The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission concluded its Measuring Broadband Australia program last month, which involved distributing thousands of SamKnows whitebox routers to volunteers who tested broadband speeds and performance across the country’s networks. The program, which began in 2020, collected data on fixed-line broadband services delivered over the NBN and other access networks. Following the program’s conclusion on June 30, all routers were remotely disabled and volunteers were instructed to dispose of them through e-waste recycling services.
The decision to disable the devices has drawn criticism from program participants and observers concerned about electronic waste generation. According to available records, the ACCC distributed over 2,600 routers by December 2020, with expectations that approximately 4,000 would be deployed throughout the program. One anonymous volunteer pointed out that the routers remain technically functional and operate on OpenWRT, an open-source Linux-based operating system, making them capable of being reconfigured as standard Wi-Fi routers. This same volunteer successfully reflashed their own device and noted that the necessary technical infrastructure already exists to enable device reuse.
When contacted about the decision, neither SamKnows, Cisco (which acquired SamKnows in 2023), nor the ACCC provided detailed explanations for why the routers were disabled rather than repurposed. SamKnows directed inquiries to the ACCC, while the regulator’s statement acknowledged the devices were disabled and encouraged proper recycling but did not address alternative possibilities. The situation mirrors a prior initiative in which SamKnows distributed 9,000 routers for broadband testing in the United States, though no public information exists regarding the disposition of those devices.
Some technology enthusiasts have already documented methods for restoring functionality to the disabled routers, suggesting that stakeholders may have declined to pursue reuse options due to concerns about liability or ongoing responsibility. The incident has raised questions about resource management practices and the potential environmental impact of decommissioning large quantities of serviceable electronic equipment when technical solutions for device reactivation were available.
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