Around 1.14 million Australians use two different mobile phones, equating to 6 per cent of the population, according to data from Roy Morgan Research.Over half of Australians (53 per cent) using two mobile phones have one paid for by work and one which they pay for themselves, Roy Morgan found, while another 44 per cent are using two different consumer-pays phones, with 4 per cent using two separate business phones.
Of users with two mobile phones, just over half, totalling almost 580,000, are signed up with two different service providers.
Postpaid plans are the preference for dual-phone owners (58 per cent), with 27 per cent using one postpaid and one prepaid phone, and 15 per cent use two prepaid phones.
Telstra is the service provider of choice for consumers using the one provider for each of their phones (equating to 354,000 users), followed by Optus (89,000) and Vodafone (73,000), while Telstra also leads the way among those with two different providers (394,000), again followed by Optus (283,000) and Vodafone (215,000).
The Telstra-Optus combination totals 170,000 dual-phone users, ahead of Telstra-Vodafone (103,000) and Vodafone-Optus (57,000).
Roy Morgan Research general manager – media Tim Martin noted the figures compare with 1.3 million users using two mobile phones a year ago.
“It is notable that over half of all two-phoned Australians use a different service provider for each mobile,” Martin stated. “Customers of smaller MVNOs, like Lebara, ALDImobile and Boost, are up to three times more likely to have another mobile phone.
“In a competitive market, telcos will need to pinpoint which types of consumers use and pay for two different mobile phones, which use different providers or different payment options, and what their different usage habits are.”
