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INTRODUCTION
The Internet Activity Survey (IAS) is a census which collects details on aspects of Internet access services provided by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Australia. This publication contains results from all identified ISPs operating in Australia as at 31 March 2005.
DATA QUALITY AND CHANGES IN THIS PUBLICATION
Estimates for data at the state/territory level are derived from data provided for POPs (Point Of Presence or servers). In recent years, changing access technologies, infrastructure and operational arrangements have been impacting on the quality of the data at the POP level. Data presented at the state/territory level should be considered only as indicative measures of the distribution of Internet activity at the reference date and not changes over time. As a result, the format of Table 1.2 has been changed to reflect this.
REVIEW OF THE INTERNET ACTIVITY SURVEY
The ABS has previously notified readers of this publication of a reduction in the frequency of the Internet Activity survey to an annual basis, with the next survey due to be conducted in respect of March 2006. More recently a decision has been made to review the collection to address ongoing concerns with the quality and relevance of the data produced. The review will consider ongoing requirements for the current range of data, new and emerging data needs related to Internet activity, methodology, scope and data collection mechanisms. Pending the outcome of this review, the survey has been suspended for at least the period up to September 2006.
If you wish to know more about the review or provide input, please write to the Director, Innovation and Technology Statistics, Australian Bureau of Statistics, GPO Box K881, Perth, WA, 6842. Subscribers will be notified separately of the outcome of this review.
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.
INQUIRIES
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.
HIGHLIGHTS
- At the end of March 2005, total Internet subscribers in Australia numbered 5.98 million. While this was an increase of 239,000 (4%) from the end of September 2004, growth had slowed following a 10% increase recorded for the six months to the end of September 2004.
- The increase in overall subscriber numbers was again driven by growth (39%) in non dial-up subscribers from 1.3 million at the end of September 2004 to 1.8 million at the end of March 2005. Non dial-up subscribers represented 30% of total Internet subscribers in Australia at the end of March 2005 compared with almost 23% at the end of September 2004. This was the highest proportion of subscribers recorded for non dial-up technologies since the inception of the survey in September 2000.
- Growth in total subscriber numbers between March 2004 and March 2005 was 15%, whereas non dial-up subscriber numbers grew by 109% in the same period.
- Most of the growth for non dial-up was in the household subscriber sector with an increase of 42% in household non dial-up subscribers from the number recorded at the end of September 2004. The number of household non dial-up subscribers at the end of March 2005 was almost 1.4 million or over 77% of total non dial-up subscribers.
- The number of dial-up subscribers recorded at the end of March 2005 fell by almost 6% to 4.2 million. This resumed a downward trend established since the collection of the subscriber type series commenced in March 2003, despite a small increase of 2% recorded at the end of September 2004, when dial-up subscribers totalled 4.4 million.
Internet Subscribers, by access technology
- There were 689 ISPs supplying Internet access to 5.98 million active subscribers at the end of March 2005. While the total number of ISPs only increased by 2 over the six month period from the end of September 2004, there was more volatility when viewing ISPs by size category. The largest growth was in the Very Small size category, those ISPs with 100 or less subscribers. There were 180 ISPs in this size category, an increase of 5% since the end of September 2004. However these units had little overall effect on the aggregate figure contributing only 0.1% of total subscribers and 0.4% of total data downloaded. Growth in the Very Small size category was offset by a decrease in the number of Small (101 to 1,000 subscribers) and Large (10,001 to 100,000 subscribers) sized ISPs. As was the case at the end of September quarter 2004, there were 10 ISPs with over 100,000 subscribers at the end of March quarter 2005, although there was some change in the composition of this category in terms of individual ISPs.
- Data downloaded by subscribers during the March quarter 2005 continued to grow (28%) to 14,124 million MBs, but had slowed from the rapid increase (72%) experienced during the September quarter 2004 when 11,004 million MBs were downloaded. Non dial-up subscribers accounted for almost 87% of the total data downloaded, reflecting the much faster download speeds available with non dial-up technology.
Internet Subscriber Downloads, by access technology
- Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) remained the predominant access technology used for non dial-up Internet services with almost 70% of total non dial-up subscribers being connected using this means. There were 550 ISPs (almost 80% of total ISPs) providing Internet services using DSL access technologies at the end of March 2005.
- Using the definition currently adopted by the ABS to define broadband (an 'always on' Internet connection with an access speed equal to or greater than 256kbps), there were almost 1.8 million broadband subscribers at the end of March 2005, an increase of 39% from the end of September 2004.
- The majority (87%) of Australian Internet subscribers used monthly, quarterly or annual plans to access the Internet at the end of March 2005. Hourly access plans were the next most dominant means of accessing the Internet with 11% of subscribers.
Internet Activity Summary, Australia |
|  |
| | | | 2003
| 2004
| 2005
| |
| | | | March Quarter | September Quarter | March Quarter | September Quarter | March Quarter | |
| |
| ISPs(a)(b) | | | | | | | |
| Very small | no. | 110 | 153 | 176 | 171 | 180 | |
| Small | no. | 251 | 316 | 319 | 323 | 312 | |
| Medium | no. | 160 | 163 | 165 | 157 | 162 | |
| Large | no. | 26 | 27 | 25 | 26 | 25 | |
| Very large | no. | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |
| Total | no. | 554 | 667 | 694 | 687 | 689 | |
| Internet Access Lines(b)(c) | | | | | | | |
| Dial-up | no. | - | 626,554 | 623,839 | 658,555 | 614,093 | |
| Non dial-up | no. | - | 680,933 | 850,506 | 1,300,359 | 1,802,437 | |
| Total | no. | 857,470 | 1,307,487 | 1,474,345 | 1,958,914 | 2,416,530 | |
| Subscribers(b) | | | | | | | |
| Dial-up | | | | | | | |
| | Business and government | '000 | 520 | 505 | 499 | 524 | 433 | |
| | Household | '000 | 4,087 | 4,017 | 3,859 | 3,916 | 3,744 | |
| | Total | '000 | 4,607 | 4,522 | 4,359 | 4,441 | 4,177 | |
| Non dial-up | | | | | | | |
| | Business and government | '000 | 139 | 190 | 241 | 321 | 412 | |
| | Household | '000 | 331 | 499 | 620 | 979 | 1,391 | |
| | Total | '000 | 470 | 690 | 861 | 1,300 | 1,802 | |
| Total | | | | | | | |
| | Business and government | '000 | 659 | 696 | 740 | 846 | 845 | |
| | Household | '000 | 4,417 | 4,516 | 4,480 | 4,895 | 5,135 | |
| | Total | '000 | 5,076 | 5,211 | 5,220 | 5,741 | 5,980 | |
| Data Downloaded(c)(d) | | | | | | | |
| Dial-up | | | | | | | |
| | Business and government | million MBs | - | 178 | 137 | 253 | 304 | |
| | Household | million MBs | - | 1,341 | 1,457 | 1,465 | 1,566 | |
| | Total | million MBs | - | 1,520 | 1,594 | 1,718 | 1,870 | |
| Non dial-up | | | | | | | |
| | Business and government | million MBs | - | 1,169 | 1,294 | 2,307 | 3,255 | |
| | Household | million MBs | - | 1,976 | 3,521 | 6,979 | 8,999 | |
| | Total | million MBs | - | 3,145 | 4,815 | 9,287 | 12,254 | |
| Total | | | | | | | |
| | Business and government | million MBs | 782 | 1,347 | 1,431 | 2,560 | 3,559 | |
| | Household | million MBs | 2,264 | 3,317 | 4,978 | 8,444 | 10,565 | |
| | Total | million MBs | 3,046 | 4,665 | 6,409 | 11,004 | 14,124 | |
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| - nil or rounded to zero (including null cells) |
| (a) See paragraph 6 of the Explanatory Notes for a description of ISP size categories. |
| (b) As at the end of the reference quarter. |
| (c) The collection of separate access technology details commenced from the September quarter 2003 for Internet access lines and data downloaded. |
| (d) During the three months up to the reference date, also referred to as the reference quarter. |
Internet activity summary, State and territory |
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| March Quarter 2005
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| ISPs(a) | Access lines(b) | All subscribers(b) | Data downloaded(c) |
| no. | no. | '000 | million MBs. |
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| New South Wales | 262 | 817,017 | 2,023 | 4,629 |
| Victoria | 205 | 622,804 | 1,589 | 3,716 |
| Queensland | 182 | 416,364 | 1,065 | 2,359 |
| South Australia | 61 | 157,006 | 416 | 888 |
| Western Australia | 88 | 281,581 | 606 | 1,797 |
| Tasmania | 21 | 41,411 | 112 | 263 |
| Northern Territory | 14 | 18,146 | 43 | 97 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 32 | 62,179 | 127 | 376 |
| Australia | 689 | 2,416,530 | 5,980 | 14,124 |
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| (a) Based on State or Territory of operations, not Head Office location - see 'Data Quality' in the Notes section on Page 2 for details. |
| (b) As at the end of the reference period. |
| (c) During the three months of the reference period. |
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