How your crappy internet speed could decide election

ONE side of politics is gearing up to make fast internet a major election issue, saying it’s something “Aussies really care about”.

Your crappy internet speeds could decide the federal election.

OPPOSITION Leader Bill Shorten is gearing up to make fast, accessible internet a major election issue as he crosses the country gauging what issues “Australians really care about”.

The Labor leader is yet to reveal his party’s National Broadband Network policy, but has hinted at a big announcement in coming weeks telling voters to “watch this space”.

While campaigning in Perth on Monday, Mr Shorten held a town hall style forum in Armadale, which sits in the newly created marginal seat of Burt.

He’s held about 30 of these meetings in regional areas across Australia this year, when he faces questions from voters on issues concerning the local community.

During the Q-and-A-style event, Mr Shorten was challenged by a local voter on how his party, if elected, would improve the area’s online connectivity if elected.

Without giving out too many details, Mr Shorten said his party didn’t believe in “trying to extend copper technology to the extent that Mr Turnbull is”.

Mr Shorten described the government’s plan as like “building a one-lane off-ramp off a freeway; it’s obsolete before it’s built”.

“We believe that whatever mix there has to be, there’s got to be a greater proportion of fibre. It’s just more efficient,” he said.

Mr Shorten said his party saw the NBN as “an important issue in this election”.

Trainee cable joiner Ewan Schmerl working on the National Broadband Network in Alice Springs.

Labor deputy leader Anthony Albanese also had a dig at the Coalition’s NBN on Q&Alast night.

“Malcolm Turnbull’s fraud-band is double the cost of what ... he said it would be. It is half the speed ... and the delay is extraordinary,” Mr Albanese said.

“He promised that in 2016, everyone in Tasmania would have NBN in their home. If you’re watching this in Tasmania, and next time your little device is buffering, blame Malcolm Turnbull.”

The government’s NBN plan appeared to have been sidelined as an election issue, but came under scrutiny last week after the Australian Federal Police raided two high-profile Labor members’ offices and homes.

The raids were concerned with a number of leaked NBN Co documents that detailed the project’s costings and delays.

Though Labor figures were the targets of the AFP investigation, the raids seem to have, bizarrely, caused more harm to Malcolm Turnbull than the ALP leader.

Labor has seized on the content of the leaked documents, including a cost blowout to $56 billion for the project, which was originally estimated to cost $29 billion. It is claimed the government tried to keep those details secret.

The government has been criticised over the delayed implementation of NBN services, as well as the technology it’s chosen to engage.

After taking over the project from Labor in 2013, the Abbott government ordered that the NBN abandon its state-of-the-art, yet expensive, fibre-to-the-premises model.

Instead, it opted for a cheaper “multi-technology mix” that relied on pre-existing copper and Hybrid Fibre Coaxial networks owned by Telstra and Optus to make the final connection to the home.

Labor says the Coalition’s NBN model is a dud.

NBN ON TRACK TO DELIVER HIGH SPEEDS: COALITION

Despite being hammered by Labor on this issue, the Coalition is talking up its record over the NBN.

“The Coalition has put the NBN back on track to deliver high-speed broadband to all Australian homes and businesses by 2020,” Communications Minister Mitch Fifield told news.com.au.

He said the project had saved $350 million this financial year and had met its milestones over the past eight quarters. It has also already exceeded its revenue and customer targets for 2016.

“In September 2013, fewer than 3 per cent of Australian premises could obtain a service on the NBN. Today over 2.4 million homes and businesses can access the NBN and there are more than 970,000 active users,” Mr Fifield said.

“By completion, every user will have broadband speeds four to 10 times faster than today’s average.

“Our plan is the fastest and most affordable way to deliver better broadband to all Australians by 2020.

“Under Labor, the NBN was the most poorly managed infrastructure project in Australia’s history.

“Labor spent $6 billion in four years to connect just 51,000 users to the built network. We are connecting more than 50,000 homes a month, compared to 51,000 in total under Labor.

“We are well on track to meet our June 30 rollout targets. By contrast, the NBN missed every one of its rollout targets under Labor. In fact, they missed their 2010 Corporate Plan rollout targets by 85 per cent.

“The most recent NBN corporate plan estimates that reverting to Labor’s all-fibre plan would require peak funding of between $74 billion and $84 billion, and the rollout could not be completed until at least 2026 and possibly as late as 2028.

“The Coalition’s NBN plan requires peak funding of approximately $49 billion and will be finished by 2020.”

HOW BIG AN ISSUE ARE SLOW INTERNET SPEEDS?

Australians’ frustration over sub-par internet speeds is growing.

The telecommunications ombudsman received a spike in complaints in the first three months of this year, 6000 of which were related to data speeds, connection delays and unusable services.

The latest State of the Internet report shows Australia came 48th in the world for average connection speed, at 8.2 mbps (megabits per second), and 60th for average peak connection speed, at 39.3 mbps.