8153.0 - Internet Activity, Australia, Sep 2006  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 16/02/2007   
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INTRODUCTION

  • The Internet Activity Survey (IAS) is a census which collects details on aspects of Internet access services provided by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Australia. This publication contains results for all ISPs operating in Australia as at 30 September 2006.
  • This was the first full collection since the March quarter 2005 publication and direct comparisons between cycles should be used cautiously. See the Explanatory Notes 2 - 5 for the scope and coverage of the collection.
  • This is an electronic release of Internet Activity in Australia. There is no accompanying publication or pdf released.


HIGHLIGHTS
  • At the end of the September quarter 2006, there were over 6.65 million active Internet subscribers in Australia, comprised of 826,000 business and government subscribers and over 5.83 million household subscribers.
  • The number of non dial-up subscribers was over 3.91 million, compared with dial-up subscribers of 2.75 million recorded at the end of September 2006.
  • Non dial-up subscribers increased from almost 1.80 million at the end of March 2005 to 3.91 million at the end of September 2006. Non dial-up subscribers represented 59% of total Internet subscribers in Australia at the end of September 2006 compared with 30% at the end of March 2005.
  • Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) continued to be the dominant access technology used for non dial-up subscribers with 2.99 million or almost 77% of total non dial-up subscribers being connected using this means. Wireless technology (mobile and fixed) is showing growth with 186,000 or 4.8% of the non dial-up access.
  • Connections with download speeds of 1.5 Mbps or greater increased to 1.13 million or 17% of subscribers in September 2006 compared to 599,000 or 10% of subscribers at the end of March 2005.
  • The number of live ISPs dropped by 32% between the March quarter 2005 and the September quarter 2006 from 689 to 467.


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

FORTHCOMING ISSUES


ISSUE (QUARTER) Release Date
March 2007 1 June 2007

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Tim Landrigan on Perth (08) 9360 5104.


Table 1. Internet Activity Summary, Australia(a)(b)

March Quarter 2005
September Quarter 2006

ISPs
Very Small
no.
180
124
Small  
no.
312
199
Medium
no.
162
112
Large
no.
25
22
Very Large
no.
10
10
Total
no.
689
467
Subscribers
Dial-up
Business and government
'000
433
277
Household
'000
3 744
2 472
Total
'000
4 177
2 749
Non dial-up
Business and government
'000
412
549
Household
'000
1 391
3 360
Total
'000
1 802
3 908
Total
Business and government
'000
845
826
Household
'000
5 135
5 831
Total
'000
5 980
6 657

(a) Includes all ISPs live at the reference period.
(b) See paragraph 8 of the Explanatory Notes for a description of ISP size categories.

Table 2. Internet subscribers by subscriber type, by ISP size(a)(b)

Dial-up
Non Dial-up
Total
Number of subscribers
Proportion of subscribers %
Number of subscribers
Proportion of subscribers %
Number of subscribers
Proportion of subscribers %

Business and Government Subscribers
Very Small
1
-
2
-
2
-
Small
9
3
21
4
30
4
Medium
32
11
53
10
85
10
Large
44
16
90
16
134
16
Very Large
191
69
383
70
574
69
Total
277
100
549
100
826
100
Household Subscribers
Very Small
2
-
1
-
2
-
Small
36
-
19
-
55
-
Medium
166
7
89
3
255
4
Large
336
14
327
9
663
11
Very Large
1 932
78
2 923
87
4 856
83
Total
2 472
100
3 360
100
5 831
100
All Subscribers
Very Small
2
-
3
-
5
-
Small
45
2
40
-
85
-
Medium
198
7
143
3
340
5
Large
380
14
417
11
797
12
Very Large
2 124
77
3 306
85
5 430
82
Total
2 749
100
3 908
100
6 657
100

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Includes all ISPs live as at 30 September 2006.
(b) See paragraph 8 of the Explanatory Notes for a description of ISP size categories.

Table 3. Internet subscribers and ISPs, by access technology(a)

September 2006
Number of subscribers '000
Proportion of subscribers %

Dial-up
Analog
2 724
41
ISDN/Satellite/Other
25
-
Total
2 749
41
Non dial-up
ISDN
3
-
DSL
2 995
45
Wireless
186
3
Cable/Satellite/Other
725
11
Total
3 908
59
Total all Subscribers
6 657
100

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Includes all ISPs live at the reference period.

Table 4. Internet subscribers by type and download speeds(a)

September 2006
Number of subscribers '000
Proportion of subscribers %

Business and Government Subscribers
Less than 256 kbps
279
34
256 kbps to less than 512 kbps
176
21
512 kbps to less than 1.5 Mbps
218
26
1.5 Mbps or greater
153
19
Total Broadband(b)
547
66
Total all access speeds
826
100
Household Subscribers
Less than 256 kbps
2 478
42
256 kbps to less than 512 kbps
1 150
20
512 kbps to less than 1.5 Mbps
1 224
21
1.5 Mbps or greater
978
17
Total Broadband(b)
3 353
57
Total all access speeds
5 831
100
All Subscribers
Less than 256 kbps
2 757
41
256 kbps to less than 512 kbps
1 327
20
512 kbps to less than 1.5 Mbps
1 442
22
1.5 Mbps or greater
1 131
17
Total Broadband(b)
3 900
59
Total all access speeds
6 657
100

(a) Includes all ISPs live at the reference period
(b) Broadband refers to an 'always on' Internet connection with an access speed equal to or greater than 256 Kbps.

Table 5. ISPs by number of subscribers by states and territories(a)

September 2006
Number of subscribers '000
Proportion of subscribers %

New South Wales
2 140
33
Victoria
1 597
24
Queensland
1 330
20
South Australia
453
7
Western Australia
696
11
Tasmania
157
2
Northern Territory
48
1
Australian Capital Territory
136
2
Total
6 557
100

(a) ISPs with 1,000 or more active subscribers.

Table 6. Volume of data downloaded by subscriber type by speed(a)(b)

March Quarter 2005
September Quarter 2006

Dial-up
Business and government
million MBs
292
354
Household
million MBs
1 528
1 862
Total
million MBs
1 820
2 216
Non dial-up
Business and government
million MBs
2 960
6 378
Household
million MBs
8 844
27 553
Total
million MBs
11 805
33 931
Total
Business and government
million MBs
3 253
6 733
Household
million MBs
10 372
29 415
Total
million MBs
13 625
36 148

(a) ISPs with more than 1,000 active subscribers.
(b) During the three months of the reference period.

Table 7. ISPs offering SPAM filtering products(a)(b)

September Quarter 2006
Number of ISPs

As a free service only
88
As a charged service only
10
As both a free and a charge service
22
No SPAM filtering products offered
15

(a) ISPs with more than 1,000 active subscribers.
(b) Does not include ISPs that did not respond to this question.