Source: Australian Ministers for Regional Development
Australian households with fixed-line (not wireless or satellite) NBN connections received on average 99.4 per cent of their internet plan’s download speed during the peak evening period when network demand is highest, the ACCC’s latest Measuring Broadband Australia report finds.
In comparison, the last report in March 2026 showed average fixed-line download speeds during the peak evening period (busy hours) were 98.5 per cent of plan speeds.
Today’s report is the final publication in the ACCC’s long-running Measuring Broadband Australia program. It was established in 2017 to provide Australians with accurate and independent information about broadband speed performance.
The ACCC’s early Measuring Broadband Australia reports revealed average download speeds on NBN Co’s fixed-line network of between 80 and 85 per cent of plan speeds during busy hours. In recent years, the reports have consistently measured this result to be close to 100 per cent of plan speeds.
“The Measuring Broadband Australia program has brought transparency and scrutiny to broadband performance, and it has helped to ensure that consumers receive the quality of service that they pay for,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.
“The program’s conclusion comes after key changes to NBN Co’s wholesale products, such as the removal of capacity-based charging on all fixed-line and fixed wireless services. Recent results from our broadband monitoring show that there is less differentiation between providers’ performance than when we published our first report in 2018 and considerable improvement in overall performance since the program’s inception.”
“Internet providers have a responsibility to deliver a service that meets the speed and performance that they advertise, and the ACCC will continue to take strong enforcement action where we see evidence of misleading claims,” Ms Brakey said.
The ACCC will also continue to closely monitor broadband performance using data that it collects from service providers via its record keeping rules, such as the NBN service quality and network performance record keeping rule.
Over the last eight years, the Measuring Broadband Australia program has also observed a decrease in the proportion of services underperforming on the NBN fixed-line network.
In May 2018, 13.9 per cent of NBN fixed-line services were underperforming. In today’s final report, the equivalent figure is 5.6 per cent.
Fixed wireless plans
The report shows that NBN Co’s fixed wireless network continues to provide a high-speed broadband alternative for Australians living outside the fixed-line network footprint.
The report measured average busy hour speeds of 160.5 Mbps for downloads and 12.6 Mbps for uploads on the NBN Fixed Wireless Home Fast plan.
The NBN Fixed Wireless Plus plan, which is the most popular fixed wireless plan in the Measuring Broadband Australia sample, can provide download speeds close to 100 Mbps during peak evening periods.
Volunteers
The Measuring Broadband Australia program relied on thousands of households volunteering to receive a hardware-based device called a “Whitebox” that tested the performance of their broadband service when it was not in use. This equipment was manufactured and supplied by the program’s testing provider SamKnows.
“The volunteers in this program allowed us to gather the necessary data to bring greater transparency and accountability to Australia’s broadband market,” Ms Brakey said.
“We sincerely thank all of the volunteers who contributed to Measuring Broadband Australia over many years.”
Background
Data for the Measuring Broadband Australia program is provided by UK-based firm SamKnows using methodology based on speed testing programs delivered in the UK, US, Canada and New Zealand.
The report defines an underperforming service as one that records a speed above 75 per cent of the plan speed in fewer than five per cent of download speed tests. “Busy hours” refers to tests measured between 7-11pm on weekdays, when networks experience higher user activity that may affect service performance.
NBN services may exceed their maximum plan download speed due to overprovisioning. This is where NBN Co provides a slightly higher data rate than the wholesale plan download speed to accommodate for the portion of a connection’s data rate lost in retrieving information that enables a download to occur. NBN Co does not currently overprovision the uplink for NBN fixed-line connections.