Why Is My Internet So Slow?

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When it comes to download speed, Australia ranks 43rd in the world. The average Australian internet user enjoys a download speed of about 5.55 Mbps.

How many times have we asked ourselves this question?

The average Australian internet user enjoys a download speed of about 5.55 Mbps. If you are one of the lucky ones, and your ISP is National ICT Australia then you have the stupendous luxury of 73.47 Mbps. If however, you are not and you happen to live in Western Australia you have to make do with an embarrassing 4.65 Mbps and that's on average.  When it comes to download speed, Australia ranks 43rd in the world.

In April 2009, the Australian government announced its plan to build a national high-speed broadband network. This high speed broadband network would provide speeds of up to 100 Mbps; this network is estimated to take eight years to implement. The network will reach 90% of Australian buildings through fibre optic cables connected directly to the buildings.

Should this excite us? Is it worth waiting eight years for 100Mbps, especially when we live in the same world as Google? Google recently announced that it is moving into the ISP business, and with what? 1 Gbps for 50,000 to 500,000 homes on fibre-to-the-home connections. Google's ultra high speed network will operate as an open access network, giving users the choice of multiple service providers. It will be managed in an open, non-discriminatory and transparent way.

With this endeavour, Google is not only testing new ways to build fibre networks, but promises to help inform and support deployments elsewhere sharing key lessons learned with the world at large. If Google has its way and builds this ultra-high speed network, developers and users will possibly create new bandwidth-intensive applications and services unimaginable in today's world - services and applications that Australians will never be able to use if we're still stumbling along at 100 Mbps.