and Blu-ray rental businessâ.
Then of course thereâs YouTube, which was created in 2005 - well before NBN planning began. In fact that last link makes clear that changes to the original design were still occurring in 2011.
You would have to be blind, stupid, or wilfully ignorant to ignore changes in how the Internet was being used and opt for a second-class solution!
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For all practical purposes, Australia does not have a National Broadband Network, we have a âNationalâ Internet Network, so henceforth NBN Co should be known as NIN Co.
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I agree.
There appears to have been no professional future capacity planning, and the LNP (Turnbull) ignored all the industry experts who correctly forecast the current shemozzel, just so they could reject the Labour proposal.
And then there were the masses of voters who unquestioningly believed the political hyperbole and voted to save money in the short term, at the cost of getting something that would work well into the future.
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