A government report has revealed that the number of active mobile services in Australia now exceeds the Australian population.
The Communications Report 2006–07, from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), reported that 21.26 million mobile phone services were in operation at 30 June 2007, an increase of 7.6% from the previous year.
This is the first time mobile usage has surpassed the Australian population, which at 30 June 2007 sat at just over 21 million, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
According to ACMA chairman Chris Chapman, this growth was driven in part by a significant increase in 3G mobile uptake.
“There are now more than 4.5 million 3G mobile services in Australia, a 192% increase between 30 June 2006 and 30 June 2007,” Chapman said.
The report also recorded a slight drop in fixed-line services, from 11.26 in the previous year’s report to 10.92 million.
The number of payphones also dropped to 49,862 from the previous year’s figure of 58,230.
