CHARACTERISTIC: HOUSEHOLD AND INDIVIDUAL USE OF ICT
INDICATOR: Volume of data downloaded by household ISP subscribers
During the March quarter 2004, active household subscribers downloaded an estimated 4,978 million Megabytes (MB) of data. This was an average of 1,109MB per household subscriber for the three months ended 30 March 2004. The volume of data downloaded by household ISP subscribers has increased significantly from the September quarter 2000 (when it was 595 million MB) growing by over 457% in the three years to September quarter 2003 and by 50% in the six months from September 2003 to March 2004. Factors contributing to the increase include an increase in the number of household subscribers (up 32% since September 2000 but down by 0.8% between September 2003 and March 2004) and the continued uptake of faster broadband access services which allow more rapid downloads. The ABS estimates that growth in broadband subscribers (household, business and other organisations) is about 27% (or 177,000 subscribers) in the six months between September quarter 2003 and March quarter 2004.
VOLUME OF DATA DOWNLOADED BY HOUSEHOLD ISP SUBSCRIBERS
|  |
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | |
|
|
|
| |
| March
quarter | September
quarter | March
quarter | September
quarter (a) | March
quarter | |
| |
| Dial-up (million MB) | | | | 1,341 | 1,457 | |
| Non Dial-up (million MB) | | | | 1,976 | 3,521 | |
| Total (million MB) | 1,303 | r2,172 | 2,264 | 3,317 | 4.978 | |
| |
(a) Dial-up/Non Dial-up split collected from September quarter 2003
r revised.
Source: ABS Internet Activity, Australia, March 2004 (cat. no. 8153.0).
HOUSEHOLD ISP SUBSCRIBERS
STATISTICAL NOTES
The ABS Internet Activity Survey is a census which collects information on aspects of Internet access services and other services provided by ISPs in Australia. Please see the Explanatory Notes of cat. no. 8153.0 for further information on the survey including scope, methodology, data quality, concepts and definitions.
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
Resident Australian individual or business offering Internet access services to customers.
Active subscribers
Subscribers who have accessed the Internet or paid for access to the Internet through an ISP in the ninety days during the reference period.
Household subscribers
Households and private individuals who subscribe to Internet access via an ISP. This may include some home based businesses.
Megabyte (MB)
A data unit of 1,048, 576 bytes, sometimes interpreted as 1 million bytes.
Gigabyte (GB)
A data unit of 1,024 MB.
Broadband
Defined by the ABS as an 'always on' Internet connection with an access speed equal to or greater than 256kbs.
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