The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has released its 2017-18 report, which revealed some key trends.
ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said: “It is a report on the performance of the telecommunications industry for 2017-18, prepared in accordance with section 105 of the Telecommunications Act 1997”.
“This annual report tracks the striking pace of change in the Australian communications and media landscape,” Ms O’Loughlin said.
“That change has been so extensive that the landscape referenced in our Communications report 2013–14—released only four short years ago—is today almost unrecognisable.”
Ms O’Loughlin noted four noticable trends, and outcomes from the report:
- Data-hungry services—in particular, video content—have driven huge increases in the
amount of data downloaded by Australians across communications networks. - Australians are also accessing services over many more devices, increasingly on the move
and matching devices to different uses. - Australian industry and government have invested significantly in communications
networks to keep up with current and expected future demand. - Revenues to support such investment have increasingly shifted to online and ‘over-the-top’ providers that rely heavily on communications networks and underlying infrastructure
to deliver their services.
Vodafone Australia National Account Manager Scott Gibbons put together a summary of the ACMA report, noting a few points of importance including:
- 96% of Australians had used a mobile phone in the last six months
- 83% of these were smartphones
- 89% of Australian adults accessed the internet in the six months to May 2018, with 74% accessing the internet three or more times per day
- The volume of data downloaded continued its decade-long increase, reaching 4.08 million terabytes in the June 2018 quarter over both fixed and mobile networks, up 29% in the last year
- The growth in data downloaded slowed compared to previous years, largely driven by less growth from fixed networks; however, growth in data downloaded over wireless and mobile handsets continued at the same steady pace.