New broadband penetration data shows that the majority of the world has almost no home access to high-speed Internet access; in Africa, for instance, only 2% of homes have broadband. Ars takes a look at the worldwide digital divide.It’s not hard for Americans to work themselves into a lather over the state of broadband in this country, which is improving but still not on par with the 100Mbps fiber lines widely offered in countries like South Korea and Japan. But it’s worth taking a step back every once in a while to consider the global picture: much of the world has broadband penetration rates under 20 percent, and the largest single group of countries has penetration rates of between 0 and 5 percent.To read this ars technica report in full, see:
arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/07/how-wide-is-the-worlds-digital-divide-anyway.arsAlso see:The real story behind broadband household penetration rates
Discussions on fixed broadband penetration rates usually focus on the extreme ends of the spectrum; impending saturation in countries with well-developed economies and the almost total lack of broadband provision in the poorer ones. TeleGeography believes issues around saturation tend to be overstated, while issues around lack of broadband cannot be overstated.
telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=29075