• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past Releases

INTRODUCTION

• The Internet Activity Survey (IAS) collects details on aspects of internet access services provided by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Australia.
• This release contains results from ISPs with more than 1,000 active subscribers operating in Australia as at 31 December 2010.
• Active subscribers are defined as subscribers that have an internet connection with an ISP on the last day of the reference period. ABS subscriber statistics measure the number of 'subscriber lines' rather than the number of 'users' and therefore, counts of subscribers are not the same as counts of people/organisations with internet access. This is because some 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).
• Detailed and historical information is available in the accompanying data cubes.
• Data on mobile handset internet connections are now included in the Main Features below.

• At the end of December 2010, there were 10.4 million active internet subscribers in Australia (excluding internet connections through mobile handsets). This represents annual growth of 16.7% and an increase of 9.9% since the end of June 2010.
• The phasing out of dial-up internet connections continued with 93% of internet connections being non dial-up. Australians also continued to access increasingly faster download speeds, with 81% of access connections offering a download speed of 1.5Mbps or greater.
• Digital subscriber line (DSL) continued to be the major technology for connections, accounting for 43% of the total internet connections, followed closely by mobile wireless (40% of total internet connections). However, the DSL percentage share has decreased since June 2010 when DSL represented 44% of the total connections.
• Mobile wireless (excluding mobile handset connections) was the fastest growing internet access technology in actual numbers, increasing from 2.8 million in December 2009 to 4.2 million in December 2010.

(a) For ISPs with more than 1,000 active subscribers.

Internet activity summary, Australia, for ISPs with more than 1,000 active subscribers
				Dec 2009	Jun 2010	Dec 2010
Number of ISPs(a)
	Medium ISPs		no.	66	72	71
	Large ISPs		no.	27	23	21
	Very large ISPs		no.	10	12	12
	Total ISPs		no.	103	107	104
Subscribers
	Dial-up
		Business and government	'000	188	177	(b)189
		Household	'000	717	607	518
		Total dial-up subscribers	'000	905	785	707
	Non dial-up
		Business and government	'000	1 440	1 681	2 144
		Household	'000	6 605	7 036	7 595
		Total non dial-up subscribers	'000	8 046	8 717	9 739
	All subscribers
		Business and government subscribers	'000	1 629	1 859	2 333
		Household subscribers	'000	7 322	7 643	8 112
		Total subscribers	'000	8 951	9 502	10 446
Access connections
	Dial-up
		Analog	'000	889	774	699
		Other dial-up	'000	2	10	8
		Total dial-up connections	'000	891	784	707
	Non dial-up
		DSL	'000	4 178	4 212	4 458
		Cable	'000	np	np	np
		Fibre	'000	11	13	24
		Satellite	'000	107	111	np
		Fixed wireless	'000	22	25	24
		Mobile wireless	'000	2 838	3 453	4 230
		Other non dial-up	'000	np	np	np
		Total non dial-up connections	'000	8 059	8 718	9 739
	Total access connections		'000	8 950	9 502	10 446
Advertised download speed
	Less than 256kbps		'000	905	785	707
	Broadband
		256kbps to less than 512kbps	'000	1 030	490	278
		512kbps to less than 1.5Mbps	'000	1 351	1 460	962
		1.5Mbps to less than 8Mbps	'000	3 188	3 540	4 067
		8Mbps to less than 24Mbps	'000	1 973	2 594	3 530
		24Mbps or greater	'000	503	632	901
		Broadband (256kbps or greater)	'000	8 046	8 717	9 739
	Total advertised download speed		'000	8 951	9 502	10 446
Volume of data downloaded(c)
	Dial-up		TB	294	280	183
	Non dial-up
		Fixed line(d)	TB	113 410	141 892	174 665
		Wireless(e)	TB	14 251	13 330	16 990
		Total non dial-up	TB	127 661	155 222	191 655
	Total volume of data downloaded		TB	127 954	155 503	191 839
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) See paragraph 8 of the Explanatory Notes for ISP size categories.
(b) This figure has been impacted by the reclassification of subscribers which were previously reported under household. Readers are advised to use this figure with caution.
(c) Data reported for the 3 month period prior to the reference date.
(d) Fixed line includes DSL, cable, fibre and other fixed line.
(e) Wireless includes satellite, fixed wireless and mobile wireless via a datacard, dongle, USB modem or tablet SIM card and other wireless. Excludes connections via a mobile handset.

• This is the second release of wireless internet connections via a mobile handset.
• At the end of December 2010, there were 8.2 million mobile handset subscribers in Australia. This represents an increase of 21% from June 2010.
• The volume of data downloaded via mobile handsets over the three months ended 31 December 2010 was 4,029 Terabytes.

Internet connections via a mobile handset, for ISPs with more than 1,000 active subscribers
		Jun 2010	Dec 2010
Number of subscribers	'000	6 781	8 197
Volume of data downloaded(a)	TB	717	4 029
(a) Data reported for the 3 month period prior to the reference date.

• Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between the sum of components and the total. Proportions have been calculated using unrounded data.