Victoria's Werribee has the nation's poorest broadband: Finder.com.au data
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)
2 Bullsbrook WA
3 Kholo QLD
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
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
4 Tullamarine VIC
5 Brunswick VIC
6 Para Hills SA
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