Victoria's Werribee has the nation's poorest broadband: Finder.com.au data

Victoria's Werribee has the nation's poorest broadband: Finder.com.au data
Staff ReporterDecember 7, 2020

Victorian suburbs dominate the list of places with poor broadband as the National Broadband Network continues to be rolled out across Australia, according to a leading comparison website. 

Victoria has seven out of the top 15 spots, with the worst being Werribee — just 32 km from Melbourne’s CBD — according to Finder.com.au figures.

Finder.com.au technology expert Nick Broughall said that a number of factors determine how quickly you could access the internet, including the type of NBN connection in an area, the state of existing infrastructure, and how many homes were connected to broadband at once, according to a recent article in the News Ltd papers. 

The website has identified 15 of the best places to live and connect, and 15 Australian towns missing out on the latest technology.

Finder.com.au identified the best broadband hot spots by how many homes in one suburb had the fastest NBN connections. Fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) connections were capable of delivering 1,000 megabit-per-second downloads.

In contrast, the worst suburbs had the most homes with satellite NBN connections despite their proximity to capital cities and could only receive the minimum speed guarantee of 25 megabits per second.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and Choice have both launched studies into Australia’s broadband environment.

“Our research showed surprising results, with the odd premise in the heart of capital cities getting switched to satellite NBN, such as Botany Bay and St Ives in Sydney, Docklands in Melbourne, and Bowen Hills in Brisbane,” Broughall said.

“Often it’s suburbs in the outer city that have been switched to satellite. This is mainly due to housing density and population.”

Similar to Werribee, Kholo at 22 km from the Brisbane CBD had the worst connectivity there while for Sydney it was Kenthurst, 39 km out.

An NBN Co spokeswoman said the company planned to provide “minimum wholesale download speeds of 25Mbps or above” to all Australian homes and businesses by 2020, and would use “the most cost-effective and efficient technology for each area”.

Another research, undertaken at the Centre for Research Excellence in the Social Determinants of Health Equity, suggested that areas of greatest socio-economic disadvantage overlap with regions typically receiving NBN infrastructure of poorer quality.

Australia’s worst connected suburbs

(Based on number of premises receiving NBN via Satellite despite capital city proximity)

1 Werribee VIC

2 Bullsbrook WA

3 Kholo QLD

4 Diamond Creek VIC

5 Strathewen VIC

6 The Basin VIC

7 Harkaway VIC

8 Glenorie NSW

9 Martin WA

10 Canoelands NSW

11 Truganina VIC

12 Maroota NSW

13 Mulgoa NSW

14 Lysterfield VIC

15 Kenthurst NSW

Australia’s best connected suburbs

(Based on highest number of FTTP connections in suburbs in capital cities)

1 Glenorchy TAS

2 Mill Park VIC

3 Blacktown NSW

4 Tullamarine VIC

5 Brunswick VIC

6 Para Hills SA

7 Auburn NSW

8 Lidcombe NSW

9 Boondall QLD

10 Blackmans Bay TAS

11 Runcorn QLD

12 Taigum QLD

13 Aldinga Beach SA

14 West Hobart TAS

15 Seaford Rise SA

SOURCE: Finder.com.au

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