Labors spokesperson for Regional Communications, Stephen Jones says the release of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman 2016 Annual Report confirms that despite all the glossy public relations from the Turnbull Government, all is not well with the roll out of the second rate, copper-based National Broadband Network in Regional Australia.

If you have a look at the top ten postcodes for NBN complaints, they are nearly all in regional Australia, Mr Jones said.

In fact, more than a quarter of new complaints in 2015-2016 to the TIO came from regional and rural Australia, a big six per cent increase, Mr Jones said.

Copper is the most likely culprit here with most of these locations relying on Mr Turnbulls expensive and second-rate Fibre to the Node.

Fibre to the Node relies on copper to get internet services all the way from the node to the home. In regional areas, this copper is often degraded and should have been ditched years ago, Mr Jones said.

The figures in the TIO report are of deep concern and confirm the myriad issues that are being reported to MPs offices every week.

When a fault arises, people are getting bounced between NBN and their Retail Service Provider and are simply unable to find anyone who will take responsibility for helping them fix their problem.

It is no surprise that there are more complaints about internet problems than in previous years and that the TIO has recorded a rise of 22 per cent in complaints about internet services the highest level in five years.

Many people just give up in sheer frustration in trying to find help. I wouldnt be surprised if these figures are just the tip of the iceberg.

According to the TIO, the most common issues consumers have raised are faults, such as slow data speeds, unusable services and drop outs.

The TIO recorded 7,480 fault issues for NBN services making up 38.5% of internet and landline issues recorded in 2015-16 a massive 147.8 per cent increase on the previous year.

In addition, complaints about NBN connections rose by 63.2 per cent. NBN complaints now represent 11.9 per cent of all new complaints to the TIO.

Malcolm Turnbull could fix this mess by abandoning his second rate Fibre-to-the-Node approach and instead give regional Australians the modern, reliable and affordable broadband internet they deserve, Mr Jones said.

THURSDAY, 17 NOVEMBER 2016

MEDIA CONTACT: JANE MULLIGAN 0407 219 199

The full TIO report is at: http://annualreport2016.tio.com.au/

Top 10 postcodes for NBN complaints:

*NBN built using Fibre-to-the-Node (FTTN)