Cable is the leading fixed broadband access technology in the United States, while fiber is king in exactly half of the 38 countries tracked by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The United States was 21st out of 38 countries in terms of fiber deployment.
Cable, which grew by 2% in the year between June 2021 and last June, was the leading fixed broadband technology in seven other countries. Cable, OECD said, is declining in 18 countries.
Fiber subscriptions grew by 12.3% during the year-long period assessed by the OCED Broadband Portal. The growth rate was a bit slower than for the previous 12-month period.
Fiber accounts for 36% of fixed broadband subscriptions compared to 22% five years ago, OECD said.
Seven countries have fiber percentages of more than 70%. The top three are Korea (87%), Japan (84%) and Spain (81%). The highest growth rates are in Belgium (87%), Costa Rica (51%), the United Kingdom (47%), Ireland (40%), Chile (35%) and Colombia (32%).
The OECD portal tracked 5G subscriptions for the first time in 2022. Fourteen of the 38 countries break out 5G subscriptions, though the service is available in 36 of the 38 countries. In countries with 5G broken out, 5G represents 17% of mobile broadband subscriptions, on average. Denmark, Korea and Japan have the highest percentage of 5G subscriptions.
There was a 6% increase in mobile broadband subscriptions overall.
DSL fell by 8.5% over the period studied. The biggest losses were in Norway, Chile and Sweden. These countries presumably moved onto more modern technologies.
The OECD portal tracks the world’s most developed countries, which have risen by three since 2016, when there were 35.
