8153.0 - Internet Activity, Australia, Jun 2012 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 09/10/2012   
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MEDIA RELEASE
9 October 2012
Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra time)
156/2012
Internet subscribers in Australia passes the 12 million mark

There were over 12 million internet subscribers (excluding mobile handset subscribers) as at 30 June 2012, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This is an increase of 440,000 (4%) in six months and over 10% annual growth.

Of these, 5.9 million subscribers were using mobile wireless connections while 4.6 million were using DSL.

Three-quarters of these connections were in the advertised download speed ranges of between 1.5Mbps - 24Mbps. The number of connections at the top end of the speed ranges (24Mbps - 100Mbps and 100Mbps or more) grew by 20% and 34% respectively, since December 2011, accounting for 1.5 million subscribers.

The amount of data downloaded via the internet (excluding mobile handsets) in the three months ending 30 June 2012 was 414,537 TB, a 20% increase since December.

At the end of June 2012, there were 16.2 million mobile handset subscribers in Australia. This represents an increase of nearly 7% over six months. The volume of data downloaded, via mobile handsets, over the three months ending 30 June 2012, was 6,610 TB, an increase of 32% from December 2011.

Further information is available in Internet Activity, Australia (cat. no. 8153.0).

Media Notes:
  • When interpreting the data, it is important to note that ABS subscriber statistics measure the number of 'subscriber lines' rather than the number of 'users'. A single subscriber may have multiple accounts with one or more ISPs. Conversely, there are single subscriber accounts that provide internet access for multiple users (for example, universities).
  • When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.

Image: Proportion of subscribers by connenction type
(a) For ISPs with more than 1,000 subscribers


Internet subscribers by type of access connection (a), for ISPs with more than 1,000 subscribers

Jun 2011
Dec 2011
Jun 2012
'000
'000
'000

Access connection
Dial-up connections
569
473
439
Broadband connections
DSL
4 493
4 553
4 632
Cable
881
900
917
Fibre
31
37
52
Satellite
106
100
94
Fixed wireless
34
35
30
Mobile wireless
4 786
5 491
5 862
Other
7
8
10
All broadband connections
10 338
11 123
11 597
Total number of subscribers
10 906
11 596
12 036

(a) Dial-up and broadband figures reported by type of access connection may not equal figures collected by advertised download speeds, due to some broadband connections being reported as less than 256kbps.
(b) Data reported by type of access connection may be influenced by cyclical factors, such as educational semesters. This could impact on the data reported at each reference period of the IAS, namely 30 June and 31 December, particularly for types of access connection where relatively small numbers are reported.

Internet subscribers by advertised download speed, for ISPs with more than 1,000 subscribers

Jun 2011
Dec 2011
Jun 2012
'000
'000
'000

Less than 256kbps
579
475
436
Broadband
256kbps to less than 1.5Mbps
812
808
980
1.5Mbps to less than 8Mbps
4 614
5 115
5 067
8Mbps to less than 24Mbps
3 913
3 985
4 094
24Mbps to less than 100Mbps
972
1 182
1 415
100Mbps or greater
18
32
43
Total broadband (256kbps or greater)
10 328
11 121
11 600
Total number of subscribers
10 906
11 596
12 036