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

NOTES


INTRODUCTION

• The Internet Activity Survey (IAS) collects details on aspects of internet access services provided by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Australia.
• The scope for the June cycle of IAS has been expanded to contain results for all ISPs operating in Australia with more than 1,000 active subscribers at the end of the reporting period (i.e. as at 30 June 2009). Previously in the June cycle, data have only been collected from ISPs with 10,000 or more subscribers at the end of the reporting period.
• This is an electronic release of Internet Activity, Australia. More detailed and historic information is available in the accompanying datacubes.
• When comparing historical data care should be taken due to the change in scope to ISPs with more than 1,000 active subscribers.

• At the end of June 2009, there were 8.4 million active internet subscribers in Australia.
• Digital subscriber line (DSL) continued to be the major technology for non dial-up connections, accounting for 57% (4.2 million) of these connections. However, this percentage share has decreased since December 2008 when DSL represented 63% of non dial-up access connections.
• Mobile wireless subscribers had the next highest share, increasing significantly from 20% of all non dial-up connections (1.3 million) in December 2008 to 27% (2 million) in June 2009. This represents an increase of 51% over the six month period. (Note that mobile wireless subscriptions to the internet via a datacard or USB modem are included in the scope of this survey, but connections to the internet via mobile telephones are excluded).
• Northern Territory subscriber numbers continued with an upward trend increasing by 20% since December 2008 to 83,000.
• The general trend towards higher download speeds continued, with 57% of subscribers now using a download speed of 1.5Mbps or greater, compared with 51% in December 2008.

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

Internet Activity Summary, for ISPs with more than 1,000 active subscribers
			units	Jun 2008(a)	Dec 2008	Jun 2009
Proportion of ISPs(b)
	Medium		%	na	70	62
	Large		%	70	21	27
	Very Large		%	30	9	11
	Total ISPs		%	100	100	100
Subscribers
	Dial-up
		Business and government	'000	291	230	215
		Household	'000	1 275	1 060	887
		All dial-up subscribers	'000	1 566	1 290	1 103
	Non dial-up
		Business and government	'000	726	1 064	1 174
		Household	'000	4 935	5 569	6 144
		All non dial-up subscribers	'000	5 661	6 634	7 317
	Total
		Business and government	'000	1 018	1 295	1 389
		Household	'000	6 210	6 629	7 031
		Total subscribers	'000	7 228	7 925	8 420
Access connections
	Dial-up
		Analog	'000	1 551	1 272	1 077
		ISDN/other	'000	15	13	10
		All dial-up connections	'000	1 566	1 286	1 087
	Non dial-up
		DSL	'000	3 936	4 176	4 171
		Fixed wireless	'000	np	155	160
		Mobile wireless	'000	np	1 298	1 961
		Satellite	'000	np	79	90
		Cable and fibre	'000	np	913	931
		ISDN/Other	'000	31	17	20
		All non dial-up connections	'000	5 661	6 639	7 333
	Total access connections		'000	7 228	7 925	8 420
Download speeds
	Less than 256kbps		'000	1 581	1 293	1 103
	Broadband
		256kbps to less than 512kbps	'000	1 588	1 442	1 297
		512kbps to less than 1.5Mbps	'000	963	1 165	1 249
		1.5Mbps to less than 8Mbps	'000	1 444	2 002	2 529
		8Mbps to less than 24Mbps	'000	1 390	1 650	1 800
		24Mbps or greater	'000	262	373	443
		Total Broadband (256kbps or greater)	'000	5 647	6 632	7 317
	Total download speeds		'000	7 228	7 925	8 420
Volume data downloaded(c)
	Dial-up		TBs	1 597	1 079	1 211
	Non dial-up		TBs	53 837	80 274	98 782
	Business and government		TBs	7 778	15 180	24 363
	Household		TBs	47 656	66 172	75 360
	Total volume data downloaded		TBs	55 434	81 352	99 993
na not available
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) Data for ISPs with more than 10,000 active subscribers.
(b) Medium ISPs are defined as having 1,001 to 10,000 subscribers; large ISPs 10,001 to 100,000 subscribers; and very large ISPs 100,001 or more subscribers.
(c) During the three months of the reference period.