Optus still the fastest provider in ACCC NBN speed report

Alex Choros - Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor

Last updated 01 July 2021

The ACCC has released the thirteenth Measuring Broadband Australia report, which sees Optus top the charts for the seventh time in a row (although it technically tied with TPG last quarter). Optus customers were found to receive 99.91% of their plan's maximum speeds during peak hours (between 7pm and 11pm) putting the telco ahead of TPG, Telstra, Superloop, Aussie Broadband, and more.

#1	Dodo Editor's Pick	Dodo All Fixed Line nbn® Editor's Pick nbn50 Unlimited Plan All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $30/mth discount for 6 months based on the standard price $87.99/mth. Ends 08.12.26. T&Cs apply. $57.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $87.99/mth Min. cost $57.99 Go to Site*	$57.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $87.99/mth Min. cost $57.99	Go to Site
#2	Superloop	Superloop All Fixed Line nbn® Extra-value nbn50/20 All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $20/mth off for 6 months! $69/mth for 6 mths, then $89/mth + Bundle & Save $69/mth for first 6 mths, then $89/mth Min. cost $69 Go to Site	$69/mth for first 6 mths, then $89/mth Min. cost $69	Go to Site
#3	TPG	TPG All Fixed Line nbn® nbn50 Unlimited Plan All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: $69.99/mth for first 6 months, then $89.99/mth. T&Cs apply. $69.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $89.99/mth Min. cost $69.99 Link not supplied	$69.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $89.99/mth Min. cost $69.99	Link not supplied
#4	iiNet	iiNet All Fixed Line nbn® nbn50 Liimitless All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $20/mth off for 6 mths – $69.99/mth for first 6 months, then $89.99/mth. Use code SAVE20FOR6 $69.99/mth + $10 Upfront for first 6 mths, then $89.99/mth Min. cost $79.99 Link not supplied	$69.99/mth + $10 Upfront for first 6 mths, then $89.99/mth Min. cost $79.99	Link not supplied
#5	Aussie Broadband	Aussie Broadband All Fixed Line nbn® Value nbn - Unlimited All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 47/18 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $25 off for the first 6 months. Promo code SPRING25. $95/mth after promo ends 15.11.26 $70/mth for first 6 months, then $95/mth Min. cost $70 Link not supplied	$70/mth for first 6 months, then $95/mth Min. cost $70	Link not supplied
#6	Optus	Optus All Fixed Line nbn® Optus Everyday nbn® All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: $82/mth for a year, then $97/mth or as notified. New services. Incl intro offer + extra $5/mth off. Min cost $388. Ends 6/10. $82/mth for first 12 months, then $97/mth or as notified Min. cost $82 Link not supplied	$82/mth for first 12 months, then $97/mth or as notified Min. cost $82	Link not supplied
#7	iPrimus	iPrimus All Fixed Line nbn® Standard Plus Plan All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data $90/mth Min. cost $90 Link not supplied	$90/mth Min. cost $90	Link not supplied
#8	Vodafone	Vodafone All Fixed Line nbn® Essential+ nbn® All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Save $10/mth when you bundle with a mobile plan with Vodafone. T&Cs apply. $94/mth Min. cost $94 Link not supplied	$94/mth Min. cost $94	Link not supplied

The report currently covers eleven major providers - Aussie Broadband, Dodo, Exetel, iiNet, iPrimus, MyRepublic, Optus, Telstra, TPG, Superloop, and Vodafone. Here's how they all stack up:

Average percent of max. download speed

	Overall	Overall excluding under performing connections	Peak hours
Aussie Broadband	96.6%	99.6%	96.0%
Dodo	87.7%	90.8%	86.8%
Exetel	100.3%	102.5%	98.7%
iiNet	95.5%	99.7%	94.7%
iPrimus	87.7%	90.8%	86.8%
MyRepublic	96.2%	100.8%	94.3%
Optus	100.0%	103.0%	99.1%
Superloop	94.7%	96.1%	92.7%
Telstra	98.3%	102.9%	97.6%
TPG	97.5%	101.5%	96.8%
Vodafone	91.7%	97.4%	90.9%

While a few providers fell a few percentage points when compared to last quarter, Exetel showed a massive improvement with customers attaining 98.7% of their maximum plan speeds during peak hours. This makes Exetel the second fastest provider featured in the report. Last quarter, Exetel customers only got 89.9% of their maximum plan speeds during peak hours. On average, the ACCC says NBN performance is better than ever.

#1	Optus	Optus 50/17 Mbps typical evening speed Unlimited Data $82/mth Min. cost $82 Deal: $82/mth for a year, then $97/mth or as notified. New services. Incl intro offer + extra $5/mth off. Min cost $388. Ends 6/10.	100%	Link not supplied
#2	Optus	Optus 100/18 Mbps typical evening speed Unlimited Data $84/mth Min. cost $84 Deal: $84/mth for a year, then $99/mth or as notified. New services. Incl intro offer + extra $5/mth off. Min cost $390. Ends 6/10.	89%	Link not supplied
#3	Optus	Optus 25/8 Mbps typical evening speed Unlimited Data $68/mth Min. cost $68 Deal: $68/mth for a year, then $83/mth or as notified. New services. Incl intro offer + extra $5/mth off. Min cost $374. Ends 6/10.	33%	Link not supplied
#4	Optus	Optus 820/85 Mbps typical evening speed Unlimited Data $114/mth Min. cost $114 Deal: $114/mth for a year, then $129/mth or as notified. New services. Incl intro offer + extra $5/mth off. Min cost $420. Ends 6/10.	22%	Link not supplied
#5	Optus	Optus 500/43 Mbps typical evening speed Unlimited Data $84/mth Min. cost $84 Deal: $84/mth for a year, then $99/mth or as notified. New services. Incl intro offer + extra $5/mth off. Min cost $390. Ends 6/10.	11%	Link not supplied

The Measuring Broadband report also tracks outages that last over 30 seconds. Here's how providers stacked up:

Aussie Broadband: Approximately 0.18 daily outages
Dodo: Approximately 0.3 daily outages
Exetel: Approximately 0.32 daily outages
iiNet: Approximately 0.15 daily outages
iPrimus: Approximately 0.3 daily outages
MyRepublic: Approximately 0.14 daily outages
Optus: Approximately 0.33 daily outages
Superloop: Approximately 0.33 daily outages
Telstra: Approximately 0.25 daily outages
TPG: Approximately 0.22 daily outages
Vodafone: Approximately 0.27 daily outages

As of the twelfth Measuring Broadband Report, the ACCC covers fixed wireless NBN services. This time around, the ACCC found a slight improvement in speed. In the previous report, average download speeds on fixed wireless services were 78.5% of maximum plan speeds during all hours and 68.4% during busy hours. This has risen to 81.2% and 70.8% during all hours.

As always, it's worth remembering the scale of the ACCC's testing. The results come from a month-long testing period during February across just 1,117 NBN connections. All but 25 of these households have a connection with one of the eleven providers featured in the report. The ACCC reports a 95% confidence level in its results.

The ACCC is also seeking more volunteer households for the program, especially customers using fixed wireless NBN plans, plans faster than NBN 100, and NBN alternatives like home wireless broadband.

If you're after a new NBN plan, check out our guide to plans from the providers mentioned in this report.

Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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