Telstra says study predicts huge productivity dividend from mobile broadband

Peter Dinham
Wednesday, 04 March 2009 13:43

IT Industry - Market

Australia can expect an annual productivity dividend of $7.4 billion from mobile broadband, or the equivalent of $250 for every household, according to a market study released by Telstra.

The Next G productivity impacts study, conducted for Telstra by Concept Economics, looked at the economic impact of wireless broadband, estimating that if take up continues at current levels there will be an ongoing annual productivity dividend to Australians of $7.4 billion.
 
Telstra, releasing what it says is its first interactive media release, as a YouTube video, says the findings prompted the economist who undertook the study for Telstra, Dr Paul Paterson, to conclude that Australia's rapid take-up of wireless broadband has boosted economic productivity and better equipped business to weather the global financial crisis.

Paterson described the aggregate level results as “quite dramatic”, claiming that if Telstra’s Next G broadband service continued to be used in the way it is, and the take up matched Telstra forecasts, “it will lift household consumption by about 1%.”

Telstra says that one of 305 small companies surveyed by Concept Economics, Exit Films, used Next G mobile broadband to collaborate with editors and communicate with the investors while filming the soon-to-be-released movie "Last Ride", saving $30,000 in costs and many hours in lost production time.