South Korea tops broadband

A massive 95 per cent of households in South Korea accessed the internet through broadband last year, a new global survey shows.

New Zealand ranks 25th out of 58 countries surveyed by international research house Strategy Analytics, with 57 per cent of our households using broadband in 2008.

South Korea was in first place, followed by Singapore, the Netherlands, Denmark and Taiwan which all had household broadband penetration of more than 80 per cent.

New Zealand comes in behind Australia, which ranked 11th with 72 per cent penetration, Britain in 14th place with 67 per cent, and the 20th-ranked United States with 60 per cent penetration.

Indonesia was last on the table, with just 1 per cent of its households accessing the internet via broadband during the year.

Strategy Analytics said South Korea's dominance in broadband penetration was attributable in part to its highly urbanised population, as well as to the existence of a comprehensive government-backed broadband policy.

Five of the top 10 scorers were Asian countries, underlining the rapid broadband growth in the region, the consultancy said.

HOW THEY RANKED
Percentage of households accessing the internet via broadband:

1. South Korea, 95 per cent
2. Singapore, 88 per cent
3. Netherlands, 85 per cent
4. Denmark, 82 per cent
5. Taiwan, 81 per cent
11. Australia, 72 per cent
14. Britain, 67 per cent
20. United States, 60 per cent
25. New Zealand, 57 per cent
58. Indonesia, 1 per cent

Source: Strategy Analytics: Global Household Broadband Penetration Rankings (2008)