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EXPLANATORY NOTES


INTRODUCTION

1 This release presents results from the Internet Activity Survey (IAS) conducted in respect of the three months ending 31 December 2009.


SCOPE AND COVERAGE

2 The December 2009 IAS covers ISPs who operated in Australia and reported more than 1,000 active subscribers at the end of the reference period. ISPs are defined as businesses that supply internet connectivity and access services to individuals, households, businesses, government and other organisations. Libraries, internet kiosks, internet cafes and hot-spots which provide internet access on a casual basis are excluded from the survey.

3 The source of the IAS population frame is the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO), with which ISPs are required to register. Using this list as a basis, the ABS maintains its own confidential list of ISPs. The TIO list may contain the following organisations that are out of scope of the IAS: those that are no longer operating as ISPs including wholesalers and web hosting only; those where there is common ownership and, therefore reporting is consolidated for these ISPs on the IAS; and other types of organisations that are required to register with the TIO (e.g. Telecommunications companies).

4 The reference periods for this collection are December and June to align with international reporting of broadband statistics by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The IAS includes information reported by all ISPs operating in Australia, with more than 1,000 active subscribers, as at 31 December and 30 June. Every three years a full census of all Australian ISPs, including those with 1,000 or less subscribers, is conducted. The last census of all ISPs was conducted in December 2008. The census is conducted as an on-line survey of all ISPs, with ISPs who have 1,000 or less active subscribers completing a subset of questions. Their overall contribution to the December 2008 IAS was less than 1% of all subscribers with no impact on any other data released. This approach to the IAS provides frequent and timely data on key trends while keeping resource usage and provider load to acceptable levels, particularly for the smaller ISPs.

5 While mobile wireless internet connections using a datacard, dongle or USB modem have been collected by the IAS for some time now, internet connections via a mobile hand-set are included in the scope of this survey for the first time in December 2009. However, data published will continue to exclude internet connections via mobile hand-sets while the ABS refines its definitions and methodology, and provider reporting systems are adapted to provide reliable data. It is expected that this new information will be released for the June 2010 survey.


SUBSCRIBERS

6 Active subscribers are defined as subscribers having accounts with ISPs who have accessed the internet or paid for access to the internet during the three months ending 31 December 2009. Counts of subscribers are not the same as counts of people/organisations with internet access, as 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.


STATISTICAL UNIT

7 The unit for which statistics are reported in the IAS is the legal entity providing internet access.

8 ISPs in the IAS have been classified by size according to the number of subscribers ISPs reported for at the end of the reference period. The size categories are defined as follows:

• errors in the reporting of data by respondents;
• errors in capturing or processing of data;
• estimation for missing or misreported data; and
• definition and classification errors.

Business Use of Information Technology, cat. no. 8129.0
Use of Information Technology on Farms, Australia, cat. no. 8150.0
Household Use of Information Technology, Australia, cat. no. 8146.0
Patterns of internet access in Australia, 2006, cat. no. 8146.0.55.001
Summary of IT Use and Innovation in Australian Businesses, cat. no. 8166.0
Selected Characteristics of Australian Business, cat. no. 8167.0
Government Technology, Australia, cat. no. 8119.0
Information and Communication Technology, Australia, cat. no. 8126.0