Buzz
Image credit: China Photos/Getty ImagesThe Internet’s evolution began in the United States, where it initially had the most robust access to its resources for many years. However, according to technology experts such as S. Derek Turner, the global landscape started shifting as more nations connected to the Internet. Over time, the United States began to see its dominant position fade as other countries enhanced their internet accessibility.
On the other hand, some sources maintain that the United States continues to lead, both as a content creator on the Internet and in ensuring citizens have the necessary access. What do these differing viewpoints signify?
A significant part of the debate lies in how internet access is evaluated. Should it be based on the physical internet infrastructure each country has? Or should it be determined by the percentage of citizens in a country who have internet access? One methodology employed by a company was to survey a sample of individuals across various countries, asking whether they had used the Internet in the past month.
This article will follow the same methodology used by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which evaluates each country's broadband subscription rates relative to their total population. Why is this approach important? Simply counting the number of subscribers doesn’t give us a full picture. Let’s compare the broadband situation in the United States and China.
The OECD reports that the United States has over 77 million broadband subscribers [source: OECD]. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the nation's population is estimated to be over 305 million [source: U.S. Census Bureau]. In contrast, China boasts 83.4 million broadband subscribers, with a population of more than 1.3 billion [source: Internet World Stats]. When we look only at the number of subscribers, China surpasses the United States. However, when we compare these numbers relative to the population, the situation changes drastically. In the U.S., 25 percent of the population has a broadband connection, while in China, only 6.2 percent does.
Now, let’s take a global perspective and examine which countries are leading the world in terms of broadband infrastructure.
Computers aren’t the only way people access the Internet. Many individuals rely on mobile devices like smartphones for tasks ranging from checking e-mail to browsing the web. The United States is falling behind several Asian and European countries in terms of wireless service. These countries have advanced 3G, or third-generation, mobile phone networks. A 3G network enables faster data transfer speeds, allowing users of 3G phones to access broadband content wirelessly. The United States is only now beginning to catch up in supporting 3G technology.
The Ten Most Wired Countries
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) frequently evaluates broadband penetration across 30 countries. This term refers to the proportion of people who subscribe to broadband Internet services relative to the total population. To simplify, the OECD calculates this as the number of broadband subscribers per 100 people.
The OECD includes broadband technologies like DSL, cable modem, fiber-optic, and local area networks (LAN) in its assessments. However, it excludes dial-up modem users, as they are not considered broadband subscribers.
According to the OECD's findings, the following are the top 10 countries with the highest broadband penetration rates:
- Denmark
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Switzerland
- Iceland
- Korea
- Sweden
- Finland
- Luxembourg
- Canada
In countries like Denmark, there are at least 29 broadband subscribers for every 100 people, with Denmark itself reaching 37.2. By contrast, the United States has 25.8 subscribers per 100 inhabitants, putting it in 15th place in the OECD rankings. Although the gap is relatively small, the United States still leads globally with the highest total number of broadband subscribers.
What accounts for the higher proportion of broadband subscribers in these countries compared to the United States? Several factors play a role:
- The population size: With over 300 million people, the United States has a much larger population than Denmark, the leading country in OECD's rankings with just 5.5 million people. Of the top 10 countries in the list, Korea has the highest population (49 million), and Iceland has the smallest (306,694) [source: U.S. Central Intelligence Agency].
- The countries' size: The United States spans 9,826,630 square kilometers, while Denmark covers only 43,094 square kilometers. Out of the top 10 countries, only Canada is larger than the U.S. However, Canada’s population is more sparsely spread out, particularly in the northern regions. It’s costlier and more challenging to establish a broadband network across a larger country compared to a smaller one.
- National policies: The top 10 countries have national broadband strategies, treating internet access as a political priority and providing frameworks to support infrastructure development. On the other hand, the U.S. lacks a cohesive national broadband plan, leaving decisions to private corporations and utility providers [source: Bleha].
Some research challenges the OECD's findings and places the United States in a more favorable position. For instance, in 2005, IBM ranked the United States 5th in its study of the most wired nations [source: IBM]. In a survey by Ipsos Insight, which asked 6,500 people across twelve countries if they had used the Internet within the past month, the United States came in third, following Japan and Canada [source: International Business Times]. However, one study argues that the OECD may have been too lenient on the United States, with WebSiteOptimization.com ranking it 22nd in terms of broadband penetration [source: WebSiteOptimization].
