OECD countries fibre uptake continues to accelerate

New data shows a fast increase in broadband adoption in OECD countries – with a particularly steep acceleration in the use of fibre.

Figures just released for the international economic organisation of 34 countries, for the year to December 2012, show a steady trend increase in fibre adoption – with the share of fibre subscriptions in fixed broadband increasing to 14.9 per cent (up to 48.7 million fibre broadband lines). Fibre grew by 12.7 per cent in 2012, four times as much as fixed broadband at 3.27 per cent.

Luxembourg (324 per cent), Austria (193.9 per cent), United Kingdom (169.9 per cent) and Switzerland (149.6 per cent) had the strongest annual growth in fibre, while seven countries had growth rates above 100 per cent year-on-year and 11 countries more than 50 per cent. Broadband providers are investing in fibre networks as a means to differentiate themselves against their competitors, the report says.

Japan and Korea still maintain a strong OECD leadership in fibre broadband penetration, with more than 60 per cent of fixed broadband lines based on fibre technology. The fibre shares in Estonia, Sweden and the Slovak Republic are over 30 per cent.

Switzerland (43.4 per cent), Netherlands (39.7 per cent) and Denmark (38.8 per cent) top the OECD’s fixed broadband penetration ranking. The OECD’s average fixed broadband penetration is 26.3 lines per 100 inhabitants (327.2 million subscriptions).