A study finds that Internet usage in Australia continues to grow as the wireless Internet connections continue to increase over the last year.

The report, which was released by the Bureau of Statistics, shows more than a 50 percent increase in the amount of data downloaded in the June 2010 quarter compared with the same period the year before.

In the quarter, wireless broadband connections grew by 70 per cent to about 3.5 million subscribers. The number of fixed-line broadband connections, on the other hand, slightly increased to 4.2 million.

The research also found that the amount of data downloaded over a quarter is now 11 times more compared to figures from March 2005 and 126 times higher compared to March 2002.

Mark Bloomfield, the Bureau of Statistics' assistant director of innovation and technology, said that the increase in downloads showed the move towards faster download speeds. The number of slower, dial-up connections has fallen from 3.7 million in March 2002 to less than a million, representing just 9 per cent of subscriptions.

Bloomfield adds that difficulties in supplying broadband to remote areas would allow dial-up usage to continue.