In Internet usage there?s two dozen ahead of the U.S.

The United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union met in New York recently and released a new report on global broadband usage. The meticulously detailed report, The State of Broadband 2013: Universalizing Broadband, presents an amazing wealth of data about broadband usage.

Broadband penetration follows a familiar pattern: the greatest penetration is in the European countries, East Asia, Australia and New Zealand and North America. But within that high-usage group, there is one dismaying statistic: The U.S. ranks 24th in percentage of residents who use the Internet. Yes, 81 percent of us use the Internet, but that’s well behind the top 10 countries which all had rates above 88 percent.

The U.S. does better in mobile broadband penetration, reaching ninth place, but behind Singapore, Japan, Finland, the Republic of Korea and Sweden. These five had, in fact, rates above 100 percent, with Singapore reaching 123.3 percent, indicating that residents there average more than one mobile broadband connection.

Worldwide, Internet use continues to climb, reaching an estimated 2.749 billion users – approaching half the world’s population. And, according to the ITU, the number of mobile subscriptions (not just broadband, but all mobile phones) is nearing full penetration, with 6.835 billion.

There’s lots to read in The State of Broadband 201. Read the full report here.

The State of Broadband 2013: Universalizing Broadband (Broadband Commission, International Telecommunications Union, Sep. 2013)

TU Broadband Report: U.S. Ranks 24th Globally in Internet Usage (telecompetitor, Sept. 23, 2103)