Australians downloaded 3.1bn TB in June quarter

Australians downloaded over 3.1 million terabytes of data in the June quarter, up 43% year on year, with 92% of the data consumed over fixed broadband, according to the ACMA.

Nearly nine in 10 (89%) of Australian adults now access the internet, and this rises to 100% among those aged 18–34, the regulator’s latest Communications Report shows.

The report also found that fixed line broadband also contributed to more than 90% of the growth in download volumes for the quarter.

But while fixed broadband is responsible for the overwhelming majority of traffic, the mobile phone is the most popular and frequently used device for internet access.

There is also an ongoing shift towards mobile-only households, with 6.67 million Australian adults now having a mobile phone but no fixed-line telephone at home. There were 33.64 million mobile services in operation as of the end of June, up by 3% year on year.

These and related factors are expected to increase data consumption over mobile broadband in the future, according to ACMA Chairwoman Nerida O’Loughlin.

“Where demand leads, investment follows. Mobile operators, for example, announced plans for billion-dollar improvements to Australia’s 4G network in 2016–17, paving the way for more data-intensive activities over mobile,” she said.

Due to these investments, mobile operators report 4G population coverage in the range of 96% to 99%.

Meanwhile premises activated over the nbn were up 122% to 2.4 million as of the end of June. Changing consumer habits are also contributing to the strong growth in data consumption — the report found that in June 59% of Australians watched content online.

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