The Australian Communications and Media Authority and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today released a joint report titled Communications Infrastructure and Services Availability in Australia 2008. The report, developed using the expertise of both agencies, discusses the availability of broadband, fixed voice, mobile voice and mobile data in the community.
‘I welcome the extensive cooperation between our two agencies which has resulted in the publication of this report.’ said Mr Chris Chapman, ACMA Chairman
‘This report provides a concise and objective account of communications infrastructure that is not readily available from other sources.’ Mr Graeme Samuel, ACCC Chairman, said.
Key findings identified in the report include:
- The number of broadband subscribers increased by 1.1 million in the 12 months to June 2008. This increase was driven by growth in wireless broadband (47 per cent) and DSL provided on unbundled services (33 per cent). Unbundled services are the unbundled local loop service (ULLS) and the line sharing service (LSS).
- Broadband connection speeds are rising with a 25 per cent increase in subscribers using a 1.5 Mbps service, predominantly as a result of evolution from ADSL1 to ADSL2+ services.
- Mobile services are evolving from second generation (2G) to third generation (3G) mobile with 8.55 million 3G services in operation at June 2008 (an increase of 88 per cent).
- Fixed voice remains a large part of consumers’ spend on communications services and the number of fixed lines remained stable in the year to June 2008 at 11 million fixed line services in operation. Alternatives to the standard telephone service (STS) for making fixed voice calls are emerging.
This is the second annual joint report issued by ACMA and the ACCC. The report is issued as part of a program of cooperation to minimise overlap in industry information-collection and reporting between the two agencies.
The examination of infrastructure and service take-up undertaken in this report is intended to provide an overview of communications infrastructure and service availability across Australia in residential and small business retail markets.
Telecommunication pricing is examined separately in the ACCC reporting series, Telecommunications Competitive Safeguards and the Changes in the Prices Paid for Telecommunications Services.
The Communications Infrastructure and Services Availability in Australia 2008 report can be found on ACMA's website www.acma.gov.au. The report and associated information can be found on the ACCC’s website.