Can the NBN fight off the wireless onslaught?

David Heath
Wednesday, 13 January 2010 07:20

Your IT - Home IT

In this context, the growth in wireless services described in the ACMA 2008-09 Annual Report is far from surprising.

“Digital convergence is well and truly with us,” said Chris Chapman, Chairman of the ACMA.  “During 2008-09, Australians continued to adopt new communication and media services and adapt their usage patterns to meet their specific lifestyle needs. Services such as 3G, VoIP and wireless broadband internet are being increasingly used, with factors such as lifestyle, age and family type shaping these choices.”

The report observed that, “The number of mobile phone services increased by 9.5 per cent in 2008-09 to 24.22 million, while wireless broadband services grew strongly increasing 162 per cent to reach 2.1 million services as at 30 June 2009. This contrasts with the number of fixed-line telephone services, which declined by three per cent to 10.67 million.”

This means that there are considerably more (over 2 million) active mobile phone services in Australia than people.  A lot of people clearly have more than one mobile phone.

Also, the reported 162% increase in wireless broadband services significantly pre-dates the push by vendors to promote the service; only in the past few months have we seen active advertising for USB wireless modems and significantly high data plans.

So, what does this mean for the NBN?  Read on...