Internet in Australia is slower than the rest of the world, but not by choice. The Australian government's National Broadband Network promises to make this problem a thing of the past.

Why does australia have bad internet?

The reason for Australia's poor internet speed is that it does not have a centrally controlled system. Internet speeds and other factors vary from state to state and even between suburbs, leading to patchy service and high prices. This means that ISPs (internet service providers) can easily take advantage of consumers by offering slower speeds at higher prices.

Australia's National Broadband Network is a $43 billion project that will wire up 93 percent of Australian homes and workplaces with optic fibre cabling, offering much faster download speeds than the ADSL currently available. The NBN also promises to deliver 'fibre-to-the-home' and be more affordable than current internet services.

It all depends where you are located and what time it is. During peak times, like after school or during work hours, speeds can be painfully slow.

An internet report by Akamai, an internet content delivery firm, names Australia as having the 56th fastest speeds in the world for 2013 (average web page download speed). South Korea topped this ladder with an average download speed of 14.7Mbps. Australia's broadband network is currently not up to scratch , but there are plans to change that.

In 2013, the Australian government announced a plan to build a 'National Broadband Network' (NBN). The NBN was introduced in December last year and will be completed by 2020 at a cost of $40 billion. It is likely to deliver uniform speeds of up to 100Mbps to all Australians . It also promises minimum speeds of 25Mbps.

The NBN will be implemented in two stages. In the first stage, it will provide fast broadband to homes and businesses in most cities as well as some rural areas through a mix of technologies including fibre-to-the premises (FTTP), fixed wireless, cable and satellite. In the second stage, high speeds will also be delivered to suburbs and towns.

The NBN promises that people in the city won't be disadvantaged compared with those in the country when it comes to speed and reliability . But many Australians already have access to high-speed broadband through their internet service provider (ISP) and can expect no difference in speed once the NBN comes into play.

What will be different, however, is that everyone will have an equal opportunity to get fast speeds under the NBN. In the past, only people living in areas with high population density were able to access high-speed services because suppliers were not willing or able to pay for cabling all the way to rural and regional areas. This meant that people in these areas were stuck with low-speed ADSL2+ or even dial up.

The NBN is expected to make it possible for ISPs to deliver high speeds over the NBN fibre network in the future . This means Australians will be able to get internet services that match, and in many cases exceed, their current speed expectations. But they'll have to pay for it, of course.

Conclusion

Without a centralised NBN system, Australian's have been left with a slow and unreliable internet service. However there are plans to change this in the near future. The National Broadband Network promises to wire up 93 percent of homes and workplaces with optic fiber cabling offering speeds that will surpass ADSL for a relatively low price. This is expected to be implemented in two stages. The first stage will provide fast broadband to homes and businesses in most cities as well as some rural areas through a mix of technologies including fiber-to-the premises (FTTP), fixed wireless, cable and satellite. In the second stage, high speeds will also be delivered to suburbs and towns.