SYDNEY: Despite the continued rollout of the National Broadband Network Australia continues to slip down global internet speed rankings.
Average speeds dropped 1.8 percent in the third quarter of 2014 to hit 6.9 megabits-per-second (Mbps), internet company Akamai says.
The country slipped three places to 44th, two places below New Zealand, 19 below the UK and 32 below the US.
At Australia’s average speed, a 1GB movie would download in about 20 minutes.
In first-placed South Korea, where the average speed is 24.6Mbps, it would take about five minutes to download.
However, Australia’s average connection speed has increased by a quarter compared with the same period in 2013.
About 86 percent of Australians get an average speed below 10Mbps, with 34 per cent below 4Mbps.
Only 5.8 percent have internet above 15Mbps – the standard required for high-quality 4K video streaming, which Netflix will offer when it launches locally in March.
About 300,000 premises had been connected to the NBN as of December 1.
The plan is to connect eight million by 2020 at speeds of 25-100Mbps, depending on the technology used.
