Fibre overtakes DSL in OECD countries

Fibre internet has surpassed DSL for subscriptions across OECD countries for the first time.

In 2020, a record 21.15 million new fixed broadband connections (including fibre, DSL, cable and others) were recorded, exceeding fixed broadband subscriptions across the OECD’s 38 member countries. The tech now represents 30% of all fixed broadband across the nations, up from 12% a decade ago.

Fibre is by far the fastest growing broadband tech, with subscriptions up 14% in 2020 from 2019, outpacing a 5% rise in overall fixed broadband subscriptions.

But while the high-speed fibre tech is fast-growing, it is still second to cable, which accounts for 34% of subscriptions across OECD countries, rising 5.6% in 2020. 

DSL subscriptions meanwhile have dropped by 10% over the past two years. 

Austria, Belgium, Chile, Ireland, Israel and the United Kingdom all increased their fibre connections by more than 50% in 2020. In these, and a number of other OECD countries, the majority of broadband connections are now fibre, with the share of fibre in total broadband above 50% in Finland, Iceland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway and Portugal, and exceeding 70% in Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain and Sweden.

Across the 38 countries, fixed broadband subscriptions totalled 454 million as of December 2020, up from 433 million a year earlier, and averaged 33.2 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.