But the ACCC is gearing up for a strong debate with the telco industry whose operators are worried the program could end up costing large amounts of money that will be paid by taxpayers or internet users through an industry levy. "We're spending a lot of money on a monopoly asset [NBN] and people will want to know if it's doing what it said it would do," Mr Sims said. "Consumers need to be able to make an assessment about internet service providers not just on cost but also on quality. "And once you get a fast-speed system people will advertise on the basis of speed and we need to know whether those representations are accurate." Mr Sims said he was confident the service would become a national program with approval by 2016 because it made "strong logical sense". Big cities like Sydney and Melbourne would be cut into rough geographic regions such as "Western Sydney" or "Eastern Sydney". The ACCC would also use the speeds to help track down companies that exaggerate the quality of their broadband connections and could use the statistics to fine telcos that mislead their customers.

Big pipes needed But Mr Sims added the program would cost "low single-digit millions of dollars" with funding coming from either the government or telecommunications providers. He said it was a relatively small amount of money given the benefits such a system would bring. Earlier this year some iiNet customers experienced a dramatic slowdown in speed despite being on the NBN due to a temporary shortage of backhaul capacity, which refers to the internet 'pipes' that connect telephone and internet exchanges together. "ISPs have to buy a big enough pipe and put enough boxes on its own systems to be able to [offer a promised service]," he said. "So partly it's NBN but it's also about what the ISP is buying and we can absolutely [identify which party is at fault]." The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, which represents internet customers, strongly supported the plan and said it would help users pick the providers who would suit their needs.

But the telecommunications providers whose services would be judged by the program are worried about the high cost and potential regulatory burden of the project. They also believe that services like Netflix already provide a free service that report on internet speeds through its Netflix ISP Speed Index. Communications Alliance is an industry body that represents many of Australia's telecommunications companies including Telstra, Optus and iiNet. Its chief executive, John Stanton, says that there were 400 broadband suppliers across Australia and that measuring them all would cost a huge amount of money. "It may add up to a very expensive solution – the cost of which will ultimately fall on taxpayers or internet consumers," he said. "The ACCC report notes that there was not a consensus view among international regulators that the monitoring programs they had introduced had brought about benefits to stakeholders. "We need to ensure that if a monitoring program is introduced, it is cost-effective, produces reliable data and takes account of the fact that there are factors beyond the control of service providers that can influence the results." M2 Group chief executive Geoff Horth said he wasn't convinced there was a problem with Australia's current system and that customers could judge their providers by voting with their wallets.

"It's not like we're not a category that isn't well-regulated," he said. "There's plenty of consumer choice and if they're not happy with their services they can change providers."