US Still Lags in Broadband Penetration, Prices

PARIS - The United States may still be number one, but not when it comes to broadband. The latest figures from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) show the U.S. still in the middle of the pack, compared with other industrialized countries, in terms of broadband penetration and pricing. OECD's new statistics include the number of broadband subscribers per country, broadband subscriptions by technology and the percentage of fiber connections as of December 2009.

The United States has 26 fixed-broadband subscribers per 100 households, compared with 37 in Denmark and the Netherlands; U.S. subscribers pay an average of $8.06 per advertised Mbps, compared with $1.30 in Korea and $2.12 in the United Kingdom.



Other highlights of the report:

• There were 283 million broadband subscriptions in OECD in December 2009 with the inclusion of Chile as a member of the OECD. The average penetration rate across the OECD has grown to 23.3 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, up from 22.8 in June 2009.

• Fiber continues its growth relative to other broadband technologies, now  accounting for half of all broadband connections in Japan (54 percent) and Korea (49 percent). Other leading countries include the Slovak Republic (28 percent) and Sweden (23 percent).

• DSL is still the dominant technology in the OECD, accounting for 60 percent of all lines. Cable makes up 29 percent and fiber-based connections have grown to 11 percent of all lines.