NBN hassles for users

Company rolls out new technology to ease pain

ALMOST half of all households connected to the national broadband network have suffered problems in the transition, according to a new study released yesterday.

Reliability and slow speeds were top complaints received about the $49 billion project.

Two in every five households reported delays when connecting, the survey conducted for iSelect showed, and almost a third still report buffering issues when trying to stream movies using the nextgeneration network.

NBN Co has revealed a plan to win over internet users, with the first successful trial of fibre-to-the-kerb technology in Victoria.

The technology could deliver download speeds faster than fibre-to-the-node connections when it is deployed early next year.

The survey of more than 1000 Australians conducted by Galaxy Research showed NBN Co had many dissatisfied customers, with as many as 1.3 million NBN users experienc- ing issues while connecting, including installation delays, technical problems, and slow speeds.

Only 44 per cent of NBN users said it had met expectations, and their greatest frustrations centred on delays and service interruptions.

iSelect telco commercial manager Tegan Webster said there were several reasons for the high dissatisfaction rate.

“Am I surprised? No. Am I saddened? Yes,” Ms Webster said.

“A good connection depends on many varying fac- tors, from when NBN technicians are in your area to how many nodes are available, and to the retailers. It’s not as straightforward as it might seem.”

She said in addition to technical problems, users often became confused about when an NBN connection was available, and what type of NBN plan and provider to choose.

Many users chose their broadband plan on price, and overlooked speed tiers available at 12, 25, 50 and 100 megabits per second, she said.

These speeds were described in different ways by different providers, she said.

“If you’re on ADSL 2+ and you go with the slowest NBN plan, it will be slower than what you’re getting with ADSL,” Ms Webster said. “The speed tiers are something that has really thrown people.”

Frustrations with download speeds may have contributed to a surge in complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, which reported a spike of 159 per cent over the last financial year.

NBN Co’s trial of fibre-tothe-kerb technology extends fibre optic cable to a property’s boundary and relies on copper wire for the connection to the home.

The FTTK connection could deliver a top speed of 100 megabits per second, NBN estimated, and would cost $1500 less to install than fibreto-the-premises but $600 more than fibre-to-the-node and pay-TV cable connections.

NBN Co chief executive Bill Morrow said the technology would deliver fast download speeds without the need to “dig up people’s driveways”, like fibre-to-the-premises.