International Comparison Of Broadband

Introduction

Since the emergence of the Internet, governments around the world have increasingly recognized broad band's powerful influence on the economics of businesses, communities and nations. Already, broadband networks are widely considered essential infrastructure for the global information economy, providing businesses, students and consumers with fast, always-on access to Internet-based services, content and applications.

International Comparison Of Broadband: US Vs. Japan

For at least the past decade, a variety of case studies, anecdotes and qualitative studies have detailed the wide-ranging benefits of broadband networks. These benefits include the ability to expand economic opportunities and innovation, increase trade and productivity, reduce business costs, create jobs and encourage foreign investment. More recently, (Bergsten, 15)quantitative research and empirical analyses have emerged that go further — firmly establishing the fact that broadband networks support GDP growth in developed nations and have the potential to offer similar benefits in developing or emerging markets. Although economic benefits have been seen in both developed and developing nations, the existing infrastructure, regulatory environment, urban-rural divide and other factors that affect broadband diffusion are often different in developing nations. These differences should not preclude the expansion of broadband in emerging markets, but they reinforce the need to adopt best practices that facilitate the rapid and cost-effective deployment of broadband technologies, along with other information and communication technologies (ICT) and services. (Bergsten, 15)

A new report released by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) highlights the changes and market dynamics in the telecommunications industry within its 30 member countries. The collected data shows that the U.S. currently does not have leadership role in driving or adopting cutting edge broadband technology.

According to the OECD, as of June 2006, about 60% of the 263 million people living in the geographic area covered by the organization, had access to broadband Internet. (World Trade Organization, 265) Reflected on the total population, about 15 out of 100 inhabitants were using fast Internet connections. Broken down to countries, Denmark, The Netherlands, Iceland, Switzerland and Korea are leading the pack, each with a penetration of higher than 25%. The United States is listed on position 13, with a penetration of 18%.

DSL remains the favored broadband access technology. 22 of the OECD member countries offer DSL access to 90% or more of their population, with DSL being available to 100% in Belgium, Korea, Luxembourg the Netherlands and the UK. 79% of people living in the U.S. can subscribe to DSL (which ranks the U.S. at #26), according to the report, while 97% have access to cable-based broadband Internet. (Cass, 54)

Overall available download speeds in the U.S. are competitive on a world, thanks to Verizon's FiOS service. The 35 Mbps package places the U.S. third, behind the 100 Mbps services offered in Japan and Korea. Excluding this service, the regular DSL packages (up to 6 Mbps) mostly available in the U.S. put the country at the very end of the group. In cable broadband speeds, the U.S. finishes 23rd on the list: Japan is already at 30 ...