



INTRODUCTION

The Internet Activity Survey (IAS) collects details on aspects of internet access services provided by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Australia.

This release contains data from ISPs with more than 1,000 subscribers operating in Australia as at 30 June 2011. The Main Features section contains all data reported by ISPs with more than 1,000 subscribers, even for census cycles. Separate data for census cycles are contained in the associated data cubes.

The ABS counts subscribers that have an internet connection with an ISP on the last day of the reference period. ABS subscriber statistics measure the number of 'subscriber lines' rather than the number of 'users' and therefore, counts of subscribers are not the same as counts of people/organisations with internet access. This is because some subscribers may have accounts with more than one ISP or multiple accounts with a single ISP. Conversely, there are single ISP subscriber accounts that provide internet access for multiple people/organisations (for example, universities).

Decreases in the number of ISPs can be attributed to the consolidation of ISPs or ISPs no longer being in scope, either by ceasing ISP activity or reporting a decrease in the number of subscribers.

In reporting sector data, ISPs may reclassify their subscribers from Business and government to Household, or vice versa, or they may report proportions in lieu of actual numbers which may impact upon the reported figures.

The ability of ISPs to report the volume of data downloaded is variable. Data presented for these items should only be considered as an indicative measure of internet activity during the reference period and therefore should be used with caution. The occurrence of special events during a cycle may result in abnormally high downloads. Data reported by ISPs for the volume of data downloaded via mobile handsets may only include revenue generating downloads and not monthly data allowances or downloads from free applications.

Detailed and historical information is available in the accompanying data cubes.



HIGHLIGHTS

At the end of June 2011, there were 10.9 million internet subscribers in Australia (excluding internet connections through mobile handsets). This represents annual growth of 14.8% and an increase of 4.4% since the end of December 2010.

The phasing out of dial-up internet connections continued with 95% of internet connections being broadband.

Australians continued to access increasingly faster download speeds, with 87% of access connections offering a download speed of 1.5Mbps or greater.

Mobile wireless internet (excluding mobile handset) connections (44%) now exceed Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) connections (41%) in Australia. Mobile wireless (excluding mobile handset connections) was the fastest growing internet access technology in actual numbers, increasing from 4.2 million in December 2010 to 4.8 million in June 2011.

(a) For ISPs with more than 1,000 subscribers.

Internet activity summary, Australia, for ISPs with more than 1,000 subscribers Jun 2010 (a) Dec 2010 Jun 2011 Number of ISPs(b) Medium ISPs no. 72 71 64 Large ISPs no. 23 21 23 Very large ISPs no. 12 12 10 Total number of ISPs no. 107 104 97 Sector(c) Dial-up (less than 256kbps)(d) Business and government '000 177 189 111 Household '000 607 518 468 Total dial-up subscribers '000 785 707 579 Broadband (256kbps or greater)(d) Business and government '000 1 681 2 144 2 089 Household '000 7 036 7 595 8 239 Total broadband subscribers '000 8 717 9 739 10 328 All subscribers Business and government '000 1 859 2 333 2 200 Household '000 7 643 8 112 8 707 Total number of subscribers '000 9 502 10 446 10 906 Access connections Dial-up(d) '000 784 707 569 Broadband(d) DSL '000 4 212 4 458 4 493 Cable '000 np np 881 Fibre '000 13 24 31 Satellite '000 np np 106 Fixed wireless '000 25 24 34 Mobile wireless '000 3 453 4 230 4 786 Other broadband '000 np np 7 All broadband connections '000 8 718 9 739 10 338 Total number of subscribers '000 9 502 10 446 10 906 Advertised download speed Less than 256kbps '000 785 707 579 Broadband 256kbps to less than 1.5Mbps '000 1 950 1 240 812 1.5Mbps to less than 8Mbps '000 3 540 4 067 4 614 8Mbps to less than 24Mbps '000 2 594 3 530 3 913 24Mbps or greater(e) '000 632 901 na 24Mbps to less than 100Mbps(e) '000 na na 972 100Mbps or greater(e) '000 na na 18 Broadband (256kbps or greater) '000 8 717 9 739 10 328 Total number of subscribers '000 9 502 10 446 10 906 Volume of data downloaded(f) Dial-up TB 280 183 106 Broadband Fixed line(g) TB 141 892 174 665 254 947 Wireless(h) TB 13 330 16 990 19 149 Total broadband TB 155 222 191 655 274 096 Total volume of data downloaded TB 155 503 191 839 274 202 na not available np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated (a) Even though this is a census cycle which collects data from all ISPs, data is only for ISPs with more than 1,000 subscribers. (b) See paragraph 8 of the Explanatory Notes for ISP size categories. Decreases to ISP numbers can be attributed to consolidation of ISPs or ISPs becoming out of scope of the survey. (c) ISPs may reclassify their subscribers from Business and government to Household, or vice versa, or they may report proportions in lieu of actual numbers which may impact upon the reported figures. Readers are advised to use these figures with caution. (d) Dial-up and broadband figures by Sector are collected by advertised download speeds, therefore these data may not equal figures reported for type of access connection, due to some broadband connections being reported as less than 256kbps. (e) Prior to June 2011 advertised download speed reported for 24Mbps or greater. From June 2011 data reported for 24Mbps to less than 100Mbps and 100Mbps or greater. (f) Data reported for the 3 month period prior to the reference date. (g) Fixed line includes DSL, cable, fibre and other fixed line broadband, (h) Wireless includes satellite, fixed wireless, mobile wireless via a datacard, dongle, USB modem or tablet SIM card and other wireless broadband. Excludes connections via a mobile handset.





MOBILE HANDSET SUBSCRIBERS

At the end of June 2011, there were 9.7 million mobile handset subscribers in Australia. This represents an increase of 18.1% from December 2010.

Of the 9.7 million mobile handsets, 3.6 million (37%) were dedicated data subscriptions and 6.1 million all other active standard mobile subscriptions.

The volume of data downloaded via mobile handsets over the three months ended 30 June 2011 was 3,695 Terabytes. Internet connections via a mobile handset, for ISPs with more than 1,000 subscribers Jun 2010 Dec 2010 Jun 2011 Number of subscribers Dedicated data subscription(a) '000 1 214 1 222 3 609 All other standard mobile subscription(b) '000 5 566 6 974 6 074 Total mobile handset subscribers '000 6 781 8 197 9 683 Volume of data downloaded(c) Via a mobile handset TB 717 4 029 3 695 (a) A dedicated data subscription is a subscription over a mobile network which is purchased separately from voice services, either as a stand-alone service or as an add-on package to voice services. (b) An active standard mobile subscription refers to a mobile service which has access to the internet via HTTP and has been used to make a data connection using Internet Protocol (IP) within the three month period prior to the reference date. This includes all casual/incidental browsing where a dedicated data subscription has not specifically been purchased. (c) Data reported for the 3 month period prior to the reference date.





ROUNDING

Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between the sum of components and the total. Proportions 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 Andrew Puljic on Perth (08) 9360 5229.









For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Andrew Puljic on Perth (08) 9360 5229.