Business chamber survey shows poor NBN costing businesses thousands

The NBN is notoriously slow, unreliable, nobody takes responsibility when things go wrong — and those problems are costing NSW business thousands.

Craig Kettle from Lisarow says the NBN over-promised but under-delivered. Pic by James Croucher

Delays and disruptions in the rollout of the NBN are costing NSW businesses thousands of dollars, a new survey has found.

The survey by the State’s peak business organisation, the NSW Business Chamber, revealed that on average, connection costs, unreliable service and lost business cost businesses at least $9000.

More than 850 businesses from across NSW took part in the survey, the first time the NSW Business Chamber has asked its members about this specific issue.

Central Coast NSW Business Chamber regional manager, Daniel Farmer, said NBN problems on the Central Coast had been a major factor driving the statewide survey.

“A groundswell of anecdotal evidence about Central Coast NBN issues prompted the decision to do a more formal survey across the whole state,” Mr Farmer said.

“And because the Central Coast was among the first to get the NBN and 71 per cent of businesses are connected, the problems we’ve had aren’t early teething problems — it’s pretty credible information.”

The Central Coast was among the first areas to get NBN.

He said key issues facing Central Coast businesses were the same ”everywhere”.

“It’s a sorry state of affairs when our members are spending their hard earned money to upgrade their internet connection only to be left high and dry without internet for weeks at a time,” he said.

“Even where members have been able to connect to the NBN, slow speeds and poor levels of customer service by both wholesale and retail telecommunication providers have been consistently reported.

“Much more needs to be done to improve the experience and level of service provided to businesses connecting to the NBN.”

Central Coast Business Chamber regional manager Daniel Farmer.

Key findings

■ 39% of businesses reported having to wait more than four weeks to have their NBN service up and running.

■ 42% of businesses said their NBN service was unreliable.

■ Both fixed and mobile phone services remain an area of frustration, especially in regional and rural areas.

Unreliability has been an issue for many businesses.

Over-promised and under-delivered

Lisarow IT business owner Craig Kettle knows first hand how difficult the NBN has been for many businesses — especially with internet speed.

“The NBN over-promised and under-delivered — things are better than they were — but not by much,” he said.

He can currently get a download speed of 23Mbs which is only fractionally better than the maximum 20Mb possible on the old ADSL system.

Mr Kettle said he had previously been told by Telstra the speeds he was experiencing were the fastest he could ever hope for because his connection was fibre to the node, relying on copper wiring from his home to the local “node” distribution point.

“They’ve focused on residential connections and neglected the needs of business,” he said.

Sherry Denton from Lisarow says things have impvoed but still slow. Pic by James Croucher

It’s an essential service

Mr Kettle’s client, building designer Sherry Denton, bought Telstra’s top NBN package for $95 a month in March and was getting download speeds of about 24Mbs. However, the connection was plagued by frequent dropouts.

At that she experienced two weeks with no connection at all and was fobbed off by retail and wholesale telecommunications providers who blamed each other.

”This have improved since then — at least we are getting a service,” Ms Denton said.

“But it’s nowhere near as fast or as reliable as they promised,” she said.

“This is an essential service for businesses — without it you can do your job”