On the 50th birthday of the island republic, Singapore based broadband startup MyRepublic has announced that it is “rearing up” to launch in Australia, following its successful entry into the New Zealand market.

Not many people in Australia have heard of MyRepublic, but that will likely change soon. Started only in 2011, it uses Singapore’s Next Gen fibre broadband network to launch an inexpensive (S$50 a month) 1 Gbps broadband service.

MyRepublic’s website says it will launch in Australia next year. It launched in New Zealand in October 2014, offering a NZ$80 a month unlimited service. Former Telstra CEO David Thodey mentioned MyRepublic as a potential competitor in Australia in an interview when he left the company.

Now Fairfax Media has quoted MyRepublic founder and CEO Malcolm Rodrigues as saying that the company will launch in Australia by mid 2016, with a 100 Mbps service for $80 to $90 a month. He is – to put it mildly – uncomplimentary about the Government’s fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) NBN.

"On FTTN we'll market 100 Mbps and when people come over we'll say 'sorry, thank your Government that you're on a shit network and the most you can get is 20-30 Mbps’. We will continue to lobby your government to turn it into a fibre-to-the-home one and as soon as you get there we'll get you a free upgrade to fibre."

Rodrigues says that Malcolm Turnbull’s ‘shit’ network is holding Australia back. “I don't know what the Government is doing on the other policy fronts but on this they've completely stuffed it.

“More and more Australians will leave the country looking for jobs and you'll continue to be a resource based economy – the hope of building IT jobs and a digital economy will kind of be more difficult to achieve.”

MyRepublic has already established an Australian LinkedIn page. “MyRepublic AU are Australia's Fibre Broadband Specialists with user focused plans for home, gaming and business, purpose-built for the NBN.

“MyRepublic was founded to challenge outdated incumbent attitudes on the importance of customer experience, products and pricing. Whether it concerns service reliability or superior support, MyRepublic looks to do things differently if it means doing it better, empowering consumers with greater choice and control over their online experience.