DSL Prime: OECD Delivers Global Statistics

We deliver many broadband stats and provide a link to more. Taylor Reynolds and team do some of the best data-gathering in the business, so the OECD subscriber numbers are considered definitive, but we also admire Point Topic, the definitive commercial service, and discuss their statistics too.

by Dave Burstein of DSL Prime and Future of TV [July 2, 2008]

OECD Numbers: End 2007 Figures Correct
Over-emphasized differences between countries
The OECD numbers are out. The countries doing well will brag; those doing poorly will blame the OECD statisticians. Shooting the messenger never helps, especially because Taylor Reynolds and team do some of the best data-gathering in the business, so the OECD subscriber numbers are considered definitive. Taylor is the first to talk about how they need better data, but I've had the opportunity to compare the OECD numbers against the best in private hands. Consistently, they are very close, and if there's a discrepancy, OECD figures are more often correct. I've seen research from the major brokerages, internal figures from some of the largest companies, and regularly access Point-Topic, the definitive commercial service. The OECD broadband subscriber figures are public and free.

To make clear small differences shouldn't be exaggerated, I like to group nations. No one really knows these numbers to the decimal point, and different countries have different ways to count.

Within each group, differences are less than two year's normal growth.

Over 30 subscribers per hundred population

Denmark, Netherlands, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Finland, South Korea, Sweden

25-30

Canada, United Kingdom, Belgium

20-25

France, Germany, United States, Australia, Japan

15-20

Austria, New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, Italy

10-15

Czech Republic, Portugal, Hungary

< 10

Greece, Poland, Slovak Republic, Turkey, Mexico

Here's figures if you insist:

Denmark 35.1
Netherlands 34.8
Iceland 32.2
Norway 31.2
Switzerland 31.0
Finland 30.7
Korea 30.5
Sweden 30.3

Luxembourg 26.7
Canada 26.6
UK 25.8
Belgium 25.7
France 24.6
Germany 23.8
United States 23.3
Australia 23.3
Japan 22.1

Austria 19.6
New Zealand 18.3
Ireland 18.1
Spain 18.0
Italy 17.2
Czech 14.6
Portugal 14.4
Hungary 13.6

Greece 9.1
Poland 8.8
Slovakia 7.6
Turkey 6.0
Mexico 4.3

Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Estonia and Israel are not OECD members but would rank high. China has a low figure as a percent of population, but probably has passed the U.S. for the world leading total.

Point-Topic has a somewhat higher figure for Australia than the OECD, which I'll have to investigate. I also went to Point-Topic for per household figures. Countries with small families rank higher on the per 100 population; those with larger families rank higher per 100 households.

Korea: 93 percent

Hong Kong: 89 percent

Singapore: 84 percent

70-80 percent of homes

Denmark, Israel, Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway

60-70 percent

Australia, Canada, Finland, Ireland, USA, Taiwan, Sweden, UK, France, Estonia

Under 60

Japan, Belgium

Conclusion among developed countries, based on OECD per 100 population and Point-Topic per 100:

• Way above average: Scandinavia, Small Asian countries, Switzerland, Israel
• Somewhat ahead: Canada (dropping—they were #2 in the world in 2001)
• The great middle: Belgium, France, Germany, United States, Australia, Japan
• Lower: Spain, Italy

Surprises and changes: Japan and Canada growing more slowly, Germany, Australia and Ireland catching up, Greece remains low.

Copyright 2008 Dave Burstein.
The DSL Prime Newsletter is reprinted with permission.

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