13 March 2009
Nearly all small to medium enterprises now use the internet to communicate with customers and suppliers
Ninety eight per cent of Australia’s small to medium enterprises (SMEs) with an internet connection use their online service to communicate with customers and suppliers and more than 95 per cent are connected to some form of broadband service, according to an Australian Communications and Media Authority report released today.
The report, Take-up and use of communications by small and medium enterprises, confirms that ongoing technological innovation, particularly in the areas of broadband internet and wireless communications, is providing SMEs with a wider variety of communication options.
‘As you would expect, evolving technology is providing greater flexibility in meeting business operational needs, with 78 per cent of SMEs reporting efficiencies and time savings from broadband internet,’ said Chris Chapman, ACMA Chairman.
‘Business communication is now the largest single business activity undertaken by SMEs using the internet,’ Mr Chapman added. ‘SMEs see the internet as a critical business tool for the purposes of dealing with customers, managing supply chains and undertaking activities such as banking and selling products or services,
The report also found that while there has been a shift from 2G to 3G technologies, and a wholesale shift from dial-up to broadband internet, 85 per cent of SME still consider the fixed- line telephone to be an important feature of SME communications.
The report also found that 16 per cent of SMEs now used voice over internet protocol (VoIP). The take-up of VoIP, however, was significantly higher for certain industry sectors such as finance and insurance (29 per cent) and the communications, property and business services sector (26 per cent).
‘SMEs in the finance sector in general also had the highest level of adoption of communication technologies such as 3G, VoIP and broadband internet,’ Mr Chapman said.
The report is available on ACMA’s website.
Media contact: Donald Robertson, ACMA Media Manager, on (02) 9334 7980.
Backgrounder
ACMA has an interest in the take up and use of communications services by SMEs as an indicator of the performance of telecommunications companies in meeting the needs of the SME sector. The research has been designed to assist ACMA in its role as the industry regulator and to meet its statutory reporting requirements under the Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005 and Section 105 of the Telecommunication Act 1997 in reporting on the performance of telecommunications carriers and carriage service providers, consumer benefits and consumer satisfaction.
Key findings of the SME take-up and use of communications report.
Business communication is the largest single activity undertaken via the internet by SMEs with 98 per cent using the internet to communicate with customers and suppliers. Other significant activities undertaken online include; searching for information on products and services (89 per cent), research (85 per cent), banking (83 per cent), accessing directories (81 per cent) and paying for products and services (76 per cent).
Type of broadband connection
Broadband is the most common type of internet connection adopted by SMEs, with 95 per cent of SMEs estimated to be connected to some type of broadband service with 56 per cent using DSL/ADSL, 19 per cent cable and 12 per cent wireless broadband internet connections.
Voice communication technologies currently used or owned by business
The similar level of fixed-line and mobile telephone take-up since 2007 indicates that SMEs are less inclined to substitute their fixed-line compared with household consumers, with subscription rates for household fixed-line services peaking in 2004 1. This may be the result of the nature of the business and the affiliation of SMEs with their fixed-line telephone numbers as a result of concerns over customer retention.
1 ACMA (2008) Fixed-Mobile Convergence and Fixed-Mobile Substitution in Australia.
Mobile phone currently used or owned by business
New technologies have provided households consumers and SMEs with alternatives to accessing voice communications. However, VoIP remains an emerging voice communications technology with only 16 per cent of SMEs using a VoIP service in 2008 compared with 13 per cent in 2007. Survey results also reveal that VoIP services are being used concurrently with traditional fixed-line voice services reflecting the view that SMEs see new and emerging communication technologies as complementing the fixed-line telephone.
Methodology
Sensis® Business Index survey data has been used as a primary data source for this research report. In addition to the standard business survey, ACMA commissioned Sensis to field additional questions about telecommunication use, take-up and attitudes. Sensis conducted telephone interviews with 1,800 SMEs between 28 April and 30 May 2008.
Businesses interviewed were drawn from all metropolitan and major non-metropolitan regions within Australia; however, the sample excludes businesses in the agricultural sector.
Survey results were weighted by selected ANZSIC 2 divisions within the metropolitan and non-metropolitan region of each state and territory, to help ensure the sample reflected the actual SME population distribution. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Business Register, as at June 1998, was used to help weight the sample to be representative of the total business population. Data from Sensis® Business Index May 2007 was used to produce time-series comparisons throughout the report.
2 The Australian and New Zealand Standard Industry Classification is an industry classification jointly produced by Australian Bureau of Statistics and Statistics New Zealand.
ACMA’s research program in 2009
ACMA has regulatory obligations to report and advise on telecommunications, radiocommunications, broadcasting and the internet.
ACMA is planning to issue a number of studies this year as part of its research focus on changing consumer use and attitudes towards communications and media services.
Two complementary reports to SME take up and use of communications have been released in the past two weeks including:
- Australia in the Digital Economy: Trust & Confidence –which outlines Australian attitudes and behaviour relating to their online security;
- Convergence and Communication Report 1: Australian household consumers’ take-up and use of voice communication services – which examines adoption of emerging services such as VoIP and 3G by household consumers and the level of substitution between the fixed-line and mobile phones.
Other research ACMA is conducting under this program include reports examining technology trends, changes in communications and media business models, and spectrum management arrangements including auction design and pricing for allocations. Additional references
This SME take up and use of communications report also draws on the following ACMA reports from 2008:
- the Telecommunications Today series of reports, in particular the second report, Take-up and use by small and medium enterprises.
