ACMA media release 43/2008 – 28 April

28 April 2008

Number of mobile phones now exceeds Australia’s population

For the first time, there is now more than one mobile service for every Australian, with 21.26 million mobile phone services in operation at 30 June 2007, a 7.6 per cent increase from 19.76 million the year before, according to the Australian Communications and Media Authority Communications Report 2006-07, released today.

A significant increase in 3G mobile customer numbers helped drive that growth, which was in contrast to a small but continued decline in fixed-phone services over the last financial year.

‘There are now more than 4.5 million 3G mobile services in Australia, a 192 per cent increase between 30 June 2006 and 30 June 2007,’ said Chris Chapman, ACMA Chairman.

Tabled in parliament today by the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, the report provides a comprehensive overview of changes in the communications industry.

The number of fixed services dropped from 11.26 million to 10.92 million between 30 June 2006 and 30 June 2007. The number of payphones in operation in Australia (both Telstra operated and privately operated) dropped by 8,368, to 49,862.

In 2005-06 almost a million new geographic numbers were allocated by ACMA. In 2006-07, geographic numbers were predominantly allocated for VoIP services – 2.89 million out of a total 3.23 million. This increase is a sign of competition and the entry of new VoIP providers into the Australian market requiring a supply of numbers for services across the country.

Internet subscribers were another area of communications services growth. There were 6.43 million internet subscribers in Australia, made up of 2.09 million narrowband and 4.33 million broadband subscribers (to the end of March 2007). Domain name registrations also grew: 795,368 .com.au registrations in the year compared with 612,918 the previous year.

In the broadcasting sector, Australian television networks met the minimum requirements of at least 55 per cent of all Australian programming between 6am and midnight, met annual quotas for children’s programming (as outlined in the Children’s Television Standards (CTS)), and requirements for first release Australian drama programs (as outlined in the Australian Content Standard).

The report also includes the results of an analysis of the consumer benefits and economic impact resulting from reforms in the telecommunications sector in 1997. The analysis concluded that total production in the Australian economy in
2006-07 grew by an additional $1.2 billion due to price and service competition in the telecommunications sector.

Media contact: Donald Robertson, ACMA Media Manager, (02)9334 7980.

Backgrounder

The ACMA Communications Report 2006-07 fulfils ACMA’s statutory obligations to report to the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy on telecommunications performance (under section 105 of the Telecommunications Act 1997).

The report provides an overview of the communications industry, service developments and industry performance in meeting statutory service obligations. It also reports on consumer satisfaction and benefits arising from communications services.

Data in the report is drawn from a range of sources including information reported by industry, ACMA’s research using third-party public sources and commissioned surveys and analysis.

The report contains a wide variety of communications data for 2006-07. Appendices include detailed data tables as a resource for industry analysts.

The table below provides a snapshot of key indicators at 30 June 2006 compared with 30 June 2007.

Table 1: Key communications indicators