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The World's Broadband |
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Four European Union (EU) nations have the best broadband deployment rates in the world. The Single Telecoms Market Progress Report has shown that Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden saw penetration rates in excess of 30 per cent at the end of last year. Along with the UK, Belgium, Luxembourg and France, these countries saw higher rates than the US in 2007, with some 19 million EU broadband lines added last year.
UNITED
KINGDOM
Currently in the UK the big issue is the gap between advertised and
actual speeds, so while 10Mbps might be available from a few suppliers,
very few actually get this speed. According to speedtest.net - a
global speed test created by actual users and approved by most of the
major ISPs in the US - the real speed is closer to 3Mbps.
Things get faster next year as ADSL2+ comes online promising speeds of
up to 24Mbps, although as with all DSL technology, there are physical
limits and only those close to the exchange will actually get the top
speeds. Virgin Media
is currently trialling a 50Mbps cable service and BT is also
experimenting with fiber to the home, which could offers speeds of up
to 100Mbps.
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FRANCE
France has an advertised average of 44Mbps.
According to speedtest.net
the average speed from those doing the test is 4.6Mbps but higher
speeds are beginning to come online. ADSL2+ is already available and is
being marketed as providing speeds of up to 28Mbps.
Actual speeds will vary although the copper telephone lines are
generally of better quality than in the UK, so speeds are typically
higher. The leading ISPs in France have announced fiber-based services.
Orange
and Frees' offerings are live now and are marketed at offering speeds
around 50Mbps. Free's offer at 29 euros a month, comes bundled with a
broadband telephone service, IPTV, plus a free set top box.
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GERMANY
Average advertised speeds of 9Mbps falls to 4.8Mbps according to
speedtest.net.
In Germany the main delivery mechanism is still largely DSL, and the
leading company is the old incumbent Deutsche
Telekom. They have a VDSL network - which provides fiber as
far as the street cabinet. This is live in the main German cities, and
offers speeds of up to around 25Mbps. Outside of the main towns there
is a mixture of ADSL 1 and 2 technologies.
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SWEDEN
Average advertised speed of 21Mbps but according to speedtest.net,
people are actually achieving an average of 7.4Mbps.
In Sweden there is a VDSL network live. Fiber has been available for
quite a long time with a significant number of people served by it.
Speeds vary depending on which network, but can go up to 100Mbps,
However there is a big polarisation between those that get it and those
still relying on DSL products.
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POLAND
Average speed of 4Mbps, falls to 1.6Mbps according to speedtest.net.
In Poland there is virtually no local loop unbundling, which means
little competition for the France
Telecom-owned incumbent.
Speeds there aren't fast by western European standards although there
are quite a lot of so-called LAN networks (Local Area Networks) using
ethernet cable, which allow for super-fast speeds because of their
limited geography. This phenomenon is peculiar to eastern European
countries such as Poland where the existing infrastructure isn't great
but it is relatively easy for local entrepreneurs to set up such
systems quickly.
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SOUTH AFRICA
1Mbps (this data comes from the ITU
as OECD doesn't
have figures for Africa).
Alongside countries such as Morocco, South Africa is one of the biggest
broadband countries in Africa. The primary delivery mechanism is via
broadband. WIMAX penetration is still low. Although it is likely to
become an important infrastructure in Africa, currently it is too
expensive to be widely deployed.
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ISRAEL
Israel's advertised figure is 2Mbps.
Israel has very high penetration levels with around 70% of households
using a broadband connection. There is quite a lot of cable services
available alongside DSL and there has been quite a big government spend
on broadband.
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UNITED
STATES
The US has an average speed of 8Mbps according to the OECD, although it is
nearly half this (4.6Mbps) according to speedtest.net.
The US is unusual because it is one of the few countries in which cable
is the largest connection network. Typically cable is marketed at
offering between 5Mbps and 20Mbps. Number of fiber providers, most
notably Verizon
which offers fiber to home, with speeds up to 20Mb, This is just
available on the east coast. ATT
is offering a hybrid DSL service while Qwest has just
announced a fiber to street strategy.
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MEXICO
Mexico's advertised speed is 2Mbps.
In Mexico the predominant infrastructure is broadband via DSL.
Its rich incumbent telecom firm TelMex
are considering laying fiber and despite the fact that there is no
large scale implementation it is likely to overtake the UK very soon in
terms of the amount of fiber available.
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NEW
ZEALAND
Average advertised speed of 13.5Mbps, falls to 2.4Mbps according to
speedtest.net
Broadband comes largely via DSL in New Zealand where Telecom New Zealand
is very dominant.
Cable is limited to one or two cities. There are very specific
challenges for providers in New Zealand. Because of the distances
between houses there tends to be very long telephone lines, meaning
quality is not great for many. International connectivity is also an
issue because of its physical distance from the rest of the world.
There is not much competition meaning speeds stay slow. The model of
local loop unbundling - opening the telephone exchanges to other
operators - is being considered as is the idea of providing fiber to
the street cabinet or to push DSL into remoter street cabinets to
reduce line length.
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JAPAN
Japan has an average speed of 93Mbps according to the OECD, but this falls to
10.6Mbps according to speedtest.net,
which could be indicative of the fact that fiber is concentrated in the
towns and cities.
Cable broadband is quite strong in Japan but the biggest market is in
fiber to the home.
This has proved so popular with consumers that DSL is actually in
decline. Companies are so advanced with fiber delivery that they are
beginning to find DSL surplus to requirements. The speeds fiber
provides means applications such as sharing video files are standard.
Fiber also dramatically improves upload speeds, making it much
more suitable for web 2.0 communication, with individuals contributing
back to the internet with pictures and videos.
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SOUTH
KOREA
South Korea's figure is 43Mbps.
In South Korea there has also been a very strong fiber rollout, which
has been enabled, at least in part, by state contributions.
Often regarded as something of a gold standard when it comes to
super-fast broadband, an amazing 90% of homes have a broadband
connection of between 50 and 100Mbps. They also pay the lowest rates in
the world. There are pilot services offering connections starting at
1,000Mbps. The big driver for fast broadband here is gaming and 43% of
the population has a personal profile in the virtual world Cyworld, which
recorded $10m worth of trade per month last year.
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CHINA
ITU
data puts China's broadband speed at 1Mbps.
China is fast becoming the world's largest broadband economy. It is
laying quite a lot of fiber which is a less disruptive option in China
because of the amount of new building work being done. It already has
14 million fiber lines, compared to 9.6 million in Japan, 1.7m in the
US and just a few thousand in the UK but it doesn't generate the same
speeds as in other Asian countries because the fiber tends to feed into
blocks of flats rather than individual dwellings.
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