Find Telecommunication expertise in Australia

The telecommunications sector in Australia is well developed by world standards and makes a significant contribution to the Australian economy. In 2007 the Australian telecommunications sector contributed 3.3% towards the country’s total GDP (Econstats, 2007).

Telstra Corporation Limited is the leading telecommunications company in Australia. Telstra constructs and operates telecommunications networks. The company’s services also include fixed line and mobile telephones, internet, and subscription television.

Optus Australia is another key player in the telecommunications sector . Optus is a leading internet service provider (ISP) and communications company, offering broadband internet, telephone products, mobile phones, subscription television and satellite services. Mobile phone providers in the country include multinational mobile phone company Vodafone, and Amaysim. Amaysim is a low cost mobile provider offering basic mobile services, as well as mobile phone and tablet sales.

The Australian Telecommunications sector is largely privatised and open to market competition. The sector was initially monopolised by the government-run Australian and Overseas Telecommunications Corporation. However a series of changes to telecommunications acts and regulation throughout the 1990s opened the industry up to external competition.

Australia’s regulatory body for the telecommunications sector is the Australian Government Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). ACMA is responsible for regulating all broadcasting, internet, radio communications and telecommunications in Australia. ACMA is also involved in working together with relevant government and industry bodies in an attempt to achieve a completely self-regulating telecommunications sector.

The telecoms sector in Australia employs a significant proportion of the Australian workforce; in 2012 a total of 21,800 workers were employed in the telecommunications trade sector (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations,2012).

There are several institutions relating to information and communication technology (ICT) training and used in the Australian education system. The Government of Australia offers several ICT entry level programmes open to those interested in the ICT sector. The programmes include apprenticeships, cadet schemes and graduate courses that give Australian citizens the chance to take on entry level positions, offering on the job training within government institutions.

The World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report reported large numbers of mobile phone subscriptions in Australia; in 2014 there were 1,312 mobile telephone subscriptions for every 1000 people in the country. By comparison there were just 389 fixed telephone landlines per 1000 people for the same year. Internet usage is also relatively high in the country, with results for 2014 showing 846 internet users per 1000 people.

Broadband internet subscriptions in the country are also relatively high; there were 23.9 broadband internet subscriptions, and 42.8 mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 people in 2012. The international internet bandwidth speed in Australia is fast by world standards; in 2012 the average internet speed was 50.4 kilobytes per second per internet user, giving Australia a rating of 31 out of 144 countries included in the WEF Report (WEF, 2012).