How we're tracking: September 2021

To give you a clearer understanding of how we’re taking action, we’ve put some metrics together below. These relate to the services NBN Co delivers to phone and internet providers, and the physical connection of homes and businesses to our nbn™ infrastructure.

The metrics do not cover services supplied by phone and internet providers to end users. The nbn™ broadband access network is wholesale only – we supply services and infrastructure to phone and internet providers, who then sell plans on to you, the end user.

This is a guide only, and related only to the areas in which we are taking action. All of our metrics are based on averages, summaries and simplifications - what you experience may vary considerably. The graphs below plot our performance at different points in time. Performance between these points may slightly vary.

Click here for our Monthly Progress Reports

How we're tracking: September 2021

The nbn™ broadband access network is wholesale only – we supply services and infrastructure to phone and internet providers, who then sell plans on to you, the end user.

The metrics do not cover services supplied by phone and internet providers to end users. This is a guide only, and related only to the areas in which we are taking action. All of our metrics are based on averages, summaries and simplifications - what you experience may vary considerably. The graphs below plot our performance at different points in time. Performance between these points may slightly vary.

Click here for our Monthly Progress Reports

The nbn™ broadband access network is wholesale only – we supply services and infrastructure to phone and internet providers, who then sell plans on to you, the end user.

Click here for our Monthly Progress Reports

Ready to connect

12 million Australian homes and businesses are able to connect to the nbn™ access network – compared with 11.8 million in September 2020.

Important information

The number of homes and businesses that can order a plan via a phone and internet provider and connect to the nbn™ access network.

Connected homes and businesses

8.3 million homes and businesses connected to a plan over the nbn™ access network – compared with 7.7 million in September 2020.

Important information

The number of homes and businesses connected to a plan over the nbn™ access network through a phone and internet provider.

Installed right the first time

89% of homes and businesses had their nbn™ equipment installed right the first time - compared to 92% in September 2020.

Important information

The percentage of homes and businesses that have their nbn™ equipment installed without additional work from NBN Co the first time the installation is attempted.

Typically NBN Co excludes end user cancellations, end user or phone and internet provider initiated reschedules, end user premises "shortfalls" and other things outside of NBN Co's control such as bad weather. This measure covers the installation of equipment that does not require more than one appointment. It does not cover successful connections to a plan over the nbn™ access network through a phone and internet provider.

Meeting agreed installation times

98% of homes and businesses were connected within target timeframes agreed with phone and internet providers – compared with 96% in September 2020.

Important information

The percentage of premises that NBN Co connects to the nbn™ access network within target timeframes with phone and internet providers.

The target timeframes vary by nbn™ access network type and available infrastructure at the premises. This measure does not include Priority Assistance connections or Accelerated Connections.

Average network bandwidth congestion

Average bandwidth congestion across the nbn™ access network is around 16 minutes per week per premises – compared with 17 minutes per week in September 2020. This measure excludes nbn™ Sky Muster™ satellite.

Important information

The average number of minutes of bandwidth congestion per week/ per service. This is calculated across all bandwidth purchased by all phone and internet providers across the entire network (CVC congestion).

Please note that while bandwidth congestion is caused by the level of provisioning of capacity by the phone and internet provider, there are also other types of congestion which may occur on the nbn™ access network. See the Fixed Line Network congestion metric for an example of this.

Fixed Line network congestion

0.065% of all homes and businesses connected to the nbn™ Fixed Line access network experienced network congestion – compared with 0.301% in September 2020.

Important information

The estimated monthly average percentage of homes and businesses who experience nbn™ access network congestion (as per NBN Co’s congestion measures for Fixed Line networks). This excludes nbn™ Fixed Wireless and Sky Muster™ satellite.

Note: The calculation of the Fixed Line Network Congestion metric has changed from July 2020. The new calculation of the metric has been expanded to include measurement from FTTN/B and HFC transit links, which were not previously included. These additional factors help to provide a more complete picture of fixed line network congestion. The historical figures in the graph above have been recalculated using this new metric. This metric should not be compared with the old ‘Fixed Line Network Congestion’ metric as contained in pre-July 2020 monthly progress reports.

Congestion metrics vary between Fixed Line technologies. These are calculated based on the utilisation of certain parts of the nbn™ Fixed Line access network that are shared by phone and internet providers.

The speeds actually achieved over the nbn™ access network also depend on factors outside our control including your equipment quality, software, signal quality, broadband plans and how your phone and internet provider designs its network.

Uptake to 50Mpbs or over - wholesale plans

77% of homes and businesses are on a 50Mbps (download) wholesale speed plan or higher – compared with 70% in September 2020.

Important information

This graph represents the percentage of homes and businesses on a:
(1) 50Mbps (download) wholesale speed plan or higher; and
(2) 25Mbps (download) wholesale speed plan or lower,
purchased from a phone or internet provider.

In this metric, '50Mbps (download) wholesale speed plan' includes wholesale plans available to phone and internet providers with download speeds of 50Mbps and 25-50Mbps. The nbn™ wholesale speed tiers available to your phone and internet provider vary depending on the nbn™ access network technology in your area. Your experience, including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn™ network, depends on the nbn™ access network technology and configuration over which services are delivered to your premises, whether you are using the internet during the busy period, and some factors outside our control (like your equipment quality, software, broadband plans, signal reception and how your service provider designs its network). Speeds may be impacted by network congestion on nbn’s Fixed Wireless network, including during busy periods. Satellite users may experience latency.

Network availability

The nbn™ access network was up and running 99.96% of the time (down slightly from 99.97% in August 2021) – compared to 99.97% in September 2020.

Important information

Percentage of time the nbn™ access network is available and operating. For this measure, the network is considered ‘unavailable’ during the time NBN Co is restoring services following the raising of a fault. It doesn’t include periods where the network is unavailable due to operational outages for network upgrades and improvements or events beyond NBN Co’s control.

This metric has been calculated using the same methodology as in previous months. This metric has been rounded to the nearest two decimal places.

Meeting agreed fault restoration times

93% of accepted nbn faults are resolved with phone and internet providers within nbn's target time frames – compared to 93% in September 2020.

Important information

The percentage of time NBN Co resolves accepted faults within NBN Co's target timeframes with phone and internet providers.

This measure tracks individual service faults, not network related faults which are tracked separately. The fault restoration measure does not include restoration for faults reported to us relating to Priority Assistance Faults or Enhanced Faults, network upgrades and improvements, and events beyond NBN Co's control. NBN Co's target timeframes apply to faults raised by phone and internet providers and accepted by NBN Co and vary depending on the location of the premises, and are different for the Sky Muster™ satellite network.

Faults after connection completed (per 100 connected homes and businesses)*

An average of 0.7 per 100 homes and businesses experienced a fault on the nbn™ access network this month (excluding faults within 10 business days of the connection) – compared to 0.6 in September 2020.

*The calculation of this metric excludes faults within 10 business days of the connection and should not be compared with the old 'Faults per 100 connected homes and businesses' metric as contained in monthly progress reports prior to November 2018.

Important information

The number of faults on the nbn™ access network per 100 premises per month (excluding faults within 10 business days of the connection).

This measure tracks individual service faults, not network related faults which are tracked separately. It excludes faults not related to the nbn™ access network

Fixed Wireless busy hour cell performance

100% of nbn™ Fixed Wireless network cells have a monthly busy hour cell performance of 6Mbps or more - compared with 99.9% in September 2020. View detailed table for all categories.

Note: The performance of a cell impacts the total throughput of an nbn™ service. For example, if the throughput of a service was limited by the busy hour cell performance to an average of 6Mbps, the applications in use at the same time using the nbn™ Fixed Wireless service will share the available throughput.

Important information

In its Fixed Wireless cell capacity upgrade program, nbn prioritises cells which fall under its design threshold of 6Mbps monthly busy hour cell performance (or that nbn forecasts to fall under this threshold).

This design threshold is based on an average 30 day downlink throughput of 6Mbps during the busiest hour of the day (typically between 7pm and 11pm) (referred to here as “monthly busy hour cell performance”).

The busiest hour can be different for each cell.
The busiest hour is identified by assessing, for each hour of the day for each cell, the highest number of concurrent active users in four 15 minute periods within that hour, and then averaging these values.
Note: The number of active users is used as a proxy to identify the busiest hour. While the period with the highest number of end users will typically also be the period with the highest levels of data consumed, not all active users will behave the same way and in some cases, an hour with fewer active users may actually be consuming more data than an hour with more active users depending on the activity of those end users.
The daily busy hour cell performance is calculated by dividing the total volume of the data delivered to all active users on a cell during the busiest hour by the time elapsed on the radio interface between end user and Fixed Wireless access network for transmission of that volume of data (measured at the Fixed Wireless access network).
We obtain monthly busy hour cell performance by taking the average of the daily busy hour cell performance for each of the 30 days ending on the last day of the calendar month.
Cell capacity is shared and finite and can be different for each cell depending on various factors, such as but not limited to: available spectrum, radio conditions, interference and other environmental factors.
Actual end user speeds will differ to the monthly busy hour cell performance, and are affected by a number of factors including: the particular application being used and how each application manages packet loss, fixed wireless signal levels, demand from end users, end user equipment, nbn™ Fixed Wireless network design and management, and performance elsewhere on the nbn™ network.
The calculation of busy hour cell performance accounts for throughput at the radio interface, which is one segment of the Fixed Wireless access network and does not account for impacts on throughput in other parts of the nbn™ Fixed Wireless network, including packet loss in the Fixed Wireless towers backhaul links, which is measured in the calculation of the Fixed Wireless Busy Hour Link Performance metric.

Fixed Wireless busy hour backhaul performance

100% of nbn™ Fixed Wireless cells connect via backhaul links with a 28 day busy hour link packet loss of less than 0.25%, compared with 99.9% in September 2020.

Note: Packet loss on a backhaul link impacts the performance of individual applications being used over a broadband service connected via that link. Different applications are impacted by packet loss in different ways. For example, packet loss may result in reduced file download speeds, distorted audio in VoIP calls or increased latency when playing online games. As a result, the reporting threshold of 0.25% Average 28 Day Busy Hour Link Packet Loss is not directly relatable to end-user experience. See below for more information.

Important information

In its Fixed Wireless backhaul capacity upgrade program, nbn prioritises links operating with an Average 28 Day Busy Hour Link Packet Loss of 0.25% or greater (or that nbn forecasts to exceed this threshold). The metric is based on the data available to nbn and there may be some affected cells that are unable to be included in the metric, e.g. due to data issues such as data availability, changes in the way nbn collects backhaul data and configuration changes in the links servicing a given cell.

The Fixed Wireless Busy Hour Link Performance threshold is based on an Average 28 day Packet Loss of 0.25% or more during the busiest hour of the day (typically between 7pm and 11pm) for each backhaul link. The busy hour varies between backhaul links and associated fixed wireless cells.
Notes

A link will be included in this metric if it has been recently upgraded but is still reporting an Average 28 Day Busy Hour Link Packet Loss of 0.25% or more. Note from June 2019 the Average 28 Day Busy Hour Link Packet Loss of links which have been upgraded during the 28 day reporting period will be calculated using data commencing the week following the upgrade (and so will be averaged over less than 28 days).
Due to availability of data, the first month’s metric (April 2019) was calculated as an average of the available weekly busy hour packet loss figures from the 18th April to 1st May inclusive.
The calculation of this metric accounts for packet loss in the Fixed Wireless towers’ backhaul links, which is one segment of the Fixed Wireless access network. It does not account for impacts on throughput from other parts of the Fixed Wireless network, including at the radio interface, which is measured in the calculation of busy hour cell performance.
This metric is not reflective of actual end user speeds on the nbn™ Fixed Wireless network, which can be affected by a number of factors including: the particular application being used and how each application manages packet loss, fixed wireless signal levels, demand from end users, end user equipment, nbn™ Fixed Wireless network design and management, and performance elsewhere on the nbn™ network.
The highest volume of data attempted to be transmitted over the active link is used as a proxy to identify the busiest hour.
Each nbn-supplied Fixed Wireless service may rely on multiple backhaul links in sequence. This metric does not reflect any cumulative packet loss across multiple links. This metric measures the microwave and fibre links which connect Fixed Wireless towers and may not include all packet loss which may occur through other equipment in the nbn Wireless Network or fibre links in the nbn transit network that data may be routed across.

Sky Muster™ Satellite Network Faults

11 nbn™ satellite network faults (up slightly from 8 in August 2021) were identified which affected the supply of nbn™ Sky Muster™ and Sky Muster™ Plus services – compared with 10 in September 2020.

Important information

This metric describes the total number of nbn™ satellite network faults that impacted end user Sky Muster™ and Sky Muster™ Plus services.

For the purposes of this metric only, a “network fault” means an incident on the nbn™ satellite network where one or more Sky Muster™ and Sky Muster™ Plus services degrades and does not meet NBN Co’s technical criteria and which: NBN Co is responsible; or is caused by a weather event.
- This metric indicates the number of incidents where NBN Co has raised an assurance ticket which categorises the incident as affecting multiple end user services for a duration of two or more minutes.
This metric does not include network faults affecting the supply of products other than nbn™ Sky Muster™ and Sky Muster™ Plus.

This metric does not include outages that are planned or in response to emergencies (and which NBN Co has notified phone and internet service providers), except for the following cases which are reported in this metric, being where the:
- duration of the outage is longer or the impact of the outage is more extensive than that described in the outage notice; or
- the outage is an emergency outage is required to fix a service fault.

Sky Muster™ Satellite Network Faults - Average Time to Restore

The average time to resolve nbn™ satellite network faults which affected the supply of nbn™ Sky Muster™ and Sky Muster™ Plus services and identified in September 2021 was 42 minutes, compared to 40 minutes in September 2020.

Important information

The Average Time to Restore measures the average time taken for NBN Co to resolve all nbn™ satellite network faults which affected the supply of nbn™ Sky Muster™ and Sky Muster™ Plus services.

For the purposes of this metric only, a “network fault” means an incident on the nbn™ satellite network where one or more Sky Muster™ and Sky Muster™ Plus services degrades and does not meet NBN Co’s technical criteria and which: NBN Co is responsible; or is caused by a weather event.
- This metric measures the average time to resolve these incidents where NBN Co has raised an assurance ticket which categorises the incident as affecting multiple end user services for a duration of two or more minutes.
This metric does not include network faults affecting the supply of products other than nbn™ Sky Muster™ and Sky Muster™ Plus.

This metric does not include outages that are planned or in response to emergencies (and which NBN Co has notified phone and internet service providers), except for the following cases which are reported in this metric, being where the:
- duration of the outage is longer or the impact of the outage is more extensive than that described in the outage notice; or
- the outage is an emergency outage is required to fix a service fault.
The time taken by NBN Co to resolve a network fault is measured from when NBN Co first raises an assurance case for the network fault, until the time NBN Co determines that the network fault has been resolved.