OECD Mobile Broadband Adoption 72%, Internet Access Exceeds 100% in Some Countries

Mobile broadband penetration has grown to 72 percent in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development area, according to December 2013 data, showing the importance of mobile as a part of the overall Internet access picture.

Seven countries (Finland, Australia, Japan, Sweden, Denmark, Korea and the United States) now lie above the 100 percent penetration threshold, including all forms of Interent access--mobile, fixed and satellite.

Fixed network broadband subscriptions in the OECD area reached 339 million as of December 2013, making an average penetration of 27 percent.

Digital subscriber line still is the prevalent technology, making up 52 percent of fixed broadband subscriptions, but it continues to be gradually replaced by optical fiber connections, now at 17 percent of subscriptions, OECD notes.

Cable TV high speed access, at 31 percent of connections,  accounted for most of the remaining subscriptions.

Two-digit annual growth in fibre ratio in total fixed broadband was sustained thanks to increases in large OECD economies with low penetration levels such as France (66%), Spain (74%), Turkey (73%) and the United Kingdom (108%).  

Japan and Korea remain the OECD leaders in optical fiber deployment, with fiber making up 70 percent of connections in Japan and 65 percent of connections in South Korea.

Mobile broadband subscriptions in the 34-country group were up about 15 percent from a year earlier to a total of 910 million, driven by continuing strong demand for smartphones and tablets, OECD reports.

As has been the case for at least a decade, aggregate global telecom revenues have been driven by mobile connections.  

The global telecommunications business will generate $2.15 trillion in revenue in 2014, and most of the revenue growth will come from mobile services, according to CMR.

At the global level, CMR projects that global telecommunications service  revenues will grow from $2.1 trillion to $2.4 trillion at a CAGR of 2.1 percent.

Revenue growth will happen in all regions except Europe, where telecom revenue is declining.

Virtually everywhere else, revenue is growing.