The great Australian broadband rip-off

We all know that Australian download speeds are low compared to overseas, but new research has revealed we are not even getting the poor speeds we are paying for.

Research from broadband communications firm Epitiro has revealed that Australians only receive on average 65.5% of the advertised download speed from their internet service providers.

The new data also reveals that Telstra is the country’s fastest internet service provider, in front of TPG, iiNet and Netscape.

The Australia Internet Performance Index 2008, conducted between October and December 2008, was compiled from the results of six million tests using satellite devices and software agents.

Other key findings include that ADSL2+ services reach an average 53.7% of the advertised download rate, but fail to deliver significantly faster speeds.

The research also shows that when downloading content from international servers, the average download speed drops to 14.5% of the advertised rate – much slower compared to other nations.

Mike Cranna, managing director of Epitiro Australia, says Australian internet service providers have a lot of work to do.

“The report raises real concerns about both the actual levels of service being delivered to subscribers and Australia’s connectivity to the rest of the world.

“Independent analysis of broadband service will become increasingly important as regulatory bodies look to improve broadband nationally via the NBN, which risks moving the bottleneck on to international connectivity if considered in isolation.”

Epitiro named Telstra as the nation’s fastest ISP, achieving an average 67% of its advertised download speeds.

The Epitiro list

1. Telstra
2. TPG
3. iiNet
4. Netspace
5. AAPT
6. Internode
7. Westnet
8. Optus