So the US has 79 million broadband subscribers, and ~300 million people. The article states that this means that ~26% of the US population has broadband. But do

So the US has 79 million broadband subscribers, and ~300 million people. The article states that this means that ~26% of the US population has broadband. But does one subscriber equal one person? I read 'subscriber' as 'person in the household that pays the bill'... multiple people may be using that account. If you click through to the OECD numbers, you'll find the following: Rank Country Subscribers/100 people 1 Denmark 36.7 6 Sweden 32.3 7 S. Korea 31.2 10 Canada 27.9 15 United States 25.0 17 Japan 23.0 20 Spain 19.8 30 Mexico 4.7 ========================= OECD Average 21.3 Not near as alarmist as he makes it seem. I agree that our slow speeds are embarassing, but statements like: "But it’s pathetic that roughly three-quarters of the people in this country don’t have broadband Internet service." are disingenuous at best, and, as you'll see in the next table, blatantly false. The fact is that "subscribers per 100 people" is always going to be higher in countries with smaller households (Smaller households mean more households per 100 people, which means more subscribers per 100 people). More useful statistics would be "households with broadband access", which thankfully is also provided by the OECD data: Rank Country % households with broadband 1 S. Korea 94.1 (includes 3G) 4 Denmark 69.5 5 Japan 67.6 (includes 3G, but only when tethered) 7 Sweden 66.6 8 Canada 64.0 14 United States 50.8 20 Spain 39.2 30 Mexico 6.1 ========================= OECD Average 48.2 Also, before the obligatory "but the US is different, we are spread out" comment comes, the OECD has data on that too. There is a positive correlation between subscribers and population density, but it is 0.22, so not overwhelming. While correlation (or lack thereof) does not imply (or deny) causation, I'd imagine factors like regulation have much more to do with it than geography.