More Regional Australians going online, streaming remains turned off

As SCA turns back on its streams in 3 big markets, and other regional streaming remains turned off for now, The ACMA’s latest research has found that more and more Australians are going online and they are using the internet more intensively.

There has been a huge jump in the use of mobile phone internet services for the almost 40% of Australians living outside the six biggest capital cities. In communities with less than 1,000 people one in three adults went online using their mobile phone during December 2013, compared to just one in 20, four years earlier.

Across Australia, going online on mobile phones has seen a dramatic increase. Nationally, 46% of adults used the internet on their mobiles during December 2013 compared to just 10% during December 2009.

Other key findings from the ACMA research snapshot, Regional Australia in the digital economy, released today, include:

  • More Australians in communities with less than 1,000 people are going online at multiple locations, with 18% of adult internet users in these communities going online from three or more separate locations such as home, work, school, the library or a wireless hot spot as at December 2013 compared to 12% at December 2009.
  • 46% of adult internet users in communities with less than 1,000 people went online more than once a day at December 2013 compared with 33% at June 2009.

Across all regions, Australians are diversifying their online activities to include email, research, banking, entertainment, blogging and social networking.  They are also becoming more intensive users of the internet – nearly six in ten adult internet users in communities with less than 1,000 people undertook five or more separate activities online during December 2013 compared to three in ten during December 2009.

While regional disparities in participation levels do exist, the gap is closing in some areas. Internet users in major urban areas are only slightly behind their major capital city counterparts in levels of internet connectivity and frequency of internet use. They are equal in terms of their activity and intensity of online participation.

Regional map: Shutterstock

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