Just 16 per cent of Aussies use their landline on a daily basis

Research released today by broadband experts iSelect reveals that just 16 per cent of households use their landline on a daily basis, while over a third of Australian households (34 per cent) say they either never use a landline or don’t have one connected.

The Galaxy Research study, commissioned by iSelect to assess the attitudes and behaviours of Australian broadband users, found that even amongst Australians aged over 65, just 32 per cent say they use their landline every day.

When it comes to millennials, 52 per cent say they never use a landline or have one connected. This data suggests Australians are favouring mobile phones or internet-based communication such as email or social media to contact each other. 

Laura Crowden, iSelect Broadband spokesperson, said that although the survey found many home landlines go unused, customers should be wary about removing them from their broadband plan.

“Depending on your location, naked DSL can be more expensive and take longer to connect than traditional phone line and broadband bundles. This means for many households it can be more cost effective to maintain phone line rental as part of their plan and simply not have a landline phone plugged in.”

The survey revealed that 36 per cent of Australians believe cost is the most important factor when it comes to their home broadband service, followed by reliability (28 per cent) and speed (25 per cent).  Less than 10 per cent of households nominated data allowance as their most important consideration.

“Our research found that the cost of broadband is most important to people, trumping both speed and reliability,” Laura said.

The iSelect survey also found over 2.7 million Australian households are experiencing slow broadband speed with just 27 per cent of people believing their connection is almost always fast enough.

Laura said that while cost is always going to be an important factor when choosing a plan or provider, customers should also consider speed levels and do their research before locking themselves into a plan.

“Internet speed levels can differ significantly from plan to plan depending on a household’s geographic location and whether they are tapped into ADSL, Cable or NBN,” Laura said.

“Make sure you do your research to ensure you don’t end up with a new connection that’s slower than your old one.”

Laura said it pays to speak to a broadband expert before you connect to a new plan or switch providers.

“They will be able to condense all the technical fine print into everyday language and provide a personalised recommendation that fits your budget, service requirements and data consumption.”