Despite efforts by the FCC and Congress to expand broadband availability to more consumers and businesses, a new ranking released by Strategy Analytics shows that the U.S. trails the rest of the world in broadband development.
According to the analyst firm's new Broadband Composite Index (BCI), the U.S. ranks 23rd on the list of 57 countries. Taking the top spot on the ranking is South Korea, while Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Lithuania, and Japan round out the remaining top five spots.
In developing the BCI measurement tool, Strategy Analytics judged the 57 countries in five categories, including household penetration, speed, affordability, value for money, and urbanicity.
Ben Piper, Director of the Strategy Analytics Multiplay Market Dynamics service and author of the report, said what's holding back the U.S. broadband market is a lack of healthy competition. This lack of competition, which has been dominated by a two-horse race between cable operators and telcos, has not only driven up broadband prices, but kept speeds low.
| U.S. Broadband Rank (of 57 Countries; partial listing) | ||
| Rank | Country | BCI |
| 1 | South Korea | 9.14 |
| 2 | Hong Kong | 7.58 |
| 3 | Netherlands | 7.53 |
| 4 | Lithuania | 7.52 |
| 5 | Japan | 7.42 |
| 9 | Singapore | 6.67 |
| 12 | France | 6.45 |
| 15 | Germany | 6.38 |
| 22 | United Kingdom | 5.97 |
| 23 | United States | 5.96 |
| Source: Strategy Analytics, Inc. | ||
For more:
- see the release here
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