8153.0 - Internet Activity, Australia, Sep 2006  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 16/02/2007   
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MEDIA RELEASE
February 16, 2007
Embargoed 11.30am (AEDT)
21/2007

Wireless sparks more Internet connections: ABS

Wireless broadband technology saw nearly 400% growth from a low base in 18 months, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

Wireless connected nearly 5% (186,000) of all Australian broadband subscriptions (mobile and fixed) at the end of September 2006, up from 38,000 in the March quarter 2005.

Broadband subscribers are also choosing faster connections. Over a million subscribers connected at speeds of 1.5 Megabits per second* or greater.

As at September 2006, Australia had a total of 6.7 million active Internet subscribers - over half a million more than in March 2005. Just under 60% of these subscribers had broadband connections, compared with 30% at the end of March 2005.

Other Internet activity highlights as at September 2006 include:

  • there were 5.8 million household subscribers and 826,000 business and government subscribers
  • approximately 2.8 million subscribers used a dial-up connection
  • Digital Subscriber Line (DSL and ADSL) was used by almost three million broadband subscribers (77%)
  • the highest proportion of Internet subscribers were in New South Wales (33%), followed by Victoria (24%), Queensland (20%) and Western Australia (11%)
  • there were 467 Internet Service Providers operating in Australia at the end of September 2006, 32% fewer than in March 2005


More details are in Internet Activity, Australia, September 2006 (cat. no. 8153.0), which can be downloaded free from the ABS web site <www.abs.gov.au>.

* Media Note - A 1.5 Megabit per second connection speed allows you to download a song (in MP3 format) in about 20 seconds.