The Top Ten Wired Countries

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) regularly conducts studies of 30 nations to measure broadband penetration. Broadband penetration refers to the number of broadband Internet subscribers compared to the overall population. The OECD usually breaks this down in a simple ratio: the number of broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants.

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A world map shows the distribution of Internet users across the globe.­
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­­­The OECD includes DSL, cable modem, fiber-optic and local area network (LAN) connections in its calculations. It doesn't include dialup modem users, because those users don't qualify as broadband subscribers.

According to the OECD, the top 10 most wired countries are:

  1. Denmark
  2. Netherlands
  3. Switzerland
  4. Korea
  5. Norway
  6. Iceland
  7. Finland
  8. Sweden
  9. Canada
  10. Belgium

Each of these countries has at least 23 subscribers per 100 inhabitants -- Denmark has 34.3. In comparison, the United States has 22.1 subscribers for every 100 inhabitants. Despite this relatively small discrepancy, the U.S. ranks 15th on OECD's list.

Beyond the Keyboard
Computers aren't the only devices that access the Internet. Many people use mobile devices like smartphones for everything from checking e-mail to surfing the Web. The United States lags behind many Asian and European nations when it comes to wireless service. These countries promote 3G, or the third generation of mobile phone standards. A 3G network supports faster data transfers, allowing the user of a 3G phone to access broadband content wirelessly. The United States has been slow to adopt 3G technology. Only a few phone carriers offer 3G phones and service.

So why is it that these countries have proportionally more broadband subscribers than the United States? There are several factors to consider:

  • Population size: The United States has more than 300 million inhabitants. Denmark, the top-ranked country on the OECD's list, has a population of 5.5 million. Out of the top 10 countries listed, Korea has the largest population (49 million) and Iceland has the smallest (301,931) [source: CIA].
  • The size of the countries: The United States has an area of 9,826,630 square kilometers. Denmark has an area of 43,094 square kilometers. Out of all the countries on the top 10 list, only Canada is larger than the United States [source: CIA]. It's more difficult and expensive to implement a broadband network in a larger country than a smaller one.
  • The price of subscriptions: Out of the 30 countries the OECD examines in its studies, the United States ranked 18th in average monthly subscription price.
  • National policies: The governments in the countries that make up the top 10 have a national broadband strategy. These countries consider broadband access a political priority and provide a framework for the Internet infrastructure. The United States does not have a comprehensive broadband strategy, leaving such decisions to corporations and utility companies [source: Foreign Affairs].

Dissenting Opinions
Some studies disagree with OECD's assessments and rank the United States more favorably. For example, in 2005, IBM ranked the United States in fifth place in a study on most wired nations [source: IBM]. When Ipsos Insight asked 6,500 people in a dozen countries if they had used the Internet within the last month, the United States ranked third on the survey's results, behind Japan and Canada [source: International Business Times]. But one study suggests that the OECD was too lenient with the U.S. -- WebSiteOptimization.com ranks the United States 24th in broadband penetration [source: WebSiteOptimization].

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