US Falls to 25th in Broadband Penetration Worldwide - US Broadband Growth Below OECD Average - April 2007 Bandwidth Report
The US fell from 23rd to 25th place in worldwide broadband penetration in the last half of 2006, according to a recent survey by Point Topic. OECD data confirms the slowdown, with the US falling to 15th in broadband penetration among OECD countries surveyed. US broadband penetration grew 0.65 percentage points to 80.81% among active Internet users in March. Worldwide, the US fell from 23rd to 25th place in household broadband penetration during the last quarter of 2006. South Korea, Monaco, Hong Kong, Iceland, and Singapore lead all countries surveyed in household broadband penetration, according to Point Topic (see Figure 1). Figure 1: Top 25 Countries in Household Broadband Penetration The US fell from 13th (revised) to 15th in broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants (19.6) from Q2 2006 to Q4 2006 (see Figure 2). Japan, Luxembourg, and France passed the US in broadband penetration in the latter half of 2006. Denmark (31.9), the Netherlands (31.8), Iceland (29.7), Korea (29.1), and Switzerland (28.5) lead all OECD countries surveyed in broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants for Q4 2006. Figure 2: Broadband Penetration versus GDP per Capita per Country The US has fallen below the OECD average in net growth of broadband penetration per 100 inhabitants (see Figure 3). In our last OECD update the US was 17th in net growth among all countries surveyed (Q22005-Q22006). In the latest OECD survey the US has fallen to 21st in broadband penetration net growth to 3.26, below the OECD average of 3.39 for the first time. Figure 3: Broadband Penetration Net Increase from Q4 2006 to Q4 2006 by Country Among the G7, Canada maintains its commanding lead in broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants at 23.8 (see Figure 4). The UK (21.6) and France (20.3) came in second and third with higher growth rates than the US and Canada. France passed Japan in the fourth quarter of 2006 to become third among G7 countries in broadband penetration per 100 inhabitants. The US currently ranks 5th at 19.6, ahead of Germany (17.1) and Italy (14.8). Figure 4: OECD Broadband Growth Trends for G7 Countries US broadband penetration grew to 80.81% among active Internet users in March 2007. Narrowband users connecting at 56Kbps or less now make up 19.19% of active Internet users, down 0.65 percentage points from 19.84% February 2007 (see Figure 5). Figure 5: Web Connection Speed Trends - Home Users (US) In March 2007, broadband penetration in US homes grew 0.65 percentage points to 80.81%, up from 80.16% in February. This increase of 0.65 points is below the average increase in broadband of 0.88 points per month over the last six months (see Figure 6). Figure 6. Broadband Adoption Growth Trend - Home Users (US) As of March 2007, 93.03% of US workers connected to the Internet with broadband, down 0.58 percentage points from the 93.61% share in February. At work 6.97% connect at 56Kbps or less (see Figure 7). Figure 7: Web Connection Speed Trends - Work Users (US)US Falls to 25th in Broadband Penetration
Top 25 Countries in Household Broadband Penetration - Q32006 - Q42006
Source: Point Topic
US Falls to 15th among OECD Countries in Broadband Penetration
Source: OECD
US Falls from 17th to 21st in Net Broadband Growth among OECD Countries
Source: OECD
Broadband Penetration Growth Trends of the G7
Source: OECD
Home Connectivity in the US
Web Connection Speed Trends - Home Users (US)
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings
Broadband Growth Trends in the US
Broadband Adoption Growth Trend - Home Users (US)
Extrapolated from Nielsen//NetRatings data
Work Connectivity
Web Connection Speed Trends - Work Users (US)
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings
Further Reading
By website optimization on 23 Apr 2007 AM
Comments
I'm curious to learn the cost for broadband in each of the countries. This may have an influence on its adoption.
By: Dennis O'Flynn at April 25, 2007 6:55 AM
Price is a factor in the decision, I asked my Point Topic contact re this:
"From Point Topic's Consumer Survey 3, (Oct/Nov 06, 5000+ respondents, UK only) of those who did not have access to the internet 7% said this was down to the cost of internet access itself while 4% said they could not afford a PC.
From the same survey over 1 in 10 internet users cited price as their main driver in selecting a supplier."
Oliver Johnson, CEO, Point Topic
By: website optimization at April 25, 2007 10:19 AM
I'm curious to know what availability of broadband versus populus would be (and trends related to that). I think the current statistics are skewed, as people are no longer "dialing" in since most of the content is more and more designed for higher bandwidth, and frustrated dial-up customers are giving up and canceling their subscriptions.
By: Doug Bennett at May 20, 2007 6:51 PM
Another useful metric to track would be Amount of Data Consumed per capita. It's no use having access to 100mbps connections if no one is using them.
By: redblue at June 15, 2007 2:59 AM
This is an convenient Australian lie: Communications Minister Helen Coonan said re telecommunications costs in Australia...."and it was recognised that Australia's vast distances and low population density created challenges."
The truth is that Australia is one of the most urbanised countries in the world(!) with a LOW avarage distance between customers. You really can't blame the crazy cost for telecomunication and poor infrastructure investments on the very few "out-back" Australians that have no or bad tele-communications! Allso, Australia had the fiberoptic roll-out that never happened!
By: Karl at July 18, 2007 8:35 PM
I think a lot of these countries have the capability to obtain broadband but they aren't as driven or in a hurry to get there. There has to be a demand and a infrastructure for it.
By: Dennis Gannon at October 10, 2008 10:12 AM