Australia’s internet speeds limiting productivity

Ooyala, Telstra’s specialist video subsidiary, has called into question the quality of Australia’s telecommunications infrastructure and the impact that is having on productivity.

The most recent internet speed test results from Ookla ranked Australia 55^th in the world, just behind Kazakhstan.

Steve Davis, vice-president and general manager for Ooyala in Asia-Pacific and Japan, said Australia’s ranking is not good enough “for anywhere that is not a third-world country”.

Although he acknowledged that the current infrastructure was not limiting people’s ability to watch on-demand video, it was having a productivity impact. “In Singapore you can get more done,” he said. Singapore’s fixed broadband speed was ranked first globally by Ookla.

The irony for Ooyala is that its parent company is receiving A$11bn from NBN Co for access to much of the network underpinnings for the National Broadband Network currently being rolled out.

Despite “third-world” internet speeds in Australia, which also lags the rest of the world in adopting video applications, Davis was optimistic about the prospects of video in the media and entertainment arena, which remains Ooyala’s core focus, but also increasingly in enterprise applications.

In 2018, Ooyala would put “massive focus” on driving video adoption among enterprises in the financial, retail and manufacturing industries, according to Davis.

Examples of businesses starting to roll out video-based information include automaker Audi which displays video in its dealerships, and Wisconsin-based American Financial Services which uses video for marketing and training purposes.

Video traffic is certainly rising. Cisco’s forecast of internet video traffic reveals volumes growing 31% a year, which means this internet video traffic, estimated at 75 petabyte per month, could soar to 159 petabytes a month by 2021. Asia-Pacific’s internet traffic is in lockstep with the global trend, rising 30% a year until 2021.

Much of this growth in video traffic will likely be carried by mobile networks. Davis predicted that in the first half of 2018, 60% of video consumption will take place on mobile devices.