Australia’s broadband baseline tipped to move from 25Mbps to 100Mbps

NBN Co and 33 smaller broadband infrastructure operators may be required to offer services capable of 100Mbps, up from 25Mbps, under a proposal floated by the federal communications department.

The changes would affect statutory infrastructure providers or SIPs, raising minimum legislated broadband speeds from a long-term 25Mbps baseline.

It would not mean that sub-100Mbps plans cease to exist; the option to sell such plans would still be there.

What it would mean is that all premises in Australia would need to be capable of achieving a 100Mbps download speed, regardless of which company owns the infrastructure servicing them.

“SIPs have always been able to offer services with slower or faster speeds, and this will not change if the baseline download speed requirement is raised to 100Mbps,” the department said in a new inquiry.

“SIPs will continue to be able to offer slower speeds plans at a lower cost, which provide consumer choice and the option of a broadband connection that best suits consumers’ needs.

“However, all customers would be able to request and receive a 100Mbps plan.”

The department is also canvassing whether or not to raise the baseline upload speed from 5Mbps to 20Mbps – in line with current NBN Co tiering.

NBN Co, as the default SIP for most of Australia, is considered likely to be able to meet this elevated standard for most premises, given it is investing in a large-scale overbuild of underperforming or less reliable parts of its network.

But the situation is less certain for other network operators, such as those engaged in place of NBN Co in certain greenfields areas.

Given the shift from a 25Mbps to 100Mbps baseline for download speeds would require legislative changes, the Department of Communications has raised the prospect of a staged introduction.

“Networks that may need to be upgraded or replaced would then be subject to the new requirement at a later date, allowing them time to plan to support the higher speeds,” the department proposed.

The department said that the regional telecommunications review, published last year, had canvassed opinions on the need to shift away from a 25Mbps baseline for Australia.

Standardising on 100/20Mbps is not universally supported, however, with some organisations pushing for a transition to 50/20Mbps instead.