By Keri Algar
SYDNEY, NSW: Close to a third of Australians access mobile wireless connections via mobile handsets like smartphones and tablets, according to a report released yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The survey registered 6,781,000 wireless mobile handset connections in the three months to June 2010, crediting the emergence of powerful mobile handsets and the view that this type of internet connection is a viable alternative to fixed-line internet access.
Mobile wireless (excluding handsets) was the fastest growing internet access technology in Australia, registering a 22 per cent increase from prior year records, according to the report.
Excluding mobile handset connections, mobile wireless accounted for 3.5 million active subscribers out of a total 9.6 million internet subscribers in Australia. DSL connections continued to be a major technology, accounting for 44 per cent of subscriptions nationwide.
It was the first year all ISP providers obliged the ASB with the data required to measure mobile wireless usage via handsets and as such the ASB considers the data experimental as it refines its collection methodology.