The Business Centre

Mobile phone services outnumbered the Australian population for the first time as of 30 June 2007, when 21.26 million mobile phone services were in operation, according to a report released this week by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

The figure jumped from 19.76 million the year before, surpassing Australia's total population for the first time. As of 1 May 2008, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates the total Australian population at 21.29 million.

The ACMA report detailed an increase in 3G customers that helped boost mobile service numbers, while fixed-line services continued a steady decline from 11.26 million to 10.92 million between June 2006 and June 2007.

For the same period, 2.89 million out of 3.23 million geographic numbers were allocated for VoIP services. Internet subscribers and domain name registrations also increased, with over a million new broadband subscribers signing up for faster Internet connections.

Australia's global position as a "spam relaying" country dropped significantly from 10th spot in February 2004, to 28th as of June 2007.

Complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman increased by 30,000 to 156,802.