South Korea tops broadband poll

A massive 95 per cent of households in South Korea accessed the internet through broadband last year, a new global survey shows.

South Korea was in first place, followed by Singapore, the Netherlands, Denmark and Taiwan which all had household broadband penetration of more than 80 per cent.

New Zealand comes in behind Australia, which ranked 11th with 72 per cent penetration, Britain in 14th place with 67 per cent, and the 20th-ranked United States with 60 per cent penetration.

Indonesia was last on the table, with just 1 per cent of its households accessing the internet via broadband during the year.

Strategy Analytics said South Korea's dominance in broadband penetration was attributable in part to its highly urbanised population, as well as to the existence of a comprehensive government-backed broadband policy.

How they ranked

Percentage of households accessing the internet via broadband:

1. South Korea, 95 per cent

2. Singapore, 88 per cent

3. Netherlands, 85 per cent

4. Denmark, 82 per cent

5. Taiwan, 81 per cent

11. Australia, 72 per cent

14. Britain, 67 per cent

20. United States, 60 per cent

25. New Zealand, 57 per cent

58. Indonesia, 1 per cent

This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald