More Australians using Skype to Communicate
Galaxy Research survey reveals the changing nature of communications in Australia
SYDNEY, January 29, 2010, Skype, the leading global internet communications company, in
partnership with Australian market research company, Galaxy Research, today
announced research findings into how Australians are changing the way they
communicate.
The online survey, conducted in January 2010, focused
on identifying how Australians chose to communicate with their family and
friends over the recent Christmas and New Year holiday period.
Second only to sitting down with their family over
Christmas lunch or sipping bubbly with their friends over New Year’s, the
survey results revealed that many Australians see communication platforms such
as Skype as the next best thing to bringing family and friends together during
the holiday season. Among those that used Skype over the holiday period, 78 per
cent used the software to wish their family and friends a “Merry Christmas”,
and 55 per cent used Skype to wish their loved ones a “Happy New Year”.
The most popular feature over the holiday was Skype
Video which enables users to see and speak to their loved ones during this
special time.
In addition to using Skype as the next best thing to
being there in person, 44 per cent of Skype subscribers used Skype this holiday
season to cut back on the high costs associated with long distance and
international phone calls.
“The
results from this survey illustrate that Australians are looking for high
quality, cost effective ways to communicate with their loved ones during
special times,” said Dan Neary, Vice President and General Manager for Skype,
Asia Pacific. “Skype’s high quality voice and video calls have become an
essential communication tool for Australians, and as internet access and speed
improves across the country these statistics are likely to further increase”.
The survey also revealed that greater numbers of
Australians are using Skype more frequently since the previous holiday period,
largely due to greater awareness of Skype’s offerings. Future developments,
including the National Broadband Network (NBN) that will begin to roll out
across Australia by the Government throughout 2010, are likely to further
increase the appeal of online communication tools such as Skype.
These results have similarly been seen at global level
- . In a TeleGeography* survey announced globally last week, it was revealed
that the growth of international telephone traffic has slowed in the past two
years, while Skype's
traffic has soared. Skype's on-net traffic (between two Skype users) grew 51
per cent in 2008, and is projected to grow 63 per cent in 2009, to 54 billion
minutes.
Additional
Galaxy Research Findings:
Skype video call is
the most popular Skype feature used, with around a half of all subscribers
having used Skype video to call colleagues, friends or family.
84 per cent of Skype
users in Australia reported similar or increased usage of Skype this holiday
period over the same period last year.
The first people to
be contacted on New Year’s were typically family members (76 per cent). Friends
accounted for 19 per cent of Happy New Years Skype calls and
boyfriends/girlfriends just 4 per cent.
While email is the
favourite way to keep in touch with friends and relatives, mobile phones are
popular (25 per cent of respondents rated this their favourite way to keep in
touch), followed by Facebook (19 per cent ) and Skype (17 per cent).
The sample for the
study was 1010 Skype users, distributed throughout Australia including both
capital city and non-capital city areas.
###
About Skype
Skype is software that enables the world’s conversations. Millions of
individuals and businesses use Skype to make free video and voice calls, send
instant messages and share files with other Skype users. Everyday, people
everywhere also use Skype to make low-cost calls to landlines and mobiles.
Download Skype to your computer or mobile phone at skype.com.
About
Galaxy Research
Galaxy Research is an independent marketing research and opinion polling
company. Since being established in 2004, Galaxy has become a leading
polling organisation and thought leader in Australia. For more information please see www.galaxyresearch.com.au/.
*
http://www.telegeography.com/product-info/tg/index.php
Media
Contacts:
Jenny Crowcroft, Bite Communications, 02 9377 1103 (jenny.crowcroft@bitecommunications.com)
Emily Rabone, Bite Communications, 02 9377 1107 (emily.rabone@bitecommunications.com)
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