The Development of Broadband Access in Rural and Remote Areas”, OECD Digital Economy Papers, No
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Please cite this paper as: OECD (2004-05-10), “The Development of Broadband Access in Rural and Remote Areas”, OECD Digital Economy Papers, No. 80, OECD Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/232744838147 OECD Digital Economy Papers No. 80 The Development of Broadband Access in Rural and Remote Areas OECD Unclassified DSTI/ICCP/TISP(2003)7/FINAL Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 10-May-2004 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ English - Or. English DIRECTORATE FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRY COMMITTEE FOR INFORMATION, COMPUTER AND COMMUNICATIONS POLICY Unclassified DSTI/ICCP/TISP(2003)7/FINAL Working Party on Telecommunication and Information Services Policies THE DEVELOPMENT OF BROADBAND ACCESS IN RURAL AND REMOTE AREAS English - Or. English JT00163813 Document complet disponible sur OLIS dans son format d'origine Complete document available on OLIS in its original format DSTI/ICCP/TISP(2003)7/FINAL FOREWORD In December 2003 the report was presented to the Working Party on Telecommunications and Information Services Policy (TISP). It was recommended to be made public by the Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy (ICCP) in April 2004. The report was prepared by Dr. Sam Paltridge of the OECD's Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry. It is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. Copyright OECD, 2004 Applications for permission to reproduce or translate all or part of this material should be made to: Head of Publications Service, OECD, 2 rue André-Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France. 2 DSTI/ICCP/TISP(2003)7/FINAL TABLE OF CONTENTS THE DEVELOPMENT OF BROADBAND ACCESS IN RURAL AND REMOTE AREAS..................... 4 Main points.................................................................................................................................................. 4 Introduction................................................................................................................................................. 6 Broadband availability........................................................................................................................... 10 Country updates......................................................................................................................................... 14 Australia................................................................................................................................................. 14 Austria ................................................................................................................................................... 16 Belgium ................................................................................................................................................. 17 Canada ................................................................................................................................................... 17 Czech Republic...................................................................................................................................... 20 Denmark ................................................................................................................................................ 21 Finland................................................................................................................................................... 21 France .................................................................................................................................................... 22 Germany ................................................................................................................................................ 24 Greece.................................................................................................................................................... 25 Hungary ................................................................................................................................................. 25 Iceland ................................................................................................................................................... 26 Ireland.................................................................................................................................................... 26 Italy........................................................................................................................................................ 27 Japan...................................................................................................................................................... 29 Korea ..................................................................................................................................................... 30 Luxembourg........................................................................................................................................... 31 Mexico................................................................................................................................................... 32 Netherlands............................................................................................................................................ 33 New Zealand.......................................................................................................................................... 33 Norway .................................................................................................................................................. 36 Poland.................................................................................................................................................... 37 Portugal.................................................................................................................................................. 38 Slovak Republic..................................................................................................................................... 39 Spain...................................................................................................................................................... 39 Sweden................................................................................................................................................... 39 Switzerland ............................................................................................................................................ 41 Turkey.................................................................................................................................................... 42 United Kingdom .................................................................................................................................... 42 United States.......................................................................................................................................... 46 NOTES ......................................................................................................................................................... 54 APPENDIX 1: SELECTED DATA FOR OECD COUNTRIES.................................................................. 71 3 DSTI/ICCP/TISP(2003)7/FINAL THE DEVELOPMENT OF BROADBAND ACCESS IN RURAL AND REMOTE AREAS Main points As the development of broadband access builds momentum, policy makers are increasingly turning their attention to the availability of these services in rural and remote areas. The economic and social case for developing broadband access is very strong and takes on added significance for rural and remote communities, where improved communications can address a variety of challenges posed by distance.1 This report builds on earlier work by the OECD on the development of broadband access.2 The paper further strengthens the case made in “Universal service obligations and broadband” which argued that governments should act cautiously in providing financial assistance for the development of broadband, or including it as part of universal service obligations, until a clearer picture emerged of how new technologies and services, and the competitive market, could be used to foster broadband access in rural and remote regions.3 The report reviews progress on the availability of broadband access across the OECD area. It particularly focuses on benchmarking digital subscriber line (DSL) and cable modem expansion and availability, as well as the emergence of broadband wireless as a platform to provide low-cost high-performance access networks in rural and remote areas. The paper finds that DSL availability is proceeding apace, with around three-quarters of existing subscriber lines being able to provide service by 2003. Cable networks pass 58% of households with just under three-quarters of those networks having been upgraded for broadband access. The paper also explores the increasing capabilities of wireless networks and lower equipment costs that are enabling a considerable amount of new entry into the telecommunication services market. This is most evident in urban areas where public and private wireless LANs are proliferating. However, it is also evident in the provision of broadband access in rural areas, the subject of this document. The amount of new entry by Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) in rural