The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released data for the December 2024 quarter, detailing the service quality and network performance of the National Broadband Network (NBN). This dataset provides insights into various aspects of NBN services, including connection times, fault rectification, and outage statistics.

The quarterly reports are designed to help identify both strong service areas and those needing improvement, thereby encouraging NBN Co and retail service providers to enhance their service quality. Stakeholders can utilize this data to engage with NBN Co in ongoing consultations aimed at improving service standards.

According to the December 2024 data, most service orders were completed and faults rectified within one business day. However, while NBN Co connected a high percentage of services within the allowed timeframes, this percentage dropped for standard telephone service connections, with only 81% meeting the target service level, a slight improvement from 77% in the previous quarter.

Notably, the number of service faults rose by 13% compared to the September quarter, with the FTTN network experiencing the highest absolute number of faults. Planned maintenance accounted for 79% of reported outages, although emergency outages increased to 21% from 15% in the previous quarter. The HFC network showed a high proportion of outages relative to its service usage.

Additionally, there was a 15% increase in total network faults and a 3% rise in service dropouts during the December quarter. The FTTN and HFC networks had a higher dropout rate compared to other technologies, while the FTTP network performed better in this regard. On a positive note, Fixed Wireless performance showed significant improvement in downlink and uplink metrics during the same period.

The ACCC's oversight of NBN Co's service quality has been strengthened through a record keeping rule (RKR) that mandates data collection and reporting on service performance. This RKR, which began on July 1, 2024, was established following previous inquiries into NBN Co's service standards and aims to enhance regulatory transparency and accountability.