Optus knocked off perch in Netflix Australia's streaming speed tests

Since Netflix launched in Australia in 2015, the streaming service has released its ISP Speed Index report every month, a measure of average download speeds from various internet service providers (ISPs) during prime time.

From the start Optus has taken top spot, but Exetel, an independent family-owned business, has taken over with average download speeds of 3.61Mbps. That number is an improvement from last month’s performance, when Exetel clocked an average of 3.52Mbps in August.

Netflix Australia's ISP leaderboard for September 2017

Netflix Australia's ISP leaderboard for September 2017

Despite dropping down to second position, Optus did improve on its Netflix performance, averaging 3.60Mbps in September as opposed to 3.56Mbps last month.

Exetel beat out the country’s largest telco, although Telstra has never been a very strong performer on Netflix’s ISP league table. Telstra, however, saw the biggest leap in average download speeds this month, jumping from just 3.14Mbps to a not-too-shabby 3.40Mbps.

It should be noted, however, that these numbers are average streaming speeds and not real-world broadband speeds.

Sharmishta Sarkar
Managing Editor (APAC)

While she's happiest with a camera in her hand, Sharmishta's main priority is being TechRadar's APAC Managing Editor, looking after the day-to-day functioning of the Australian, New Zealand and Singapore editions of the site, steering everything from news and reviews to ecommerce content like deals and coupon codes. While she loves reviewing cameras and lenses when she can, she's also an avid reader and has become quite the expert on ereaders and E Ink writing tablets, having appeared on Singaporean radio to talk about these underrated devices. Other than her duties at TechRadar, she's also the Managing Editor of the Australian edition of Digital Camera World, and writes for Tom's Guide and T3.