Well I’ve just created a ticket with my RSP (Aussie Broadband) asking them to formally request NBN upgrade our service to meet the minimum peak speed requirement.
We will see what happens…
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The thrust of the latest legislation apparently. 
The one page departmental summary:
https://www.communications.gov.au/file/49821/download?token=76tPNrcS
The summary headed ‘More detailed requirements’ looks like a doorway for Ministerial discretion. That may help with answers to the questions @syncretic and @LostWanderer have just raised. Not necessarily more definitively?
Will the ACCC broad band speed testing expand to monitor Satellite or Fixed Wireless performance? Or will the nominated ‘enforcer’, I meant regulator, the ACMA transform Phoenix like into something more potent?
Doubtless they will need to answer the same questions. To date the ACCC monthly NBN performance reports assess averages and not peaks. IE a more meaningful measure of the level of service provided. It’s not the only one that may matter for consumers.
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The line that states SIPs will be able to provide slower or faster speeds based on Consumer demand allows the previously stated 25/5 minimum to be safely ignored.
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I opened a a support request with my provider Aussie Broadband, asking them to submit a request to the NBN for an upgrade. Their first response was that the SIP did not apply as we were still in the co-existence period, so I sent them a copy of the fact sheet (thank you Mark_M)
Then they said that my ‘line sync speed’ was too high to be considered for an upgrade so this is what I’ve just sent in response:
So it seems mt RSP is reluctant to even submit a request to the NBN to asking for a service upgrade, but as identified people are interpreting “Minimum download speed” in different ways…
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How has your request gone? Did you get the upgrade or a promise of one?
NBN Fibre to the Node - Upgrades to Full Fibre
Not yet despite the announcements prior to Christmas. The following appears to change the goal posts. Earlier announcements suggested a free upgrade for the asking. This version suggests there will be a cost recovered through requiring customers to upgrade their plans.
Um?
If you are on Satellite or Fixed Wireless, nothing to see here!
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Not sure what we have done, but this is our current speeds on our 50/20 plan:
I wonder if they are upgrading the local network and have either forgotten to throttle to meet connection plans or are testing and we are superfast until testing is completed. We haven’t asked for a 270/25 plan so only guessing.
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While the following excerpt is not Australian it shows vision which we seem to lack at the moment about our nbn™ coverage and speed. Of course at the moment just a pipe dream until it passes US Congress and Senate and further it lacks real figures such as exactly what do they mean by high-speed?? .
From the President Biden’s Fact Sheet https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/31/fact-sheet-the-american-jobs-plan/
" Revitalize America’s digital infrastructure:
Generations ago, the federal government recognized that without affordable access to electricity, Americans couldn’t fully participate in modern society and the modern economy. With the 1936 Rural Electrification Act, the federal government made a historic investment in bringing electricity to nearly every home and farm in America, and millions of families and our economy reaped the benefits. Broadband internet is the new electricity. It is necessary for Americans to do their jobs, to participate equally in school learning, health care, and to stay connected. Yet, by one definition, more than 30 million Americans live in areas where there is no broadband infrastructure that provides minimally acceptable speeds. Americans in rural areas and on tribal lands particularly lack adequate access. And, in part because the United States has some of the highest broadband prices among OECD countries, millions of Americans can’t use broadband internet even if the infrastructure exists where they live. In urban areas as well, there is a stark digital divide: a much higher percentage of White families use home broadband internet than Black or Latino families. The last year made painfully clear the cost of these disparities, particularly for students who struggled to connect while learning remotely, compounding learning loss and social isolation for those students.
The President believes we can bring affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband to every American through a historic investment of $100 billion. That investment will:
- Build high-speed broadband infrastructure to reach 100 percent coverage. The President’s plan prioritizes building “future proof” broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas so that we finally reach 100 percent high-speed broadband coverage. It also prioritizes support for broadband networks owned, operated by, or affiliated with local governments, non-profits, and co-operatives—providers with less pressure to turn profits and with a commitment to serving entire communities. Moreover, it ensures funds are set aside for infrastructure on tribal lands and that tribal nations are consulted in program administration. Along the way, it will create good-paying jobs with labor protections and the right to organize and bargain collectively.
- Promote transparency and competition. President Biden’s plan will promote price transparency and competition among internet providers, including by lifting barriers that prevent municipally-owned or affiliated providers and rural electric co-ops from competing on an even playing field with private providers, and requiring internet providers to clearly disclose the prices they charge.
- Reduce the cost of broadband internet service and promote more widespread adoption. President Biden believes that building out broadband infrastructure isn’t enough. We also must ensure that every American who wants to can afford high-quality and reliable broadband internet. While the President recognizes that individual subsidies to cover internet costs may be needed in the short term, he believes continually providing subsidies to cover the cost of overpriced internet service is not the right long-term solution for consumers or taxpayers. Americans pay too much for the internet – much more than people in many other countries – and the President is committed to working with Congress to find a solution to reduce internet prices for all Americans, increase adoption in both rural and urban areas, hold providers accountable, and save taxpayer money."
$100 Billion of course is a lot of money, sadly we have spent nearly 3/4 of that already on a sub par MTM NBN plan that still is not finished and provides screamingly slow speeds to a large portion of the population. Do we now need to spend a further $100 Billion to get a real nbn™ outcome that the US seems to be offering it’s citizens? I would hope less than that but the rollout we have had will be expensive to fix.
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Did the NBN Run out of a money?
It can always borrow more, or
The move is part of the government’s $3.5 billion push to give Australians stuck on slow internet connections access to top speeds, with 1.1 million eligible homes and businesses announced so far.
The very publicly announced fit for purpose NBN has recently been declared complete, so why waste money on giving more consumers a faster NBN?
There’s a list of the lucky suburbs/electorates in the linked news items. 
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Something about pork and barrels and 5G requires it.
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From that article:
Quicker, sooner, cheaper? Let’s build out one set of technology, then replace it with what we should have delivered in the first place - but only to 3/4 of the homes and businesses we are supposed to serve.
It would be interesting to see all those locations plotted on an electorate map, but it cannot be all pork barrels because the ACT is included and it never votes LNP.
I am a little concerned that they are proposing to upgrade FTTC at the same time as FTTN - surely users of FTTC are getting ‘reasonable’ speeds?
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But 5G still requires it, and how do you change voting patterns…by enticing voters with things they like or want.
We all know MTM NBN is an abject failure, even the Govt while not admitting it know it. They don’t want to admit the failure or admit Labor’s plan was the way it should have gone and they know they need fibre to support 5G and beyond needs fibre. So sneaky spending on the NBN Co without having to admit the failure nor to admit the nbn™ spend has to continue. This makes it much more expensive than if they had just gone fibre in the first place but hides it from many of the public.
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FTTN was never fit for purpose. Nobody should have been forced onto that, and the blame for that rests with the Federal Government.
FTTC is good. 100Mbps is achievable if you want that speed. However, for most premises going from FTTC to FTTP it is just a short bit of fibre cable replacing a short bit of twisted pair copper cable. The cost would be minimal compared to FTTN users who would need most of their old copper replaced.
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But NBN Co have stated before the reason that FTTP costs so much rather than FTTC or any other connection and that the others provided adequate levels of service, is that short distance to get from the street to the premises. Copper is great mate we were told, 25 Mbps was all we needed. Based on Worldwide experience this is a crock of faecal matter, but was used to support the now obviously false costing of MTM NBN.
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What is frustrating is that the NBN ‘announced’ their plans to deploy FTTP back in November last year, but it seems it will not be ready to ‘announce’ to premises whether they are eligible until November ‘this’ year.
So is this announcement just a miss direction to stop them from being harassed by those of us who are under the SIP minimum requirements…? (21Mbps in metro area still not getting any better)
“Look we will upgrade you to meet the minimum requirements… we’re just not going to promise when”
I’ve signed up for beta phase Space X’s Starlink satellite program (returnable deposit) as it’s a viable alternative and may prove to have a more predictable delivery date…
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We are connected to the NBN with a fibre optic cable from the Optus above ground cable which is ‘copper’
Forget speeds, we get no connection several times daily. We were advised by those in the know that the copper Optus cable gets to it’s limit and non-Optus customer get dumped until capacity is better.
We would welcome a true connection, talk of speeds just annoys us when there is nothing!
Do you mean Hybrid Fibre Coaxial? If that is the case you aren’t on Optus Cable. NBN Co own the HFC network, they purchased the old cable wires and ‘upgraded’ the service to HFC. Nor do you have Fibre in that case, you have coaxial copper cable that connects to a Street Coaxial Cable that eventually connects to the NBN Co Fibre Concentrator. Optus maybe your ISP (internet service provider) though.
Disconnect can occur if a faulty router comes on line which degrades the shared service or can be caused by too many online on your section of Cable causing congestion as HFC, Satellite and Fixed Wireless are all shared bandwidth services.
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Optic Fibre is also shared bandwidth - but has so much more bandwidth than the alternatives, and is so much more durable (we don’t yet know how durable, but guesses start at 100 years) that you would be crazy to ever consider those alternatives at any point over the last decade unless you were myopic or had motives other than how best to spend the money.
Oh, wait…
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Yes I agree that all the nbn™ network is a shared resource.
In the case of HFC the single cable that passes down the street supports all premises in that street or block. Each house is linked via that single copper cable. So if someone in the street or block on that initial shared copper cable has a problem noisy signal then everyone on that cable is affected and worse it can affect all users that link in via that connected copper cable network before the concentrator (nbn™ node).
Fibre has the advantage in that it is a shared resource further back than the block or street at the FDH (Fibre Distribution Hub) where the splitters are.
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Hi graholl,
No, there is no HFC available in our area. To speed up the roll out some bright bunny came up with the idea of using the copper ‘Optus’ cable in our area. I refuse to be an Optus customer after I was threatened with legal action if I didn’t pay a bill. I did not have an account with Optus!
The NBN box has been replaced twice and the modem replaced three times. We noticed more drop outs since this virus started. I have complained to my provider and prospective providers who back away with their speed promises when they learn of our address. At the moment I would like to have a ‘speed’ issue.
