Australian Government Decommissions Thousands of Functioning Broadband Test Routers
Thousands of broadband test routers, distributed to volunteers in Australia, have been rendered inoperable following the conclusion of a government-backed measurement program.
Thousands of SamKnows routers, previously used by volunteers across Australia to measure broadband performance, have been ordered to be discarded after a government program concluded. The routers were supplied as part of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission's (ACCC) Measuring Broadband Australia (MBA) initiative.
The MBA program, launched in 2020, aimed to provide a clearer picture of internet speeds and performance for Australian consumers, particularly those using the National Broadband Network (NBN). Volunteers received the whitebox routers, developed by SamKnows, to conduct automatic tests using dedicated servers.
The ACCC, the nation's chief competition regulator, managed the program. The routers were designed to measure internet performance by connecting to test servers hosted within Australia. Upon completion of the program's active phase, the government advised participants that the devices should be disposed of.
While the specific reasons for decommissioning the functioning devices were not detailed beyond the program's conclusion, the action effectively halts further data collection from these units. The ACCC has not commented on whether the routers could be repurposed or whether the data collected would be released publicly.