Compare Broadband is an internet comparison service that helps Australian’s find the right broadband plan to suit their needs. We have compiled data on the back of 107,155 customers looking for a new broadband plan.

Information collected pertains to location, household size, internet usage, connection type and reason for needing a new broadband plan.

The average household size was 2.5 people, in line with 2016 ABS census data, broken down by 20% singles (21,597), 42% couples (45,098) and 38% families (40,460).

The reason people are searching for a broadband plan is broken down into two groups:

1. Moving home or in need of a new connection 65% (69,651)

2. Looking for a better plan 35% (37,504)

75% of NT respondents were moving home or need a new connection, compared to the national average of 65%.

New South Welshmen appear to be the most dis-organised with 40% of them moving in 1-5 days compared to only 27% of Taswegian’s moving within 5 days. Likewise, 26% of Tasmanian’s search for their broadband plan more than a month before moving compared to only 10% of people from NSW.

South Australian’s appear to be the tightest with 66% of them preferring lower upfront costs over a shorter contract period compared to only 52% of people from the Northern Territory. Families are also more interested in lower upfront costs at 66% compared to singles where 60% requested lower upfront cost over a shorter contract.

Possibly on the back of NBN Co’s increased marketing spend as well as the NBN roll-out activity, Australian’s are more aware of the “type” of broadband connection they can get at their address. At the beginning of 2017 when answering what service type they had available at their property, only 16% said they were searching for an NBN plan. This increased to 32% of people by September 2017.

Internet Usage*

The advent of streaming services has seen a huge rise in data usage worldwide. The average Australian household believes they need around 380GB per month based on their data usage selections (this is in-line with the ABS June 2017 internet data usage figures) – a 33% increase on this time last year.

A summary of what the 107,000 respondents said they’d use the internet for is as follows (note: multiple selections was possible):

1.     Streaming - 82%

2.     Browsing and email - 68%

3.     Facebook and other social media - 61%

4.     Study - 36%

5.     Work - 32%

6.     Online gaming - 30%

Over 80% of households use their internet to stream and two thirds of them stream daily, with just under one third streaming occasionally/weekly and 4% rarely. A higher percentage of people in the NT stream, with 87% of users saying they will be using the internet to stream. A bit slow on the uptake, only 77% of Tasmanian’s said they’d stream. Singles have the lowest propensity to stream at 69%, 11% lower than the average. Singles also stream less frequently, possibly out looking to lose the singles tag.

Nearly 1/3 of Australian’s are using their internet connection at home for work. The highest being the ACT at 35%. Tasmanian’s seem to have the balance right, with only 27% using their internet connection for work purposes. Clearly better things to do in Tassie than spend time on the internet for any purpose.

Use of the home internet connection for study is most prevalent in families (50%), with 36% of couples using it to study and only 22% of singles.

Source: Aggregated data from 107,155 visitors to www.comparebroadband.com.au who completed a series of questions relating to their household broadband requirements.