Users of Aussie wireless broadband almost double

A report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has shown that in the last six months the subscription to wireless broadband in Australia has almost doubled with figure showing 809, 000 users.

The huge boost in internet users has raised the proportion of wireless broadband to 14 percent of all Australian internet subscriptions it has been found in an ABS Internet Activity report.

The number of internet subscriptions rose to 7.2 million for the period, which was an increase of 7.2 percent and out of this number 80 percent of them were using broadband. And for 54 percent of these users the ever popular ADSL broadband technology was the connection they favoured.

The rapid price drop was considered to be one of the main reasons for the jump in wireless subscriber numbers (3G mobile broadband subscribers were included in this category) according to Ovum analyst, Nathan Burley.

He stated “We saw a price war towards the end of last year and earlier this year, so a dramatic lowering of costs made it very affordable for mobile broadband subscribers. From June [2007], there has been a 60 per cent reduction”.

A continuing price drop was, however, unlikely said Burley “Mobile broadband [prices] are probably starting to bottom out. There are signs that there are problems on some of the networks … operators are not provisioning enough capacity.”

In terms of wireless internet growth Burley did not see business as a driving force even though it is often looking for faster connection speeds. He advised “In terms of business market we see it as more complementary rather than as a substitute.”

Burley also explained that another key reason for wireless broadband popularity was due the value it offers when compared to things like the Lower speed DSL connections. He Advised “If you look at the ABS figures, the number of subscribers that are on 256Kbps or 512Kbps plans is still a very large proportion of the subscriber base. A person who is still on that sort of connection could easily operate on a wireless network.”
The continued growth of wireless broadband, Burley said, would be down to how it competed against the likes of budget DSL “All of those connections are a possible for mobile operators to churn across to wireless.”