Australia - Broadband - Business Market Statistics and Analyses

Australia - Broadband - Business Market Statistics and Analyses

Most Australian businesses now make use of broadband to promote themselves in the market place, interact with customers, perform essential tasks such as lodging tax and other forms, and engage in e-commerce to buy and order goods. Almost all businesses subscribe to broadband services and most use the internet to conduct business and attract sales. As the sector moves further into 2016 the use of broadband by businesses will become ever more pivotal to their commercial success and viability. In addition, the deployment of emerging technologies such as G.fast and DOCSIS3.1, both being trialled by nbn and both expected to be in commercial service in 2017, will widen the types of processes which businesses can undertake.

There remain geographic pockets where broadband availability is sparse. These are principally in regional and remote areas, though in some urban areas broadband access can also be patchy. Many of the affected businesses in these areas depend on satellite or mobile solutions rather than fixed-line broadband. Access to the internet for these businesses is improving, with Optus and Telstra aiming for 98% population coverage by the end of 2016 and with two new SkyMuster satellites having been launched as part of the NBN's multi-technology mix. These satellites have a combined capacity of 135Gb/s and can deliver data to customers at up to 25Mb/s. In addition, as the NBN is progressively rolled out a growing number of businesses have switched to fibre-based services, which better enable companies to compete in the global economy. The faster speeds of fibre infrastructure are enabling businesses to adopt services such cloud computing, online interaction, and media conferencing.

This report provides an overview of the key drivers and trends behind broadband adoption in the Australian business market. It includes a number of recent market surveys incorporating a wide range of topics including e-business, broadband usage, small and medium enterprise readiness, and usage of the internet.

Key developments:

Mobile broadband, internet uptake in business increasing, smartphones, tablets, M2M, SMEs, VPN, internet access, National Broadband Network (NBN); report update includes ABS data to December 2015, Sensis e-business report data updates, ACMA reports, surveys and recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Telstra, Exetel, Optus, Vodafone, Sensis, nbn (NBN Co).