Fixed line broadband provider numbers plummet in Australia

Following a study that was carried out by Internet service provider iiNet the number fixed line ISPs in Australia has plunged over the past year, with many smaller ISPs opting to leave the market.

Recent studies have been carried out by Australian Internet provider iiNet, the results of which have shown that the number of fixed line ISPs in Australia has plunged over the past year. It is claimed that saturation levels have been reached with fixed line services, and as competition amongst providers continues to heat up smaller ISPs have been flocking to leave the market.

According to the figures the number of fixed line providers in Australia plummeted from around 450 to just 250 last year. The study by iiNet was based on the market over the past several years. iiNet said that smaller companies were now simply finding it too difficult to compete in the market, and that many people that had been with the smaller providers were leaving to go to larger ISPs.

iiNet chief executive Michael Malone said: “We’re getting, literally daily now, calls from all the little guys out there with a few hundred customers that are just finding it very difficult to compete today. It appears that the number of fixed-line broadband connections has been flat for the last six months. Telstra, iiNet, TPG have all grown while Optus remains flat. Now those customers had to come from somewhere. They appear to be coming from the low end of the market.”

An official from Internode agreed that numbers had been plummeting, and said that some smaller ISPs would be looking at providers such as iiNet to come to some acquisition deal. However, Malone said that in many cases the companies were too small to justify the work and time that would have to be put into any acquisition.

Have you seen evidence of smaller providers disappearing from the market? Let us know with your comments

Source – The Australian