7 December 2005
Strong growth in broadband and mobile services in 2004-05, while fixed services decline
A large increase in broadband internet subscribers, continuing strong growth in mobile services and a small but significant decline in fixed services were among the telecommunications industry highlights in the last financial year, according to the Australian Communications and Media Authority's Telecommunications Performance Report 2004-05. This is the first telecommunications performance report issued by ACMA, continuing a series of annual reports produced by its predecessor, the Australian Communications Authority (ACA).
Tabled in parliament today by the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, the ACMA report covers the performance of telecommunications carriers and carriage service providers, and reports on consumer satisfaction, consumer benefits and quality of service. It also contains telecommunications statistics concerning the 2004-05 year, analyses significant telecommunications trends and reports on compliance by carriage service providers with consumer safeguards contained in telecommunications legislation.
‘The highly competitive internet market is experiencing a period of rapid transition,’ said Lyn Maddock Acting ACMA Chair. ‘During 2004-05, broadband services became more affordable and higher data rate broadband services increasingly available, providing the platform for more widespread take-up of high bandwidth applications such as video-streaming.’
Broadband subscribers grew by 108 per cent to 2.18 million at 30 June 2005. In comparison, over the year to 31 March 2005 dial-up internet subscribers fell by four per cent to 4.18 million, indicating a trend of dial-up to broadband subscription substitution that is expected to accelerate in the next few years.
The geographic availability of terrestrial broadband services is also experiencing strong growth, increasing nationally by seven per cent in the 12 months to 31 March 2005. There was particularly strong growth in Tasmania and the Northern Territory over this period.
During 2004-05 mobile services increased by 12 per cent to 18.42 million, with the penetration rate of mobile phones (expressed as a percentage of the Australian population) at 90 per cent. There was particularly strong growth in retail pre-paid mobile services, which increased by 20 per cent. The mobile handset market continued its exceptional sales rate, with 7.7 million mobile handsets sold, an increase of eight per cent from the previous year. The number of SMS and MMS messages sent increased rapidly, with over 6.74 billion SMS and 49.8 million MMS messages sent in 2004-05.
The number of fixed services declined in 2004-05 by two per cent. Consistent with this trend, the number of services covered by the Customer Service Guarantee Standard—fixed telephone services supplied to residential and small business premises with five lines or less—declined by four per cent.
In the 12 months to 31 March 2005 the local, long distance and international fixed service markets all experienced declines in revenue, total call volumes and call minutes. The biggest decline was 14.2 per cent for local call revenue. ‘A broad range of measures indicate the fixed services market is declining’ said Lyn Maddock, ‘with fixed to mobile substitution and the increased usage of alternative modes of communications, such as SMS and email, leading to a significant restructuring of the telecommunications market’.
Emerging trends in 2004-05 indicate that the telecommunications market will become increasingly diverse in the next few years. There was a very large increase in the allocation of geographic (local) telephone numbers in 2004-05, with these numbers (which are allocated by ACMA) predominantly allocated to carriage service providers planning to offer voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services. Over 1.97 million metropolitan and 8.79 million non-metropolitan geographic numbers were allocated, representing a demand for geographic numbers that was more than 14 times the average annual demand over the last three years.
A less welcome trend in 2004–05 was the increase in complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) concerning fixed, mobile phone and internet services. When this data is ‘normalised’ relative to the number of services in operation in 2004-05, complaints about fixed services increased by 25 per cent, mobile phone services by 68 per cent and internet services by 34 per cent. There was also a sizeable 595,000 credit default listings made by carrier service providers to Baycorp Advantage, the largest credit bureau operating in Australia—a 63 per cent increase from 2003-04.
‘The TIO complaint data for 2004-05 suggests that the industry needs to address customer service as a priority,’ said Ms Maddock. ‘In an environment of increasing diversity, complexity and competition, consumers are likely to be attracted to those who provide superior service by delivering on undertakings through clear contract terms, accurate billing and quick, courteous problem resolution.’
Ms Maddock said that ACMA will be closely examining the outcomes of the Australian Communications Industry Forum’s (ACIF’s) review of its Credit Management Code, which ACIF has advised should be finalised in December 2005. The revised code must be submitted to ACMA for registration.
The Telecommunications Performance Report 2004-05 contains many other items of interest concerning the last financial year, including:
- a 50 per cent reduction in spam originating from Australia;
- strong growth in licensed carriers, with 40 new carrier licences issued;
- a 15 per cent decrease in calls to the emergency numbers 000 and 112, as well as an increase in the percentage of genuine calls to these numbers;
- progress with industry self-regulation, with a new eMarketing code registered, three new ACIF codes registered and five existing ACIF codes revised and re-registered;
- developments in service provision in remote Indigenous communities, including service take-up and the trial of new products and services—such as pre-paid telephone cards—of prospective assistance to these communities; and
- a summary of the key findings of the ACA’s Vision 20/20: Future scenarios for the communications industry – implications for regulation project, which examined potential scenarios over a 10 to 15 year horizon.
The Telecommunications Performance Report 2004-05 is available on the ACMA website. A chapter by chapter summary is also available on the website.
Media contact: Donald Robertson, ACMA Media Manager on (02) 9334 7980.
Backgrounder
The Telecommunications Performance Report 2004-05 contains a wide variety of telecommunications data for 2004-05. The table below provides a snapshot of key telecommunications indicators at 30 June 2005 compared with 30 June 2004.
Table: Snapshot of key telecommunications indicators at 30 June 2004 and 2005.
|
Measure |
30 June 2004 |
30 June 2005 |
% change |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet subscribers (31 March) |
5.22 million |
5.98 million |
15% |
|
Dial-up subscribers (31 March) |
4.36 million |
4.18 million |
–4% |
|
Broadband subscribers (30 June) |
1.048 million |
2.183 million |
108% |
|
Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) complaints per 1,000 internet services in operation |
2.00 |
2.68 |
34% |
|
TIO complaint issues concerning internet services |
10,388 |
16,012 |
54% |
|
Percentage of all spam in Australia originating from Australia |
2% |
1% |
–50% |
|
Number of ISPs (31 March) |
694 |
689 |
–1% |
|
Subscription television (pay TV) subscribers |
1,581,000 |
1,673,000 |
6% |
|
Mobile services in operation |
16.48 million |
18.42 million |
12% |
|
Pre-paid mobile services (retail only) |
7.08 million |
8.50 million |
20% |
|
Post-paid mobile services (retail only) |
7.69 million |
78.02 million |
4% |
|
Mobile penetration rate as a proportion of the Australian population |
82% |
90% |
10% |
|
TIO complaints per 1,000 mobile phone services in operation |
1.30 |
2.19 |
68% |
|
TIO complaint issues concerning mobile services |
21,465 |
40,254 |
88% |
|
Mobile numbers allocated by the ACA |
2.42 million |
6.50 million |
169% |
|
Mobile handsets sold in Australia |
7.1 million |
7.7 million |
8% |
| GSM coverage as a percentage of the population |
96% |
96% |
0% |
|
CDMA coverage as a percentage of the population |
98% |
98% |
0% |
|
GSM coverage as a percentage of Australia’s land area |
8% |
8% |
0% |
|
CDMA coverage as a percentage of Australia’s land area |
19% |
21% |
10% |
|
SMS messages sent |
5.078 billion |
6.736 billion |
33% |
|
MMS messages sent |
13.7 million |
49.8 million |
264% |
|
Mobile number ports |
1.120 million |
1.285 million |
15% |
|
Fixed lines |
11.66 million |
11.46 million |
–2% |
|
Services covered by the CSG |
9.330 million |
8.958 million |
–4% |
|
TIO complaints per 1,000 fixed services in operation |
3.10 |
3.89 |
25% |
|
TIO complaint issues concerning fixed lines |
36,167 |
44,559 |
23% |
|
Geographic numbers allocated by the ACA |
664,000 |
10,756,000 |
1,520% |
|
Geographic numbers allocated by the ACA (metro) |
473,000 |
1,968,000 |
316% |
|
Geographic numbers allocated by the ACA (non-metro) |
191,000 |
8,788,000 |
4,501% |
|
smartnumbers® allocated through public auctions |
n/a |
10,339 |
– |
|
smartnumbers® allocated to charities |
n/a |
165 |
– |
|
Local number ports |
334,000 |
580,000 |
73% |
|
Payphones—services in operation |
64,803 |
61,735 |
–5% |
|
Telstra payphone sites |
24,602 |
23,495 |
–5% |
|
TIO members |
1,043 |
1,135 |
9% |
|
Total TIO complaint issues |
68,020 |
100,825 |
48% |
|
TIO complaints resolved by conciliation |
6,144 |
7,689 |
25% |
|
Credit default listings with Baycorp Advantage—CSPs and ISPs |
365,000 |
595,000 |
63% |
|
Registered industry codes |
21 |
25 |
19% |
|
Companies signed up to at least one industry code |
17 |
66 |
288% |
|
Total number of code signatories |
76 |
115 |
51% |
|
Code breaches assessed by the TIO as established or confirmed |
485 |
589 |
21% |
|
Total licensed or registered cablers |
57,502 |
55,042 |
–4% |
|
Calls to emergency services using 000 and 112 |
12,741,247 |
10,807,627 |
–15% |
|
Calls to 000 and 112 transferred to emergency service organisations |
4,015,738 |
4,196,430 |
4% |
|
Calls to the 106 text emergency call service |
211,318 |
315,711 |
49% |
|
Calls to the 106 emergency call service relayed to emergency service organisations |
298 |
–2% |
|
|
Connected records in the Integrated Public Number Database |
39,725,114 |
43,585,833 |
10% |
|
Interim and alternative services provided by Telstra under the universal service obligation (USO) |
3,794 |
4,085 |
8% |
|
Authorised disclosures of customers’ personal information |
700,871 |
885,466 |
26% |
