OECD Releases Latest Broadband Statistics

WASHINGTON, December 11, 2009 – The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development updated its broadband statistics Friday to reflect that the number of broadband subscribers in OECD member states increased by 10 percent from June 2008 to June 2009.

Half of OECD countries have reached 25 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, according to a press release. “The statistics also show that future growth in super fast broadband is likely to come from fiber-optic networks, rather than DSL or cable. Nearly one in ten OECD subscribers currently accesses the internet over fiber. In Japan and Korea, most people do. And fiber is growing fast in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the United States,” it states.

The OECD notes the economic crisis has threatened to halt broadband investments just as consumers and businesses are using more Internet bandwidth.

“Many governments have stepped in to fill the gap using stimulus funds to pay for new broadband networks. But there is still a lot of debate about whether these investments make economic sense, particularly as governments are wading into an area which has recently been entrusted to the private sector,” according to the latest research.

An OECD paper holds that “government investment could be justified based on even small direct benefits in just four key sectors of the economy – electricity, health, education and transportation.”