The independent findings of the 2009 Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index (AMPLI) were released by AIMIA this week. The findings of this fifth edition of the survey demonstrate rapidly increasing consumption of non-voice/text services including Multimedia, Content, Information and Entertainment services by Australians as mobile phone usage matures.

The report also found that Australians are beginning to use their mobile phones to access banking services and to make payments across a variety of commerce platforms.

“This year’s survey reveals many Australians are now using their mobile phones in all aspects of their lifestyles, with a strong jump in the consumption of non-voice services,” said John Butterworth, CEO for AIMIA. “Despite user dissatisfaction at the perceived high cost of data plans, Australians have become more attracted to buying and using content, information, multimedia and other data services such as social networking and email. There is also growing interest in receiving advertising via mobile handsets.”

The report is authored by Dr Marisa Maio Mackay, Director of Research, m.Net Corporation and Oliver Weidlich, Usability Specialist, Ideal Interfaces and is available via the AIMIA website.

Dr Maio Mackay said, “Despite the global economic uncertainty of the past 12 months, the uptake of mobile services in Australia has not only survived but has grown in spite of it. Mobile phone services have now truly entrenched themselves as a commodity in the lives of many Australians.”

Overall satisfaction with carrier services is high, with around 90% of respondents satisfied with the service provided by their carriers. Of particular interest, satisfaction levels with the range of plans and packages available remains high. However, the cost of accessing data services remains an issue for respondents, with the lowest level of satisfaction (51% of respondents).

While there was a significant decrease in the number of respondents who were on prepaid (25%) phone plans, just under one third of respondents stated that their payment plans included a data allowance. Of those respondents that had a data allowance included in their monthly plan or pre-paid amount 43% had more than 50 MB included. Around one quarter of respondents with a data allowance did not know how much data was included in their payment option. Of the respondents that had a data allowance, 18% purchased additional data packs or allowance.

This is the first time specific questions regarding data allowance and data packs has been included in the AMPLI survey, recognising the increasing maturity of the market, in terms of carrier communications around pricing plans and options, and equally as important, the increasing engagement of mobile phone owners with services on their mobile phones.

The survey reveals a substantial increase in the proportion of respondents (63%) that said they had a 3G or 3.5G mobile phone which is most likely a reflection of the Australian market “growing up” in terms of knowledge and understanding of mobile phones, and the services they can provide.

According to the findings, 77% of respondents used their mobile phone for a purpose apart from texting and/or voice. Not only are more respondents using a range of non-voice communication type services, but they appear to be using them frequently. Of particular interest, is that almost 50% of respondents that use email use it daily. The same is true for social networking.

Overall, 64% of respondents had used a non-voice communication service in the last 12 months. As a proportion of those that used each specific communication service:

61% of those that used MMS, used MMS at least once a month

62% of those that used email, used email at least once a month with almost 42% of these respondents using email daily

56% of those that used chat rooms, used chat rooms at least once a month

71% of those that used IM, used IM at least once a month with 51% of these respondents using IM at least once a week

37% of those that used video calling, used video calling at least once a month, and

85% of those that used social networking, used social networking at least once a month, with 46% of these respondents using it at least once a day