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ACMA: Australians moving away from fixed-line phones

Young people are leading the trend away from fixed-line phones towards mobile and VoIP services, with 40 per cent more people without them at home

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has released research showing a rapid rise in the number of people without fixed-line phones at home.

The findings come from the regulatory authority’s Take-up and use of voice services by Australian consumers report. The ACMA report can be found here and follows on from earlier reports that record numbers of Australians are getting online.

According to a statement from the ACMA, 14 per cent of Australians did not have a fixed-line phone at home in June 2010. This was 40 per cent higher than the year before.

“Increasing functionality of mobile phones and continued handset innovations, including the emergence of the smartphone, tablets and internet-enabled mobile devices, is underpinning the importance of mobile technology to the lifestyles of many Australians,” ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman, said in the statement.

The report claimed 1/3 of young adults aged 18-24 that left their parental home chose not to connect a fixed-line phone. It said the rise in mobile phones as well as Voice over IP (VoIP) services was being used as replacements.

“2.9 million Australians 14 years and over [are] using a VoIP service at home, an increase of 16 per cent since June 2009,” he said. “However, despite the strong shift toward mobile and VoIP technology, the fixed-line phone continues to maintain a solid presence…particularly among older Australians with 97 per cent…65 and over with a fixed-line telephone.”

The report also claimed 49 per cent of people said fixed-line telephones were the main voice communications tool they used while 37 per cent chose mobile phones. 14 per cent used both.

Nominations for the 2012 ARN IT Industry Awards open on Tuesday, June 12.

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