Proposal to force telcos to give regions better internet or face fines: Helen Haines

If passed, the bill would legislate a new national standard for the National Broadband Network and other telecommunication providers to ensure an average download speed of 25 megabits per second every hour of the day.

At the moment, the government only requires the NBN to deliver download speeds of 25MB per second once a day.

"Once per day! It could be 2am, or 2pm, for five minutes, or five seconds," Dr Haines said.

"That's how low the government is setting the bar for the NBN, and that's not good enough for me, and it sure as heck isn't good enough for my constituents."

The bill would require a maximum of a one-day wait time for all fault rectifications requiring a technician in rural areas and a maximum five-day wait time for all new connections in rural areas.

"The government wants to mandate a one-day wait time for network faults to be rectified in the cities, but up to three days in the regions and remote areas," Dr Haines said.

"Right now, the government wants to let NBN take up to 19 business day - essentially a whole calendar month - to connect some new homes or small businesses in the regions, even if it's close to a fixed line facility."

The bill also a proposes a number of other new standards around enhancing internet speed and fault rectification and connection times across all regions.