Percentage of fibre connections in total fixed broadband, June 2019; Source: OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has released its latest broadband statistics update, noting high-speed fibre now makes up half of fixed Internet connections in only 9 out of 37 OECD countries, up from six a year ago.
According to the OECD, “across the 37 countries studied, the share of fibre in total broadband has only risen slightly, to 27% as of 30 June 2019 from 24% a year earlier, reflecting the still-wide gap between countries in rolling out fibre, which enables much faster fixed and mobile Internet.”
The OECD shared the data with iPhone in Canada, detailing how long-time fibre leaders South Korea, Japan and Nordic countries are seeing others such as Lithuania, Latvia, Spain and New Zealand catch up, “thanks to a mixture of increased competition, good regulation and policy and new infrastructure investment.”
Canada was absent from any mention about leading the world when it comes to fibre making up 50% or more of fixed Internet connections, with its ranking near the bottom end of OECD nations, at 28th place. OECD statistics reveal Canada only saw 15.09% of its fibre connections in total fixed broadband for June 2019, up from 10.6% in 2017 and 5.3% in 2015.
Compared to world leaders South Korea and Japan with a fibre share of over 75% in total broadband, Canada has a long way to go, just beating out Columbia by over a percentage point, and just slightly behind the United States at 15.55%.
Joining South Korea and Japan are Lithuania, Sweden, Latvia, Spain, Iceland, Finland and Norway, as OECD nations with 50% or more of fixed internet connections as high-speed fibre.
When it comes to mobile broadband subscriptions, the highest penetration rates listed Japan, Finland, Estonia, the United States and Australia, showing subscriptions per 100 inhabitants at 177%, 155%, 153%, 150% and 144% respectively.
Broadband data compiled by the OECD covered FTTH (fiber to the home), FTTP (fiber to the premises), and FTTB (fiber to the building) connections.
