Why Does Broadband Matter?
The major reason the OECD and other international organisations monitor broadband usage is because of its ability to accelerate the contribution of ICT to economic growth. While Internet-grade broadband is widely available in New Zealand, its uptake by users to date has been uncharacteristically low, compared with the OECD average. New Zealand once having been at the forefront of telecommunications development has been largely left behind by other OECD countries who are already starting to see significant improvements to the way their economies and societies work due to the new opportunities created by Broadband services.
Broadband in itself will not drive the growth in the economy. It is the opportunities that are opening up from having access to faster, cheaper broadband that will drive our development. People and businesses use the Internet for a wide range of applications and broadband allows for new and smarter applications to be developed to meet the wants and needs of these users.
The OECD has produced a report on the impact of Broadband on Growth (pdf 23kb).
The OECD also produce a regular report on Broadband Penetration rates - the latest one can be found on the OECD website www.oecd.org. See OECD Broadband Statistics, June 2006.
Click chart for larger version
Broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants in OECD countries, June 2006.
Source www.oecd.org