More than 1.8 million more Australians signed up for a broadband internet service in the 18 months from March 2005 to September last year, the ABS found.
The ABS’ Internet Activity Survey – the first time the bureau has investigated online numbers – shows there are now far more broadband customers in Australia (3.91 million) than dial-up users (2.75 million)
Broadband subscribers represent 59 per cent of the total number of Internet subscribers in September 2006 compared to 30 per cent in March 2005.
Communications Minister Helen Coonan said there was increasing demand for broadband internet access as more Australians sought always-on, anywhere access business and entertainment services.
Wireless technology – mobile and fixed – was one of the fastest growing sectors in the broadband access market with nearly five per cent of subscribers now using wireless modems.
“The rapid take-up of broadband internet shows Australians want the latest technologies and infrastructure to support it,” Senator Coonan said.
“But as the increase in take-up of wireless broadband shows, consumers want to access what they need, at a price point they can afford and via a technology that suits their individual needs.
The ABS found there were a total 6.65 million internet subscribers in Australia, including 825,000 businesses and 5.26 million households at the end of September last year.
Labor communications spokesman Stephen Conroy had welcomed the ABS’ plans to study broadband for the first time, but said the report would only highlight that Australia was lagging other developed nations in broadband uptake.
Senator Conroy said Australia was ranked just 17th in an OECD survey of 35 countries for the take-up of 256kbps broadband, and that the World Economic Forum had ranked Australia 25th in terms of available internet bandwidth.
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