Data downloads continue to skyrocket in Australia
Australians downloaded 50% more than the previous year in 2015.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released its latest internet consumption data, showing that data usage continues to grow exponentially in Australia.
The statistics show that an extra 189,393 TB of data per month passed through internet service providers in December 2015 when compared with December 2014. This is equivalent to around 7,200 years of continuous definition streaming on Netflix.
Data across fixed line and wireless all saw modest increases of 50% and 22% respectively. Data transferred over other connection types (such as dial up) increased when compared with 2014, however, it dropped slightly when compared with the June 2015 figure.
| Total data usage over 3 months | Dec 2014 (TB) | Jun 2015 (TB) | Dec 2015 (TB) | % increase from Dec 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed line | 1,112,379 | 1,349,975 | 1,673,123 | 50% |
| Wireless | 34,339 | 38,673 | 41,757 | 22% |
| Other (incl. dial up) | 25 | 49 | 42 | 68% |
| Total | 1,146,743 | 1,388,697 | 1,714,922 | 50% |
While wireless data download is still increasing, fixed line growth outpacing its mobile counterpart with the proportion of data being downloaded over wireless connection types falling from 2.9% in 2014 to 2.4% in 2015.
On a per-subscriber basis, the number amount of data downloaded also increased by 44% on fixed-line broadband connections and 22% on wireless broadband connections including satellite, fixed wireless and mobile broadband.
| Average data consumption, per subscriber, per month | Dec 2014 (GB) | Jun 2015 (GB) | Dec 2015 (GB) | % increase from Dec 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed Line | 58.0 | 70.0 | 83.5 | 44% |
| Wireless | 1.9 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 22% |
| Total broadband | 30.5 | 36.5 | 44.5 | 46% |
