Australian video consumption “transforming the communications landscape” says ACMA report

Australians’ ever-increasing appetite for data-hungry video services is transforming the communications landscape, according to the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s Communications report 2017–18. The annual ACMA report examines the current telecoms and media environment, including the latest in industry innovations and consumer trends. “Over 50% of Australian adults have subscribed to video services such as Netflix and Stan since their Australian launch in 2015, indicating just how fast the communications market can change,” said ACMA chair, Nerida O’Loughlin. Other findings show that Australian adults are increasingly diversifying the use and mobility of their connected devices. In particular 40% used five or more devices in 2018, up from 23% in 2014; 87% of adults accessed the internet through their mobile phone in 2018, up by 10 percentage points from 2014; and 16% of adults only used a mobile connection to access the internet in 2018, down from 23% in 2014. Further, 41% only used a mobile phone to make voice calls at home, up from 27% in 2014. There have also been “significant investments” in underlying infrastructure by industry and government, including the Australian government contributing equity of over AUS$24 billion between 2013/14 and 2017/18 towards the National Broadband Network (NBN) rollout and AUS$220 million on more than 800 mobile base stations since 2013. Meanwhile industry spent around AUS$5 billion between 2013 and 2018 at spectrum auctions. Read more

• Tuesday, 19 February 2019