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ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION
This publication presents statistics on Internet activity conducted through the Internet Service Provider (ISP) industry in Australia. It contains results from all identified ISPs operating in Australia in respect of the three months ended 31 March 2003.
ABOUT THE CENSUS
The Internet Activity Survey (IAS) is a census which collects details on aspects of Internet access services and other services provided by ISPs in Australia. The census population includes all ISPs registered with the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman and those identified from other sources.
Since the September 2001 quarter, the collection frequency of the IAS has changed from quarterly to biannual, and is now run in respect of the March and September quarterly reference periods each year.
DATA QUALITY
A routine process of checking and quality assurance is maintained to ensure data quality remains high. As a result of this process, the figures are subject to revision. Where possible, revised data has been shown in the tables in the publication.
Estimates for data at the State/Territory and Statistical Division levels are derived from data provided for POPs (Point of Presence or servers). In recent cycles, changing access technologies, infrastructure and operational arrangements have been impacting on the quality of data at the POP level. As a result, data at the Statistical Division level cannot be adequately quality assured and could present misleading indicators of regional activity and usage. These data have not been published in this issue.
CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE
As noted above, regional data previously published in Table 5.1 have been removed from this issue and are available on request. See Explanatory Note 15 for details.
COMMENTS
The ABS is currently reviewing the content of both the survey and the publication; comments and suggestions are welcome. These comments should be addressed to the Director, New Economy Business Statistics Centre, Australian Bureau of Statistics, GPO Box K881 Perth, WA, 6842.
ROUNDING
Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between the sum of the components and the total. Averages have been calculated using unrounded data.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Peter Hodgson on Perth 08 9360 5367.
SUMMARY OF INTERNET ACTIVITY FINDINGS
HIGHLIGHTS
- For the first time, the total number of subscribers in Australia exceeded 5 million at the end of March quarter 2003. This represents an increase of 521,000 subscribers (11%) since the end of September quarter 2002. The majority of new subscribers (over 98%) were in the Household sector with over 4.4 million subscribers in total.
- The number of access lines available to subscribers increased by 34% to 857,470 between the September quarter 2002 and March quarter 2003. Matching this growth has been the increasing number of subscribers with permanent or non dial-up connections, with around 470,000 subscribers at the end of March quarter 2003, an increase of over 34% from the end of September quarter 2003. In particular, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) connections increased by 65% reflecting the continued strong growth in broadband (access speeds equal to or greater than 256kbs) services. DSL is now the predominant technology utilised to deliver broadband services.
- Monthly/Quarterly/Annual access plans remained the most popular access plans with almost 3.5 million subscribers, or 69% of all subscribers choosing this option. However, the strongest growth was in subscribers with Hourly Access plans, which increased by 456,000 (48%).
- The increasing uptake of broadband services is also evident in the continued, if less substantial, increase shown in the volume of data downloaded by subscribers, up 5% between September quarter 2002 and March quarter 2003.
- The number of Points of Presence (POPs) declined by 285 (14%) over the six months to the end of March quarter 2003. The main reason for declining POP numbers is the rationalisation of POP operations by ISPs through use of different access technologies such as 0198 numbers or sharing POP infrastrucuture supplied by infrastructure providers.
ISPs
There were 554 ISPs in Australia supplying Internet access services to 5.1 million active subscribers at the end of March quarter 2003. This is a decrease of 9 ISPs (2%) over the six month period to the end of March quarter 2003. Takeovers and mergers were the predominant reason for this decrease. There were:
- 7 Very large ISPs (with more than 100,000 subscribers) which provided Internet access to 3.6 million subscribers or 71% of all subscribers.
- 26 Large ISPs (10,001 to 100,000 subscribers) with 0.9 million subscribers or 18% of all subscribers.
- 160 Medium ISPs (1,001 to 10,000 subscribers) with 0.5 million subscribers or 9% of all subscribers.
- 251 Small ISPs (101 to 1,000 subscribers) with 0.1 million subscribers or 2% of all subscribers.
- 110 Very small ISPs (100 or fewer subscribers) with 4,000 subscribers or less than 0.1% of all subscribers.
Whilst there was a decrease of 9 ISPs overall between the end of September quarter 2002 and the end of March quarter 2003, there was also significant movement between the size ranges due to takeovers and mergers.
POPS AND ACCESS LINES
At the end of March quarter 2003, ISPs provided 1,687 POPS and 857,470 access lines across Australia, resulting in a average of 5.9 subscribers per access line. This is considerably lower than the average of 7.1 subscribers per access line at the end of September quarter 2002.
The move to broadband technologies contributes to the reduction in the ratio of subscribers to access lines due to the 1:1 nature of these 'always on' connections and their non-reliance on POPs.
INTERNET ACTIVITY SUMMARY, Australia
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| | | | | 2001
| | 2002
| 2003
|
| | | | | March | September | | March | September | March |
| | | | | Quarter | Quarter | | Quarter(a) | Quarter | Quarter |
|
ISPs(b)(c) | | | | | | | | | |
| Very small | no. | | | 129 | 112 | | 102 | 102 | 110 |
| Small | no. | | | 330 | 299 | | 276 | 254 | 251 |
| Medium | no. | | | 169 | 155 | | 161 | 172 | 160 |
| Large | no. | | | 31 | 30 | | 26 | 29 | 26 |
| Very large | no. | | | 6 | 6 | | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Total | no. | | | 665 | 602 | | 571 | 563 | 554 |
Internet Access(c) | | | | | | | | | |
| Points of presence | no. | | | 2,310 | 2,171 | | r2,130 | 1,972 | 1,687 |
| Access lines | no. | | | 490,108 | 486,877 | | 447,050 | 639,197 | 857,470 |
Subscribers(c) | | | | | | | | | |
| Business and government | '000 | | | 482 | 559 | | 505 | 650 | 659 |
| Household | '000 | | | 3,486 | r3,726 | | 3,724 | 3,904 | 4,417 |
| Total | '000 | | | 3,968 | r4,285 | | 4,229 | 4,555 | 5,076 |
Data downloaded(d) | | | | | | | | | |
| Business and government | million Mbs | | | 428 | 506 | | 528 | r740 | 782 |
| Household | million Mbs | | | 611 | 780 | | 1,303 | r2,172 | 2,264 |
| Total | million Mbs | | | r1,039 | 1,286 | | 1,831 | r2,913 | 3,046 |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|
r | revised | (b) | See paragraph 7 of Explanatory Notes for description of ISP size categories. |
(a) | The collection frequency for the Internet Activity Survey changed from a quarterly to a biannual for March quarter 2002. | (c) | As at the end of the reference quarter. |
(d) | During the three months of the reference quarter. |
INTERNET ACTIVITY SUMMARY, State and territory
|
| | | 2001
| 2002
| 2003
|
| | | March | September | | March | September | March |
| | | Quarter | Quarter | | Quarter | Quarter | Quarter |
NEW SOUTH WALES
|
ISPs | no. | | 283 | 244 | | 236 | 240 | 212 |
Points of presence(a) | no. | | 781 | 704 | | 682 | 662 | 546 |
Access lines(a) | no. | | 157,253 | 155,291 | | 160,100 | 241,541 | 295,563 |
All subscribers(a) | '000 | | 1,284 | 1,446 | | 1,441 | 1,583 | 1,770 |
Data downloaded(b) | million Mbs | | 337 | 435 | | 676 | r1,132 | 1,074 |
VICTORIA
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ISPs | no. | | 248 | 220 | | 212 | 198 | 187 |
Points of presence(a) | no. | | 500 | 465 | | 476 | 416 | 365 |
Access lines(a) | no. | | 137,465 | 141,313 | | 114,544 | 163,855 | 241,274 |
All subscribers(a) | '000 | | 1,047 | 1,160 | | 1,045 | 1,180 | 1,338 |
Data downloaded(b) | million Mbs | | 250 | 347 | | 457 | r709 | 847 |
QUEENSLAND
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ISPs | no. | | 170 | 161 | | 151 | 150 | 146 |
Points of presence(a) | no. | | 437 | 422 | | 418 | 357 | 315 |
Access lines(a) | no. | | 99,235 | 93,985 | | 77,432 | 102,767 | 143,362 |
All subscribers(a) | '000 | | 803 | 829 | | 863 | 822 | 886 |
Data downloaded(b) | million Mbs | | 201 | 206 | | 308 | r524 | 464 |
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
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ISPs | no. | | 73 | 70 | | 74 | 65 | 57 |
Points of presence(a) | no. | | 186 | 188 | | 180 | 172 | 142 |
Access lines(a) | no. | | 31,668 | 31,027 | | 31,394 | 34,807 | 44,386 |
All subscribers(a) | '000 | | 278 | 280 | | 294 | 328 | 347 |
Data downloaded(b) | million Mbs | | 88 | 99 | | 125 | r141 | 193 |
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
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ISPs | no. | | 109 | 100 | | 100 | 92 | 85 |
Points of presence(a) | no. | | 239 | 224 | | 221 | 221 | 205 |
Access lines(a) | no. | | 40,861 | 41,104 | | 42,647 | 65,044 | 86,538 |
All subscribers(a) | '000 | | 357 | 363 | | 386 | 411 | 472 |
Data downloaded(b) | million Mbs | | 113 | 129 | | 173 | r273 | 303 |
TASMANIA
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ISPs | no. | | 32 | 29 | | 30 | 28 | 22 |
Points of presence(a) | no. | | 73 | 77 | | 71 | 61 | 48 |
Access lines(a) | no. | | 10,793 | 10,354 | | 9,159 | 12,404 | 20,876 |
All subscribers(a) | '000 | | 88 | 95 | | 88 | 98 | 109 |
Data downloaded(b) | million Mbs | | 17 | 31 | | 36 | r49 | 60 |
NORTHERN TERRITORY
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ISPs | no. | | 20 | 18 | | 21 | 23 | 15 |
Points of presence(a) | no. | | 32 | 30 | | 31 | 35 | 26 |
Access lines(a) | no. | | 4,523 | 4,163 | | 3,661 | 4,701 | 6,860 |
All subscribers(a) | '000 | | 38 | 45 | | 43 | 37 | 38 |
Data downloaded(b) | million Mbs | | 9 | 9 | | 16 | r19 | 26 |
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
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ISPs | no. | | 57 | 49 | | 46 | 44 | 37 |
Points of presence(a) | no. | | 62 | 53 | | 51 | 48 | 40 |
Access lines(a) | no. | | 8,310 | 9,640 | | 8,113 | 14,078 | 18,611 |
All subscribers(a) | '000 | | 73 | 68 | | 71 | 95 | 116 |
Data downloaded(b) | million Mbs | | 24 | 28 | | 40 | r66 | 80 |
AUSTRALIA
|
ISPs | no. | | 665 | 602 | | 571 | 563 | 554 |
Points of presence(a) | no. | | 2,310 | 2,171 | | r2,130 | 1,972 | 1,687 |
Access lines(a) | no. | | 490,108 | 486,877 | | 447,050 | 639,197 | 857,470 |
All subscribers(a) | '000 | | 3,968 | r4,285 | | 4,229 | 4,555 | 5,076 |
Data downloaded(b) | million Mbs | | r1,039 | 1,286 | | 1,831 | r2,913 | 3,046 |
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r revised |
(a) Based on State or Territory of operations not Head Office Location.
(a) As at the end of the reference quarter. |
(b) During the three months of the reference quarter. |
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