The Pan Asia Networking Yearbook (PANY) provides comprehensive coverage of Internet infrastructure, content and key organizations for 22 countries in the Asia Pacific region. It is a reference sourcebook for all interested in Internet networking issues in Asia. Copyright © International Development Research Centre, 1998 © All Rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the International Development and Research Centre. The material in this Yearbook has been peer-reviewed by in-country resource persons. The views expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of the International Development Research Centre. Cite as follows : The Pan Asia Networking Yearbook (1998). Singapore: Asia Regional Office, International Development Research Centre. [On-line serial, subscriber-based :https://www.panasia.org.sg/ecomsec/bookshelf/user/webdriver] Abstract Australia has a well-developed communications infrastructure for Internet and its use is widespread throughout business, government, education, and the general public. According to the latest figures from the Bureau of Statistics, almost a third of Australian adults, or 4.2 million people, used the Internet, while the number of households with access to the Internet increased by 46 per cent in the last year to almost 1.25 million (18 per cent of households), giving it one of the highest penetration rates for Internet in the world. Australia By Geoff Long OVERVIEW The island continent of Australia is a large land-mass with a population of only 18 million, making it one of the least densely populated places on earth. The interior is very dry and does not support intensive agriculture. As a result, most of the population is concentrated on the coastal fringes, particularly the eastern sea-board. The capital of Australia is Canberra but it is an administrative city only. The two major business centres are Sydney and Melbourne, while Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth are the other larger cities. Despite media images of Australians living in rural settings, most of the population live in cities and the country is very urbanised. Australia is also a multi-cultural country and has over the years taken in immigrants from nearly every nation. Today it is one of the most culturally mixed societies in the world. While English is the only official language, there are significant linguistic resources available as a result of immigrant groups. Indigenous Australians, or Aborigines, make up just over 1 per cent of the population and have a wealth of culture and many languages in use. Although Australia is a large area to cover, infrastructure is well developed in nearly all parts of the country and telecommunications coverage is approaching 100 per cent. The rural areas have some strong lobby groups that attempt to push policies that will give remote areas the same access to services as city people have, and to a large extent this has been successful. Nevertheless, city areas particularly Sydney and Melbourne have access to high-bandwidth networks and a choice of services that are not available in country areas. Until recently Telstra (formerly Australian Telecom) had a monopoly on telecommunications services. The government introduced one competitor Optus in the lead-up to full-deregulation on 1 July 1997. Since that time at least 25 telecommunications carriers have obtained licences to build and operate networks. Nevertheless, Telstra is still the dominant player and operates the largest network in the country, while Optus also has major infrastructure, including the Australian satellite system, Aussat. Telstra was partially privatised in 1998 and the government is looking at completely privatising it some time in the future. Australians have a reputation as early adopters of technology and the take-up of Internet has been no exception, with almost one-third of all Australian adults using it in the last year. REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT On 1 July 1997, the Australian communications industry gained a new regulatory framework and regulatory body, the Australian Communications Authority (ACA).The ACA was formed through the merging of two previous regulatory bodies, the Spectrum Management Agency (SMA) and the Australian Telecommunications Authority (AUSTEL). The ACA regulates communications consumer and technical matters, and manages radio communications. Under the new framework, industry self-regulation is encouraged in all areas, including access, technical standards, interconnection standards, and consumer and customer service standards. Various regulatory bodies have the power to intervene if self-regulation is seen to be not working. Communications providers are divided into three types: Carriers, carriage service providers, and content service providers. Telecommunications carriers must apply for a licence from the ACA, although there is no limit to the number of companies that can build and operate telecommunications infrastructure. Internet service providers are classed as carriage service providers and generally do not need a special licence, nor are there any fees payable to the government. Online content services as well as broadcasters are classed as content service providers and are subject to the Trade Practices Act 1974 and to content regulation by the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA). Another important body is the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which makes sure there is no anti-competitive behaviour in the industry and arbitrates when there are industry disputes. The government ministry responsible for communications is the Department of Communications and the Arts, which also provides advice on all aspects of policy and has input into the role and function of the ACA. There are also a number of other important bodies under the new regulatory framework. These include the Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF), which develops codes and standards, the Australian Communications Access Forum (ACAF), and the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO), an independent dispute resolution forum for complaints made by residential and small business consumers of telecommunications services. The government has also proposed new copyright legislation, which will extend the intellectual property rights in current law to works which are reproduced digitally. The Australian country top-level domain (.au) has in the past been administered by one person, while sub-domains under .au have been administered by various organisations. More recently, there have been attempts to form an independent .au domain body and restructure its administration. The Australian .com sub-domain, the most widely used, is administered by Melbourne IT, a commercial arm of Melbourne University. INTERNET CONNECTIVITY Australia has a well-developed communications infrastructure for Internet and its use is widespread throughout business, government, education, and the general public. According to the latest figures from the Bureau of Statistics, almost a third of Australian adults, or 4.2 million people, used the Internet, while the number of households with access to the Internet increased by 46 per cent in the last year to almost 1.25 million (18 per cent of households), giving it one of the highest penetration rates for Internet in the world. This is backed up by the number of hosts, which has been consistently in the top-five nations even though the population base is a mere 18 million. Of the 4.2 million users, 1.9 million accessed the Internet either from work or home, 934,000 from a friend or neighbour's house, 933,000 from tertiary institutions and 395,000 from public libraries. In addition, about 425,000 adults used the Internet to buy or order goods and services in the last year for an estimated 1.3 million transactions. With more than 600 ISPs, Australia also has one of the largest number of access providers in the region. However, in the last year there has been some rationalisation in the industry, with a number of mergers and some larger ISPs folding. For the first time, the number of ISPs dropped in 1998, from 666 to 642, although overall traffic is still increasing. The ISP industry is dominated by two major players: OzEmail and Big Pond, the Internet subsidiary of Telstra. Together these two hold some 40 per cent of the market, while no other player holds more than five per cent of the market. Last year OzEmail absorbed its biggest competitor in the corporate sector, Access One. Other significant ISPs to fold in the last year include Geko and Pronet. Pegasus Networks, one of the first commercial ISPs in Australia and a proponent of community networking, was bought out by fellow ISP Microplex, which was in turn bought out by carrier Optus Communications. Even in small regional towns there are many niche ISPs and very few people are without potential access to a local Internet service. In some instances, local governments have funded regional Internet services as a community venture, while telecentres and other community networking ventures in small towns have had some success. Telstra is currently experimenting with high-speed Internet access via satellite in rural areas through a trial involving the National Farmers Federation. The trial of Big Pond Satellite extends to 200 sites and offers download speeds of around 400kbps. The service will be launched sometime in 1999 and is based