Optus back on top in latest ACCC NBN speed report

Alex Choros - Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor

Last updated 07 December 2021

The ACCC has released the fifteenth Measuring Broadband Australia report, which sees Optus slide back into top place, dethroning previous winner Exetel. Optus customers were found to receive 101.6% of their plans' maximum speeds during peak hours (between 7pm and 11pm). This puts it narrowly ahead of Exetel, whose customers were found to receive 101% of their plans' maximum speeds during busy hours, and the other providers in the report.

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	96.4%	98.6%	95.4%
Dodo	97.9%	100.8%	97.1%
Exetel	102.7%	102.7%	101.0%
iiNet	95.6%	98.9%	94.7%
iPrimus	97.9%	100.8%	97.1%
MyRepublic	99.3%	101.8%	98.1%
Optus	102.7%	104.0%	101.6%
Superloop	96.4%	98.2%	94.4%
Telstra	99.9%	103.2%	98.9%
TPG	97.6%	101.4%	96.8%
Vodafone	94.7%	99.8%	93.9%

While some providers demonstrated ever so slightly worse performance than last time, Dodo and iPrimus made notable gains to both overall and peak hour speeds, putting them ahead of Aussie Broadband, Superloop, Vodafone, and iiNet. This is especially impressive given Dodo and iPrimus used to regularly place last in the report. On the whole, ACCC says performance is in line with the previous report.

Here are the NBN 50 plans from the providers in the report.

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

Aussie Broadband: Approximately 0.49 daily outages
Dodo: Approximately 0.14 daily outages
Exetel: Approximately 1.17 daily outages
iiNet: Approximately 0.38 daily outages
iPrimus: Approximately 0.14 daily outages
MyRepublic: Approximately 0.2 daily outages
Optus: Approximately 0.16 daily outages
Superloop: Approximately 0.37 daily outages
Telstra: Approximately 0.25 daily outages
TPG: Approximately 0.44 daily outages
Vodafone: Approximately 0.3 daily outages

As of the twelfth Measuring Broadband Report, the ACCC covers fixed wireless NBN services. This time around, the ACCC found another slight improvement in speed. Average speeds were 88.5% of plan maximums during all hours and 73.9% during busy hours, up from 83.7% and 71.7% respectively.

As always, it's worth remembering the scale of the ACCC's testing. The results come from a month-long testing period during September across just 1,268 NBN connections. All but 55 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.

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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