8153.0 - Internet Activity, Australia, Dec 2010  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 01/04/2011   
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INTRODUCTION

  • The Internet Activity Survey (IAS) collects details on aspects of internet access services provided by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Australia.
  • This release contains results from ISPs with more than 1,000 active subscribers operating in Australia as at 31 December 2010.
  • Active subscribers are defined as subscribers that have an internet connection with an ISP on the last day of the reference period. ABS subscriber statistics measure the number of 'subscriber lines' rather than the number of 'users' and therefore, counts of subscribers are not the same as counts of people/organisations with internet access. This is because some subscribers may have accounts with more than one ISP or multiple accounts with a single ISP. Conversely, there are single ISP subscriber accounts that provide internet access for multiple people/organisations (e.g. universities).
  • Detailed and historical information is available in the accompanying data cubes.
  • Data on mobile handset internet connections are now included in the Main Features below.


HIGHLIGHTS
  • At the end of December 2010, there were 10.4 million active internet subscribers in Australia (excluding internet connections through mobile handsets). This represents annual growth of 16.7% and an increase of 9.9% since the end of June 2010.
  • The phasing out of dial-up internet connections continued with 93% of internet connections being non dial-up. Australians also continued to access increasingly faster download speeds, with 81% of access connections offering a download speed of 1.5Mbps or greater.
  • Digital subscriber line (DSL) continued to be the major technology for connections, accounting for 43% of the total internet connections, followed closely by mobile wireless (40% of total internet connections). However, the DSL percentage share has decreased since June 2010 when DSL represented 44% of the total connections.
  • Mobile wireless (excluding mobile handset connections) was the fastest growing internet access technology in actual numbers, increasing from 2.8 million in December 2009 to 4.2 million in December 2010.

Diagram: HIGHLIGHTS
          (a) For ISPs with more than 1,000 active subscribers.

Internet activity summary, Australia, for ISPs with more than 1,000 active subscribers

Dec 2009
Jun 2010
Dec 2010

Number of ISPs(a)
Medium ISPs no.
66
72
71
Large ISPs no.
27
23
21
Very large ISPs no.
10
12
12
Total ISPs no.
103
107
104
Subscribers
Dial-up
Business and government '000
188
177
(b)189
Household '000
717
607
518
Total dial-up subscribers '000
905
785
707
Non dial-up
Business and government '000
1 440
1 681
2 144
Household '000
6 605
7 036
7 595
Total non dial-up subscribers '000
8 046
8 717
9 739
All subscribers
Business and government subscribers '000
1 629
1 859
2 333
Household subscribers '000
7 322
7 643
8 112
Total subscribers '000
8 951
9 502
10 446
Access connections
Dial-up
Analog '000
889
774
699
Other dial-up '000
2
10
8
Total dial-up connections '000
891
784
707
Non dial-up
DSL '000
4 178
4 212
4 458
Cable '000
np
np
np
Fibre '000
11
13
24
Satellite '000
107
111
np
Fixed wireless '000
22
25
24
Mobile wireless '000
2 838
3 453
4 230
Other non dial-up '000
np
np
np
Total non dial-up connections '000
8 059
8 718
9 739
Total access connections '000
8 950
9 502
10 446
Advertised download speed
Less than 256kbps '000
905
785
707
Broadband
256kbps to less than 512kbps '000
1 030
490
278
512kbps to less than 1.5Mbps '000
1 351
1 460
962
1.5Mbps to less than 8Mbps '000
3 188
3 540
4 067
8Mbps to less than 24Mbps '000
1 973
2 594
3 530
24Mbps or greater '000
503
632
901
Broadband (256kbps or greater) '000
8 046
8 717
9 739
Total advertised download speed '000
8 951
9 502
10 446
Volume of data downloaded(c)
Dial-up TB
294
280
183
Non dial-up
Fixed line(d) TB
113 410
141 892
174 665
Wireless(e) TB
14 251
13 330
16 990
Total non dial-up TB
127 661
155 222
191 655
Total volume of data downloaded TB
127 954
155 503
191 839

np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) See paragraph 8 of the Explanatory Notes for ISP size categories.
(b) This figure has been impacted by the reclassification of subscribers which were previously reported under household. Readers are advised to use this figure with caution.
(c) Data reported for the 3 month period prior to the reference date.
(d) Fixed line includes DSL, cable, fibre and other fixed line.
(e) Wireless includes satellite, fixed wireless and mobile wireless via a datacard, dongle, USB modem or tablet SIM card and other wireless. Excludes connections via a mobile handset.



HANDSET DATA
  • This is the second release of wireless internet connections via a mobile handset.
  • At the end of December 2010, there were 8.2 million mobile handset subscribers in Australia. This represents an increase of 21% from June 2010.
  • The volume of data downloaded via mobile handsets over the three months ended 31 December 2010 was 4,029 Terabytes.

Internet connections via a mobile handset, for ISPs with more than 1,000 active subscribers

Jun 2010
Dec 2010

Number of subscribers
'000
6 781
8 197
Volume of data downloaded(a)
TB
717
4 029

(a) Data reported for the 3 month period prior to the reference date.



ROUNDING
  • Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between the sum of components and the total. Proportions have been calculated using unrounded data.


INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Clair Phillips on Perth (08) 9360 5303.