Australian mobile data growth outpaces broadband

The volume of data downloaded to mobile devices increased by 103.8 percent from June 2016 to June 2018, compared with an 82.9 percent increase in total broadband data volumes. Despite the significant increase in data consumption, the number of mobile subscriptions remained relatively constant, climbing from 26.33 million subscriptions in June 2016 to reach 26.98 million subscriptions in June 2018.

The increasing rate of mobile data consumption reflects the nation’s changing media consumption habits, as outlined in the recent Media Consumer Survey conducted by Deloitte. Music and video streaming is helping to drive the rise in mobile data consumption, leading telcos to adapt their offers to accommodate the increasing appetite for mobile data. According to Deloitte, 21 percent of video and music streaming service subscribers now receive their subscription through a telco plan.

Although mobile data growth outpaced broadband, it remains a small slice of the overall amount of data transferred in Australia. While 246.77 terabytes of data was downloaded via mobile handset in the three months to June 2018, a total of 3.71 million terabytes was downloaded via a fixed broadband connection.