International Journal of E-Business Development (IJED)
Broadband Penetration in Countries Around the
World
Kevin Curran, Kyle Poland
Intelligent Systems Research Centre
Faculty of Computing and Engineering, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, UK
kj.curran@ulster.ac.uk
Abstract-Broadband penetration in countries around the world
varies immensely between different regions. More economically
developed regions (MEDC’s) such as North America and Western
Europe are the leaders of broadband penetration while less
economically developed regions (LEDC’s) such as Asia and Africa
are lagging behind the rest of the world. Delivering affordable,
reliable broadband to less developed regions will help bridge the
digital divide and help these regions to become stronger, more
competitive and more prepared for continued growth in the years
to come. This paper aims to show the differences in broadband
penetration between the different regions around the world, the
benefits brought to countries by the development of the
broadband infrastructure and what strategies countries are
undertaking to improve that infrastructure.
Keywords-Broadband, mobile, Internet, economics
I.
INTRODUCTION
Broadband can be defined in many ways, but it is generally
understood to be a service that enables reliable, high-speed
transfer of data, voice and video over the Internet. The
connectivity provided by broadband is an essential ingredient
in a larger effort to make ICT resources available, affordable
and reliable for individuals and businesses worldwide.
Governments around the world are increasingly viewing
broadband as the “fourth utility” alongside water, heating and
electricity [11]. A fast Internet connection is now seen by most
of the public as an essential service, as indispensable as
electricity, gas and water. Broadband Penetration around the
world varies greatly between different regions, MEDC’s like
North America have a connection rate of 174.9 million people
compared to just 24.4 million for the entire continent of Africa
and 42.4 million people connected for the Middle East region,
Through different quantitative research and empirical analyses
broadband has been proven to support GDP growth and many
other economic benefits in both developed and developing
economies. Realizing the importance of broadband and all the
benefits it brings, countries from all regions are undertaking
different strategies and are committing recourses to finding
solutions to improve their level of connectivity and bring
affordable and reliable broadband to even the remotest parts of
their nations [2].
Broadband penetration into countries has accelerated with
improved infrastructure and governmental policies nurturing
broadband penetration and service quality. The total internet
users grew from 360 million users in December 2000 to 1.966
billion June 2010 [4]. This represents a global broadband
penetration of 28.7% of the human race. This growth is
34
444.8 % in 10 years. Broadband penetration in Asia as a
whole is the largest user base with current statistics estimating
at 825,094,396 users [4]. However North America has the
highest broadband penetration per population percentage at
77.4% in comparison the lowest population percent penetration
was Africa at 10.9% though it registered the highest growth
from 2000 – 2010. According to World Stats [4], the total
internet user percentage per region is Asia 43.0%, Europe
24.2%, North America 13.5%, Latin America/Caribbean
10.4%, Africa 5.6%, Middle East 3.2% and Oceania/Australia
1.1%. In some countries with high broadband penetration, we
are seeing movement from different broadband bit-streams to
other newer bit-streams for example in Finland traditional DSL
home connections are down but mobile “3G” broadband has
seen an increase showing different consumer needs affecting
the type of adoption chosen by users [1].
II.
GLOBAL BROADBAND PENETRATION
The Asian market is expected to continue to grow. Growth
in China however may be slower as the Chinese alphabet
contains more than 6000 letters and is so far removed from all
other western languages such as French and Spanish, that this
would present a potential barrier to its adoption [3]. Europe is
seeing rises in mobile broadband even in countries that have
seen a decline in fixed connections (Finland) with sales of
smart phones rising, the mobile broadband market will perhaps
become an important area for user adoption of broadband [1].
High competition levels can lead to high penetration ratios and
particularly only the competition in the access market could
guarantee a long term growth of high quality broadband
services [6]. In anticompetitive markets such as dominant in
poorer countries, poor penetration levels are often the result.
This is because there is a low number of service providers and
competitive pricing does not occur. More than 1 billion
broadband subscriptions now exist worldwide with that
number expected to triple by 2013. However, a deep “digital
divide” separates the developing world from developed regions
such as Western Europe.
According to the global technical standard-setting body for
telecommunication services (ITU), the broadband penetration
rate in developed economies is 23%, compared to a mere 4% in
developing economies and just 25% if China is excluded.
The gap is widest for mobile broadband penetration, which
is nearly 39% in developed economies and only 3% in
developing economies. Broadband penetration is increasing
worldwide, but growth rates are in general much higher in
developed economies. For example, Eastern Europe added 19.5
IJED Vol. 1 Iss. 1, PP. 34-37, Nov. 2011
c World Academic Publishing
○
International Journal of E-Business Development (IJED)
million broadband subscribers between 2005 and 2008. During
the same period, African countries added 2.4 million
broadband subscribers, bringing market penetration up but only
to 0.36% [1].
Region
Africa
China
Rest of Asia
Eastern Europe
Latin America
Middle East
US & Canada
Western Europe
Total
Fixed & Wireless
Broadband
Subscribers (million)
24
103
292
55
62
42
174
262
1014
Market Penetration
Rate (per 100
population)
2.4
7.7
12.0
16.2
10.8
13.4
51.4
64.3
15.0
Figure 1: Broadband Subscribers and Penetration Rate
The penetration rate and levels achieved by the top 30
countries from around the world and the correlation between
connectivity and GDP (Gross Domestic Product) demonstrates
that the global leader of broadband connectivity is now the
Netherlands and Denmark with a penetration rate of 37.1
inhabitants out of 100 connected. In comparison to figure 1
which identified that Iceland was the global leader with a
connection rate of 27 out of 100, this shows the progression
and widespread availability of broadband as a service across
the developed nations. In 4 years, the peak connection rate has
increased by a full 10 points.
Countries such as Ireland, Czech Republic, Hungry and
Poland are still lagging behind the global average. In 4 years,
this has now increased to 23 out of every 100 inhabitants.
Ireland has a connection rate of 19 out of every 100 which is
an increase on figure 1 in which Ireland had only 9 out of
every 100 inhabitants connected. This trend continues with
other nations as well with; The Czech Republic increasing its
penetration rate from just 6 out of every 100 inhabitants from
figure 1, to 12.9 out of every 100 inhabitants, this is a doubling
of the connection rate in just 4 years. Poland’s connection rate
in figure 1 was only 3 per 100 inhabitants but has more than
quadrupled to just over 12 per 100 inhabitants connected. After
4 years, we can see that broadband penetration across all
countries shown has increased. The average broadband
connection is now 23 out of every 100 inhabitants where
previously it had been only 12 out of every 100 inhabitants
connected. There are no nations however from the African
continent in the top 30 but there are 2 countries from
south/Latin America; Mexico and Chile. Mexico and Chile are
the only nations from south/Latin America to be in the top 30.
This illustrates that in 4 years the progression of the LEDC’s in
developing their broadband infrastructure and availability.
However Japan and South Korea are the only nations from
Asia in the top 30, which stipulates that although the
developing nations are improving their broadband connectivity
there is still a deep divide between MEDC’s and LEDC’s
connections rates [4].
Broadband in the UK however is now available on nearly
every copper telephone line in the UK however 14% of
residential broadband connections are currently operating
below the 2Mbit/s speed that government wishes to make
IJED Vol. 1 Iss. 1, PP. 34-37, Nov. 2011
c World Academic Publishing ○
available to virtually all homes by 2015. OFCOM expect the
number of sub-2Mbit/s connections to fall over the coming
year as customers upgrade to new technologies and resolve inhome wiring issues that are affecting the speed of their
connection [5]. Superfast broadband networks (offering speed
of over 24Mbit/s) now pass 58% of UK premises and BT plans
to reach two-thirds of UK premises by the end of 2015. On
average, residential fixed broadband customers are using 17GB
of data per month. This figure ranges from 10GB to 40GB
between operators. Data from the London Internet Exchange
shows that traffic over its network routers, which interconnect
the UK's Internet Service Providers (ISPs), has increased seven
fold in the past five years. Virgin Media, BT and others are
already investing in new technologies to increase the capacity
of broadband access networks; BT plans to introduce
technology in 2012 that will deliver up to 80Mbit/s over copper
lines and 300Mbit/s over fibre, Virgin has demonstrated
1Gbit/s speeds on its cable network. In mobile, Ofcom plans to
auction radio spectrum in 2012 that will enable the deployment
of 'Long Term Evolution' (LTE) next-generation wireless
technologies which will help meet growing capacity demands.
III.
BENEFITS OF BROADBAND
Quantitative research and empirical analyses studies of
developed nations have again and again established that
broadband networks and broadband connectivity drive
economic growth and development, in addition to providing a
platform for addressing social issues like health care and
education [8, 9, 10]. In an investigation by the World Bank it
was found that in less developed economies, every 10 percent
increase in broadband penetration accelerates economic growth
by approximately 1.38 percentage points which are more than
the increase of 1.21 percentage points for more developed
economies as shown in figure 2. Countries in the top tier of
broadband penetration have displayed a 2 percent higher GDP
growth than the countries in the bottom tier [7]. Alongside its
direct and positive impact on GDP, quantitative research has
continually shown that increased broadband penetration leads
to significant job growth.
Figure 2: Growth Impact of Telecommunications
It is cautiously estimated that increasing broadband
penetration in Latin America from 5.5 percent to 7.7 percent
would generate 378,000 new jobs. Due to the fact that
broadband penetration is more recent and by far less extensive
in developing nations, fewer studies have been undertaken to
document its social, economic and other benefits. Nevertheless,
35
International Journal of E-Business Development (IJED)
early research indicates that broadband connectivity and
diffusion creates a wide range of benefits in developing nations
including supporting economic growth, in part by attracting
international investors and improving global competitiveness.
While such improvements are difficult to measure, a recent
study found that developing countries with better ICT
infrastructure attract significantly more business from foreign
investment.
In America, the ITU estimates that a stimulus package
supporting $10 billion of investment in broadband networks
would support nearly 500,000 new or retained jobs, For
example, in November 2009, Google had a market
capitalization of $168 billion and employed 19,000 people in
20 countries. China‘s leading Internet search engine,
Baidu.com, has a market capitalization of more than $14
billion and over 6,000 employees, and in 2008 had revenues of
$460 million. There is a growing body of people who believe
that access to affordable, high-speed broadband is as important
as access to a paved road, to a telephone line or to reliable
electricity.
IV.
DEVELOPING BROADBAND
INFRASTRUCTURES
Next-generation broadband networks promise much faster
transfer of information, services, and benefits throughout a
national economy, promoting overall growth, productivity, and
prosperity [12]. For that reason, governments and
policymakers are seeking to stimulate or contribute significant
investments to establish such networks. In second quarter 2010,
the United States, Britain, Canada, Germany, Portugal and
Finland all included measures to expand broadband access and
to bolster connection speeds in their planned economic
stimulus packages. Australia, France, Ireland, Japan, Singapore
and South Korea have announced separate broadband plans.
Broadband Initiatives in some of the aforementioned Countries
include:
 Australia plans to deliver broadband at speeds of 100
megabits per second (Mbps) to 90 percent of Australian
homes, schools and businesses through fibre-optic cables
connected directly to buildings. The other 10 percent of
people would get a wireless upgrade over an 8 year time
scale beginning 2011. Canada plans to extend broadband
coverage to all currently un-served communities. Finland
plans to provide ultrafast broadband to every household in
Finland, with download speeds of at least one megabit per
second, with a ramp-up to 100 megabits by 2016. Including
households in rural areas.
 France plans to provide ultra broadband networks and 4
million households through FTTH access by 2012.
Moreover, 400 cyber bases will be created in schools over
the next five years and schools which already have access
will be modernized. Provision of universal access to
broadband Internet at affordable prices is to be made
available throughout France.
 Germany’s plans have 2 phases. The first phase of the
strategy is for all homes in Germany to have broadband
access at 1 Mbps by 2011. The second phase is to bring
36
broadband access at 50 Mbps or above to 75% of the
households by 2014.
 Irelands plan is to provide broadband coverage and services
to the remaining 33% of the country and 10% of the
population who are un-served with minimum download
speeds of 1.2 Mbps in next 12 months.
 Japan plans to have a Broadband infrastructure rollout plan
for the rural areas, in order to address the digital divide. It
plans to enable broadband access for use by cable TV,
disaster prevention programs.
 Portugal plans for up to 1.5 million homes and businesses
to be connected to the new fibre networks and
improvements in high-speed internet, television and voice
services. The Portuguese government had also set a goal of
50% home broadband penetration by end of 2011. This
latest investment should allow the operators to significantly
surpass the target.
 Singapore plans For homes and offices nationwide to be
connected to Singapore‘s ultra high-speed and pervasive
Next Generation National Broadband Network by 2013;
and for 60 per cent of homes and offices to have access to
this new, pervasive, all-fibre network in 2 years' time.
 South Korea plans for High-speed Internet services to be
upgraded to 1 Gbps by 2012. Existing communications
networks are to be enhanced to Internet Protocol (IP)-based
systems and subscriber capacity on 3G broadband services
e increased to 40 million.
 Spain plans to have greater reach of broadband in rural and
isolated areas. This is done by focusing on centres with
dispersed populations and extending the reach of trunk
fibre-optics networks.
 United States plans to provide broadband service to unserved areas and improve service to underserved areas in 2
years time [3].
Country
Date
Announced
Total
Investment
Investment
Per Capita
(US$ Millions)
(US$)
New Zealand
2009
840
205
Australia
2009
3,300
159
Singapore
2008
710
154
Portugal
2009
1,060
100
Greece
2008
1,030
92
Malaysia
2009
720
27
Ireland
2009
110
25
US
2009
7,200
24
South Korea
2009
890
18
Germany
2009
200
2
Figure 3: Government Commitments to Next-Generation
National Broadband Networks
What is clear is that while some of the plans have been in
the works for months or years, others are only being started
now, and the share of the broadband components in the total
stimulus package varies significantly from country to country.
It is no coincidence that so many of the stimulus packages have
a focus on building broadband networks. What is shown in
Figure 3 is the level of commitment that governments are
putting into developing better and faster broadband, as well as
IJED Vol. 1 Iss. 1, PP. 34-37, Nov. 2011
c World Academic Publishing
○
International Journal of E-Business Development (IJED)
improving the availability to small harder to reach rural areas.
It is seen from Figure 3 that the heaviest investor Per Capita in
delivering better broadband is New Zealand, they announced a
plan that is worth a total of $840 million, which is $205 per
capita. This is much higher than any other nation. The united
states plans to invest a total of $7,200 million representing a
total of $24 Per Capita.
V.
CONCLUSIONS
Broadband is an essential part of the global information
society. Broadband fosters GDP growth, creates new jobs,
spurs innovation and improves public services. Governments
can lead the way to expand and progress the broadband
penetration by working with partners to develop plans and
programs that encourage the rapid and strategic expansion of
broadband and ICT. This paper shows the “digital divide”
between the different regions of the world. More economically
well of regions like Western Europe and the North Americas
lead the way in broadband penetration and connectivity while
less economically developed regions seriously lag behind
Africa is the worst connected region. We highlighted the
relationship between a countries GDP and broadband
connection levels. Delivering affordable, reliable and
accessible broadband to more citizens will help Countries
bridge the digital divide and it can help all countries become
stronger, more competitive and more prepared for continued
growth in the years and decades to come. More and more
people are seeing broadband not just an infrastructure but
rather a general-purpose technology that can fundamentally
restructure an economy.
REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
Fife, E. and Pereira, F. (2002) Socio-economic and cultural factors
affecting adoption of broadband access: a cross-country analysis', 41st
European Telecommunications Congress,
http://www.marshal.usc.edu/ctm/publications/FITCE2002.pdf
Gong, W., Li, Z., Stump, R. (2007) Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing
and Logistics volume 19 Global internet use and access: cultural
considerations: Emerald Group Publishing Limited pp. 57-74
Internet
World
Stats
(2010)
available
at:
www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
OFCOM (2011) Infrastructure Report - The first Communications
Infrastructure Report, November 2011
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/telecomsresearch/broadband-speeds/comms-infrastructure-report/
Polykalas , S. and Vlachos, K. (2006) Broadband penetration and
broadband competition: evidence and analysis in the EU market.
INFO, 8 6 (2006), pp. 15–30
Picot, A. and Wernick, C. (2007) The role of government in broadband
access. Telecommunications Policy, Vol. 31, 10–11, pp. 660–674.
[8] Van Cuilenburg, J. and Slaa, P. (1995) Competition and innovation
in telecommunications: An empirical analysis of innovative
telecommunications in the public interest. Telecommunications
Policy, 19 8 (1995), pp. 647–663.
Van Gorp, A., Maitland, C. and Hanekop, H. (2006) The broadband
Internet access market: The changing role of ISPs. Telecommunications
Policy, 30 2 (2006), pp. 96–111.
Van Gorp, A., Middleton, C., 2009. Fiber to the Home and
Competition: Developments in the Netherlands and Canada. Proc. 37th
Research Conference on Communication, Information and Internet
Policy (TPRC)..
Whalley, J. and Curwen, P. (2008) Equality of access and local loop
unbundling in the UK broadband telecommunications market.
Telematics and Informatics, 25 4 (2008), pp. 280–291
Wu, I. (2004) Canada, South Korea, Netherlands and Sweden:
regulatory implications of the convergence of telecommunications,
broadcasting
and
Internet
services.
Telecommunications
Policy, 28 (2004), pp. 79–96.
Dimireva, I. (2010) Country by country breakdown of 15th Progress
Report on European Telecoms Market 2009
Available at: http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/telecoms/telecomsreport.2009
IJED Vol. 1 Iss. 1, PP. 34-37, Nov. 2011
c World Academic Publishing ○
[3]
37