Australia had 11.1 million mobile subscribers at the end of June 2001, an increase of 25% over the previous year, according to a report just released by the Australian Communications Authority (ACA).
The ACA's Telecommunications Performance Report 2000"“01 shows that the growth in the mobile market was led by pre-paid services, which make up approximately 30% of all mobile services, up from 17% in June 2000.
The report also confirmed that for first time the number of mobile connections has exceeded the number of fixed line services, estimated to be 10.9 million.
Australia now has a mobile density of 56%, up from 42% in 2001. ACA Acting Chairman Dr Bob Horton said the report shows explosive growth in the use of mobile text and other data services, particularly SMS which is so popular, especially in the youth market.
"Some carriers reported annual rates of growth of more than 1,000% in SMS in 2000"“01," Dr Horton said. "By the end of the year, 30% of all mobile users were sending messages. In contrast, other data capabilities such as WAP have not been as popular with only 5% of users taking advantage of this application. But this may change in the future as improved functionality makes these capabilities more attractive."
Dr Horton said that the report also found both benefits to consumers and overall consumer satisfaction had increased during 2000"“01. "In terms of benefits, consumers reported being better off in terms of pricing, choice of products, SMS and quality of service," he said. "Consumers also reported high levels of satisfaction with billing, suppliers responding to their needs and the technical quality of the service.
"But it is not all good news because many have raised concerns about network coverage and the quality of information provided by the telecommunications industry."
According to the report, the benefits to consumers of telecommunications services in 2000"“01 were estimated to be between $5.5 and $12 billion, the highest levels ever recorded, beating last year's record of between $3.2 and $5.1 billion. By comparison the lowest benefit level of between $0.7 and $0.9 billion was recorded in 1996"“97.
Other significant industry developments highlighted in the report include: internet usage increased to 50% of the Australian population compared to 32% in 2000. While the national growth rate is slowing for adults accessing the internet, the rate of home internet connections is increasing, with around 33% of Australian households now having home internet access.
