The Covid pandemic may have been the catalyst, but the past five years – marked by some major socio-economic transformations like remote work, AI, immersive technologies, and the Internet of Things (IoT) – have increased the demand for high-quality digital connectivity, with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) economies seeing rapid advances in fibre, 5G mobile networks, fixed wireless access (FWA), and satellite broadband.
The share of Gigabit offers in OECD markets – fixed broadband subscriptions with advertised speeds equal to or exceeding 1 Gbps – have increased 4.5 times in five years from 4% in 2019 to 19% in 2024.
Moreover, average monthly data consumption per mobile subscription grew 2.5-fold in the same period – from 6 GB at the end of 2019 to 15 GB in 2024 – highlighting the shift toward data-driven mobility and next-generation connectivity in OECD countries.
Fibre is a key enabler of digital infrastructure and the rise of 5G networks
Across the OECD, fixed broadband penetration reached 36.5 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants on average by the end of 2024, up from 32 in 2019. The share of fibre in total fixed broadband subscriptions across the OECD reached 47% by the end of 2024 – up from 28% in 2019. In five OECD member countries, the share of fibre over total fixed broadband subscriptions exceeded the 80% threshold: Iceland (93%), Korea (90,5%), Spain (89%), Finland (81,6%) and Lithuania (80,7%).
Evolution of Fibre, 5G and Gigabit offers across OECD countries
Fibre has overtaken all legacy fixed technologies in the past decade and established itself as the backbone of the digital economy in the OECD.
Total fibre subscriptions expanded by nearly 15% annually from 2019 to 2024, with notable growth in Greece (+140%), Peru (+73%), and Israel (+66%) – reflecting ambitious investment strategies and strong regulatory support. Traditional broadband technologies like DSL-copper and cable have been steadily losing ground over the past five years, with DSL experiencing an annual decline of 10% and cable a decrease of 0,5% per year.
This equated to 6 DSL-copper subscriptions per 100 inhabitants and 10 for cable, compared to 17 fibre subscriptions per 100 inhabitants by the end of 2024.
The commercial launch of 5G networks in OECD countries starting from 2019 in turn redefined mobile capabilities and delivered substantial speed increases and lower latency. By 2024, 5G subscriptions accounted for 37% of all mobile broadband subscriptions across the OECD (for countries where data are available) – led by Denmark, Hungary, and Korea with 78,5%, 57% and 55% respectively.
Broadband services have become more affordable in the past five years
The affordability of fixed and mobile broadband communications has also improved over the 2020-Q2 to 2025-Q2 period. During this 5-year span, the prices of mobile voice and data subscriptions for medium usage level have fallen by 34% and by 20% for a medium usage level for fixed broadband subscriptions according to the OECD price basket methodology.
Mobile data usage surging with growing 5G access
Mobile broadband subscriptions have continued to grow steadily across OECD, expanding by 4,6% per year between 2019 and 2024. Japan and the US maintained the highest mobile broadband penetration rates with 210 and 200 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants respectively, followed by Estonia (177), Israel (167), and Finland (157) – above the OECD average of 140.
The demand for high-quality connectivity and the expansion of 5G commercial offers is also reflected in the growth of mobile data traffic which surged by 20% annually in the 2019 to 2024 period. The Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic, and Greece saw the fastest growth in mobile data usage per subscription per month (49%, 47%, and 45% respectively), reflecting growing consumer reliance on mobile data.
Fixed broadband penetration continues expanding, albeit at a slower pace in mature broadband markets
Total fixed broadband subscriptions grew by a steady but modest average of 3,3% annually from 2019 to 2024. This average ranges from the mature markets in Korea, France, Norway, and Switzerland – which have the highest penetration rates (48, 47.5, 46.5 46.4 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants respectively) – to robust late-stage expansion in Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Türkiye and partner economies like Bulgaria, Brazil, and Peru where annual growth ranged from 5,5% to 11%.
Growth is now quality-driven with emphasis shifting from expanding subscription bases to upgrading legacy DSL and cable networks toward fibre deployment.
FWA and satellite technologies help close connectivity divides in the last mile
Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) has become an important driver in narrowing spatial connectivity gaps, providing a versatile and rapidly implementable complementary fixed broadband access technology.
In five years, the share of FWA subscriptions in total fixed broadband tripled, reaching 6% of total fixed broadband subscriptions within OECD countries at the end of 2024 – up from 2% in 2019.
This growth corresponds to an average annual growth rate of 24% over the past five years, with uptake especially strong in the Czech Republic (38,5%), the Slovak Republic (23%), New Zealand (20%) and Estonia (18,5%).
Satellite broadband is also an essential means of expanding broadband access in remote areas. While it continues to represent a relatively modest segment of the market – accounting for just 1% of fixed broadband subscriptions across OECD countries at the end 2024 – the technology has demonstrated consistent momentum, especially with developments in low earth orbit (LEO) constellations and direct-to-device trends.
Over the past five years, subscriptions have grown at an annual rate of 11%. New Zealand (3,4%), the US (2%), Chile (1,7%), and Costa Rica (1,7%) stand out as frontrunners actively employing satellite connectivity to improve access in hard-to-reach locations.
Machine-to-Machine (M2M) connectivity is growing to power the Internet of Things
Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications – key to the expanding Internet of Things (IoT) – continued their rapid growth across the OECD between 2019 and 2024.
The number of active M2M SIM cards nearly doubled, rising from 326-million in 2019 to over 642-million in 2024 – equivalent to an increase from 24 to 46 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.
This surge underscores the growing integration of connected devices in sectors such as transport, energy, logistics and smart manufacturing. The trend highlights the OECD’s transition toward a hyper-connected industrial environment, where M2M connectivity serves as a cornerstone for automation, data analytics, and next-generation smart infrastructure.
Future trends in broadband connectivity across OECD
As Internet protocol (IP) traffic continues to grow across the OECD with developments in IoT and transformative digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the importance of resilient, secure, affordable and high-quality digital connectivity will continue to be the core of digital transformation.
Just as mobile data usage is increasing alongside M2M subscriptions, given current trends in generative and agentic AI, agent-to-agent traffic may increase demands on digital infrastructure in the future.
Post-Covid connectivity is no longer about availability, but rather about how well people and things are connected in terms of quality, reliability, and affordability.
This marks a transition away from a pure focus on universal access to the expansion of affordable, high-quality, secure and resilient connectivity as the engine behind data-driven and transformative digital technologies.