Connection Speed

During the period 1992 - 2002 there has been a dramatic increase of high speed lines giving access to the Internet. In 1992 the highest speed available was a dial-up 14.4 Kbps modem, today high end home use is ADSL which provides the fastest access for most home users at 1,544 Kbps.

Available technologies available today and their speeds are shown below.

Figure 6 - Speeds for various Internet connection types
[Source: Jim DaCosta]

With the advent of fast Internet connections there has been a massive increase in take-up of ADSL where available. The major restricting factor to more take-up is the physical infrastructure needed to run the cabling over, but alternatives such as satellite download and landline upload are available in some places - but at a cost.

There table below shows the level of broadband penetration in the OECD as at the end of 2002.

Figure 7 - Broadband penetration at the end of 2002 in OECD
[Source: OECD]