According to the Australian Communication and Media Authority’s Communications Report 2008-09, the use of 3G mobile and wireless broadband services is showing significant growth with an increase of 162 per cent.
This report provides an overview of the telecommunications, broadcasting and radiocommunications industry in Australia, including industry performance in meeting statutory service obligations.
Chris Chapman, chairman of the ACMA commented on the findings.
“Digital convergence is well and truly with us. During 2008-09, Australians continued to adopt new communication and media services and adapt their usage patterns to meet their specific lifestyle needs,” said Chapman.
“Services such as 3G, VoIP and wireless broadband internet are being increasingly used, with factors such as lifestyle, age and family type shaping these choices.”
Some of the highlights of the report were that the number of mobile phone services increased by 9.5 per cent in 2008-09 to 24.22 million, 12.28 million 3G mobile services were in operation, internet subscriber grew from 7.2 million in June 2008 to 8.4 million for June 2009 and nearly 80 per cent of Australians have internet services at home.
Other interesting finds were that 90 per cent of internet subscribers are broadband enabled, wireless broadband subscribers account for 25 per cent of all internet subscribers, Australians downloaded 99,993 terabits of data compared to 55,434 terabits the previous year and the number of Australians banking and shopping online increased from 63 per cent in 2008 to 67 per cent in 2009.
“This report again demonstrates the evident enthusiasm with which Australians are engaging in the digital economy,” said Chapman.
“While this is encouraging, it again also raises issues for operating within a regulatory framework built on many traditional fixed line telephony assumptions.”