Global trends in fixed, mobile and cable connections

How do Australians connect?

There were about 200 communication connections per 100 Australians in 2015 (Figure 1). This is made up of 38 landlines, 28 fixed broadband connections and 133 mobile phone connections per 100 people. The mobile phone connection is a personal thing, and everybody has one (it looks like 33% of people have two!). Mobile phone connections have really exploded from an expensive business only rarity in the mid 1990’s to the ubiquitous form of connection in 2015.

Fixed broadband arrived as a new way to connect in the early 2000’s with a rapid initial uptake. Fixed broadband is a per household or business premises thing (not much point having two connections) and you can see that it is pretty steady since around 2010. Presumably all existing dwellings that needed a connection, had one by 2010.

The landline is clearly in decline, but not nearly as much as you would expect. Surprisingly there are still 38 landlines per 100 people. I presume this is because you are forced to have one with your fixed broadband package as opposed to anyone actually requesting a fixed phone line anymore.

Figure 1: Changing ways in how Australians Connect

How does the world connect?

Landlines

Who has a landline these days? In Australia there are 38 landline connections per 100 people. This is down from a peak of 53 connections per 100 in 2002. This is a pretty common trend globally with the number of landlines peaking in the early 2000’s with a drop of about 30% to the current level (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Rise and fall of the land line (Data World Bank )

Fixed broadband

North America leads the way in fixed broadband connections (32 connections per 100) followed by Europe and central Asia (25 connections per 100) (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Fixed broadband global trend (Data World Bank )

Mobile phone

Mobile phone connections have exploded globally (Figure 4). Almost every country is approaching or passed mobile saturation (100 connections per 100 people). The top 20 most mobile countries (Figure 5) all have in excess of 150 connections per 100 people. Macao has over 300 mobile connections per person.

Figure 4: Mobile phone connections global trend (Data World Bank )

Figure 5: Mobile phone connections global trend (Data World Bank )

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