International Comparisons - Historical fixed broadband penetration rates in OECD 2003–2015

Canada: Fixed wireless includes Satellite.
France: Cable includes VDSL2 THD
Germany: DSL includes VDSL (FTTC); Cable excludes cable infrastructure based on FTTB/FTTH; FTTB/FTTH includes fibre lines provided by cable operators; Fixed wireless includes then umber of BWA subscribers; Other includes leased lines and Powerline.
Israel, Switzerland and United States: Data for Dec. 2015 are estimates
Mexico : Fixed broadband subscriptions data include only the country's bigger operators.
United Kingdom: DSL includes FTTH, FTTP, FTTB and FTTC as the breakdown between these technologies is not available yet.

DSL:
- Includes all DSL lines offering Internet connectivity which are capable of download speeds of at least 256 kbit/s
- Excludes DSL lines of not used for Internet connectivity (e.g. leased lines)
- Includes all fiber-to-the-cabinet lines
Cable:
- Includes all cable modem subscriptions at download speeds greater than 256 kbit/s
Fibre:
- Includes all fibre-to-the-premises (e.g. house, apartment) subscriptions at download speeds greater than 256 kbit/s
- Includes all fibre-to-the-building subscriptions (e.g. Apartment LAN) using fibre-to-the-building but Ethernet to end users. NOTE: This counts only the number of actual subscriptions to the provider, not end users.
- Excludes all fiber-to-the-cabinet subscriptions
Satellite:
- Subscriptions with advertised download speeds of at least 256 kbit/s
Terrestrial fixed wireless:
- Subscriptions with advertised download speeds of at least 256 kbit/s
Other wired:
- BPL: Includes all broadband over powerline subscriptions with download speeds greater than 256 kbit/s
- Leased lines: Includes only circuits with Internet connectivity (only connections with speeds faster than 256 kbit/s to end users)

Wireless/Mobile:
- Standard mobile subscriptions (only included with active use): Includes mobile subscriptions which advertise data speeds of 256 kbit/s or greater and which have been used to make an Internet data connection via IP in the previous 3 months. To be counted, the subscription must allow access to the greater Internet via HTTP and must have been used to make a data connection using the Internet Protocol in the previous three months. Standard SMS and MMS messaging do not count as an active Internet data connection even if they are delivered via IP.
- Dedicated data subscriptions: Subscriptions to dedicated data services over a mobile network which are purchased separately from voice services either as a stand-alone service (modem/dongle) or as an add-on data package to voice services which requires an additional subscription. All dedicated mobile data subscriptions with recurring subscription fees are included as “active data subscriptions” regardless of actual use. Pre-paid mobile broadband plans require active use if there is no monthly subscription.
- Wi-Fi, except for the rare cases when Wi-Fi is used as the transport technology for a fixed wireless Internet service provider. The lines supporting Wi-Fi hotspots are already counted once in the fixed-broadband subscriptions methodology.

DSL excludes lines of not used for Internet connectivity (e.g. leased lines)
Fibre excludes all fiber-to-the-cabinet subscriptions

OECD adjusted its definitions of fixed and mobile broadband by transferring the categories Satellite and Fixed Wireless from Mobile to Fixed Broadband.

The data shown in this document was obtained by collating tables 1.2, 1.5, 1.10 and 1.11 at the URL provided.