Each month, Netflix ranks the average prime-time speeds achieved by internet service providers in each of its regions, and then ranks the overall result against the rest of the world.
Now, Australian and New Zealand Netflix has been included in the service’s monthly ISP speed index for the first time, and the results are surprising to say the least.
Telstra, Australia's largest telecommunications company, ranked dead last with an average prime-time speed of 2.23 Mbps, while TPG and Optus took the top two spots, with average speeds of 3.36 Mbps and 3.27 Mbps.
The full Australian ISP speed index can be seen below:
Speed, gimme what I need
It is believed that TPG and Optus performed well due to the ISPs involvement in the Netflix Open Connect Initiative, which allows the companies to cache up to their 90% Netflix traffic, in order to transport bandwidth to customers faster.
New Zealand’s internet ranked 14th out of the 29 countries in which Netflix offers its service, while Australia ranked 18th, putting it in the bottom half of the world’s Netflix speeds.
On its US & Canada blog, Netflix claimed that “performance for Australian ISPs was impacted by consumer demand exceeding the forecasts Netflix provided.”
Netflix continued by stating that it is “working closely with these ISPs and expect performance to improve in the coming months.”
- Read our in-depth Netflix review