Federal Communications Commission DA 16-97 Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) International Comparison Requirements Pursuant ) GN Docket No. 15-191 to the Broadband Data Improvement Act ) ) International Broadband Data Report ) FIFTH REPORT Adopted: January 28, 2016 Released: January 29, 2016 By the Chief, International Bureau: TABLE OF CONTENTS Heading Paragraph # I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 1 II. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................... 2 III. DISCUSSION ...................................................................................................................................... 13 A. Fixed Broadband Coverage Comparison with Europe .................................................................. 14 B. Broadband Subscription (OECD Countries) .................................................................................. 22 C. Fixed Broadband Speeds ................................................................................................................ 26 D. Broadband Pricing Plans ................................................................................................................ 32 E. Other Relevant Information and International Developments ....................................................... 43 IV. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................... 49 V. PROCEDURAL MATTERS ................................................................................................................ 50 APPENDIX A - Country List APPENDIX B - Broadband Price Dataset APPENDIX C - Broadband Price Tables APPENDIX D - Demographics Dataset APPENDIX E - Market and Regulatory Background APPENDIX F - Comparing International Fixed Broadband Speeds APPENDIX G - Broadband Deployment Comparison with Europe I. INTRODUCTION 1. This is the International Bureau’s fifth International Broadband Data Report (IBDR or Report). Required under Section 103(b) of the Broadband Data Improvement Act (BDIA), the IBDR provides comparative international information on broadband services.1 Through the presentation of this data, we have the opportunity to compare the state of broadband deployment in the United States and the country’s broadband speeds and prices to the international community. The available international broadband data, though not fully comparable to data on the United States, continue to suggest that although the United States may be among the leaders for developed countries with regard to some broadband metrics, it lags in some other metrics. In this Report and its appendices, we present a number 1 See 47 U.S.C. § 1303(b). 1 Federal Communications Commission DA 16-97 of data points, including fixed broadband deployment data in the United States and the European Union (EU) with a focus on rural areas, advertised and actual fixed broadband speeds in 40 countries around the world, including the United States, and broadband prices (both fixed and mobile plans) across the same 40 countries.2 As with previous Reports, we also have gathered demographic and regulatory/market data (to the extent available) for the countries included in this Report. The majority of this information is presented in the appendices to this Report. II. BACKGROUND 2. The BDIA requires the Commission to include in its annual broadband progress report “information comparing the extent of broadband service capability (including data transmission speeds and price for broadband service capability) in a total of 75 communities in at least 25 countries for each of the data rate benchmarks for broadband service utilized by the Commission to reflect different speed tiers.”3 The BDIA directs the Commission to assess broadband capability in international communities comparable to the communities in the United States with respect to population size, population density, topography, and demographic profile.4 The Commission is also directed to include “a geographically diverse selection of countries” and “communities including the capital cities of such countries.”5 The Commission must “identify relevant similarities and differences in each community, including their market structures, the number of competitors, the number of facilities-based providers, the types of technologies deployed by such providers, the applications and services those technologies enable, the regulatory model under which broadband service capability is provided, the types of applications and services used, business and residential use of such services, and other media available to consumers.”6 We comply with the BDIA’s requirements, and include the highlights of our findings in this Report and present the detailed data and additional discussion in the relevant appendices. 3. In this Report, we focus our efforts on analysis of broadband deployment, speed, and price research. Following past practice and the BDIA’s goal of developing a geographically diverse and detailed set of data on international broadband, we use two criteria to guide the selection of countries and communities for our research. The first is inclusivity: we attempt to capture as full an international profile as possible, embracing communities from all parts of the world, while also focusing on those 2 The countries we have selected for this Report are largely the same as those we included in the Fourth IBDR (International Comparison Requirements Pursuant to the Broadband Data Improvement Act, International Broadband Data Report, GN Docket No. 14-26, Fourth Report, DA 15-132 (2015) (Fourth IBDR). As discussed more fully below, we used pricing data collected by Google (Google’s data) in this Report. Google’s data, though it includes more than 100 countries, did not include fixed and mobile data for all 40 countries that we chose to examine. Specifically, Google’s fixed broadband data does not include Estonia, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, New Zealand, or Norway. Google’s mobile data does not include Estonia, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, or Slovenia. See http://policybythenumbers.blogspot.com/2015/02/global- broadband-pricing-study-updated.html. 3 47 U.S.C. § 1303(b)(1). Several terms that we use in this Report, such as “broadband,” “advanced telecommunications capability,” and “availability” may have specialized meanings in other contexts, and nothing in this Report should be read to suggest that our use of terminology here is intended to affect the meanings of other specialized terms in the context of the 2016 Broadband Progress Report or in other proceedings. See, e.g., Inquiry Concerning the Deployment of Advanced Telecommunications Capability to All Americans in a Reasonable and Timely Fashion, and Possible Steps to Accelerate Such Deployment Pursuant to Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, as Amended by the Broadband Data Improvement Act, GN Docket Nos. 15-191, Broadband Progress Report, FCC 16-6 (rel. January 29, 2016) (2016 Broadband Progress Report). The 2016 Broadband Progress Report incorporates by reference this IBDR to fulfill the obligation imposed by Section 103(b) of the BDIA. 4 Id. § 1303(b)(2). 5 Id. 6 Id. § 1303(b)(3). 2 Federal Communications Commission DA 16-97 countries that have more developed broadband markets. The second is data availability: we include only communities for which a substantial set of relevant information is available. These two criteria result in a dataset that exceeds the statutory minimum requirements of 25 countries and 75 communities comparable to U.S. communities, and includes communities from almost all nations with the highest broadband deployment.7 4. The criteria we have used for choosing communities enable us to make reasonable international comparisons. The BDIA requires the Commission to choose communities that are similar to U.S. communities, which suggests communities with higher income and education levels, and better broadband service, than communities in poorer, less developed countries. To that end, we have focused our research on 40 countries, including the United States and all Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.8 5. Comments and Data Sources. The 2015 Broadband Progress Notice of Inquiry sought comment on how we could make improvements to the IBDR.9 We received no comments regarding potential improvements to the IBDR. We also sought comment on potential data sources and also invited commenters to provide any relevant qualitative and quantitative data enabling international comparisons under the Act. We received no direct comment on this, though some commenters cited mobile broadband data and rankings in their submissions.10 6. As noted above, the BDIA requires that the Commission gather information concerning “the extent of broadband service capability (including data transmission speeds and price for broadband service capability)” in foreign communities.11 As in previous years, we understand the responsibility of gathering information on “the extent of broadband service capability” to require an inquiry into the deployment and availability of broadband service, which in turn includes factors such as price, quality, and adoption.12 In preparing this IBDR, we have reviewed a number of data sources and