19 December 2006
Figures show growing household appetite for broadband
The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, today welcomed Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures showing broadband is booming in households across Australia.
“The recently released ABS report, Household use of information technology (2005–06) shows that the number of online households with broadband has close to doubled (to 2.3 million households) in the year to June 2006,” Senator Coonan said.
According to the report the number of online households with broadband increased 92 per cent in the year to June 2006 and 48 per cent of online households now use some form of broadband.
“Over half (58 per cent) of online households in capital cities now use broadband and more than one in three online non-metropolitan households (37 per cent) are using broadband,” said Senator Coonan.
“The ABS figures show Australian consumers are increasingly choosing ADSL services, with that connection type now representing 83 per cent of households with broadband, up from 76 per cent in 2005.
“Australia has some of the cheapest ADSL and best per gigabyte value in the world. The take-up of ADSL emphasises that most consumers are looking to access broadband at a price point they can afford and via a technology that suits their individual needs.”
Cable broadband decreased in market share, dropping from 19 per cent to 10 per cent of households with broadband.
“We now have 60 per cent of households with some form of Internet connection,” Senator Coonan said. “This is an increase of 7.7 per cent to the overall number of online households to 4.73 million in the 12 months to June 2006.”
The Government recognises providing broadband services right across Australia is a priority. The Government’s $1.1 billion Connect Australia package and the $2 billion Communications Fund will be used to invest in next generation broadband infrastructure, encourage private sector investment, and rollout high speed backbones to support the health, research and education sectors.
Additionally, through the recently released Broadband Blueprint, the Australian Government has invited all tiers of government to participate in the development of an implementation plan for investment in next generation broadband infrastructure, under the auspices of the Online and Communications Council.