Australia's appetite for the internet continues to grow and the number of wireless internet connections has soared in the last year, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Herald reported that a study by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows the amount of data downloaded in the June 2010 quarter increased by more than 50% compared to the same period a year earlier.
In the same period, the number of wireless broadband connections increased by 70% to nearly 3.5 million, while the number of fixed-line broadband connections rose slightly to 4.2 million. The amount of data downloaded every three months is now 11 times higher than March 2005 and 126 times higher than March 2002.
The assistant director of innovation and technology at the bureau, Mark Bloomfield, said the increase in downloads reflected the swing to faster download speeds. Mobile connections are popular with tradespeople and people who move frequently.
The number of slower, dial-up connections has fallen from 3.7 million in March 2002 to less than a million, representing just 9% of subscriptions.
The report quoted Bloomfield saying that the challenge of supplying broadband to remote areas would mean that pockets of dial-up usage would continue. -- Source: Sydney Morning Herald