NETFLIX has released its first Australian internet service provider speed index, showing which internet provider gives the best experience for streaming video.

Surprisingly, Australia’s biggest telco and ISP Telstra ranks last in the rankings, with Telstra customers averaging a speed of 2.23Mbps.

TPG topped out the rankings with an average speed of 3.36Mbps, closely followed by Optus at 3.27Mbps.

The speedtests that Netflix do aren’t reflective of each of their maximum capacity speeds, but rather measure the “average bitrate for Netflix content streamed by Netflix members per ISP”, the company says.

What’s worth noting is that most countries top ISP averages around the 4-5Mbps mark, while Netflix and other streaming providers recommend a minimum speed of 5Mbps for HD content and 25Mbps for Ultra-HD 4K content.

Netflix is already taking a toll on Aussie ISPs with companies like iiNet claiming the service accounts for up to 25 per cent of the telco’s total internet traffic, less than two months after the service’s official Australia launch.

With streaming video on demand services like Netflix and Foxtel’s Presto proving more popular by the day, it’s now up to ISPs to have their networks ready to handle the demand of the extra bandwidth needed. Optus CEO Allen Lew has already expressed that one way to help handle it and to cover the costs of bulking his network is to charge services like Netflix to ensure quality video streaming to their subscribers.

A move like this would be breaking what’s known as ‘net neutrality’ and is something that has caused a lot of controversy in the United States as ISPs look to capitalise on the streaming revolution.