OECD Data Shows Slow US Broadband Growth

WASHINGTON, June 14, 2010 –  The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has just released its updated broadband statistics for December 2009. In a shift in their methodology, fixed wireless and satellite connections are now going to be their own separate categories due to the increase in mobile broadband options available. With the recent addition of Chile to the organization average penetration rates have grown to 23.3 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants up from 22.8 in June 2009.

Fiber is also continuing to grow in popularity; it currently accounts for over half of the connections in Japan and nearly half of Korea and is at 28% in the Slovak Republic and 23% in Sweden.

The new statistics have the United States growing steadily in broadband penetration, in comparison to the other G7 nations within the OECD, as the chart below shows.

However the overall increase is not that high for the US, per 100 inhabitants the US has only had a growth of a little over 1%.

The cost of access in the United States however is low but more expensive than much of the G7.

Average speeds in the United States are some of the lowest in the OECD with an average speed of 14619  kbps (13.29mbps).