Iceland had the highest concentration of broadband Internet users in 2005, but the United States still leads in absolute numbers, a survey showed on April 12.

In Iceland, 26.7 per cent of citizens have a subscription to an always-on broadband Internet connection, compared with 25.4 per cent in South Korea, 25.3 per cent in the Netherlands and 25 per cent in Denmark, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said in a study.

The number of broadband connections in Iceland grew to 78,017 by the end of 2005, from a penetration rate of 18.2 per cent a year earlier, when it lagged Korea, the Netherlands and Denmark.

The number of broadband subscriptions throughout the OECD countries grew to 158 million by December 2005 from 136 million six months earlier. This is an average of 13.6 subscribers per 100 inhabitants in the entire OECD.

The United States, with 16.8 per cent broadband penetration, counted 49.39 million subscribers in 2005, compared with 22.52 million in Japan which has 17.6 per cent penetration.

The fastest broadband download speeds are in Japan and Korea as a result of fibre-optic cable connections. More than six out of every 10 broadband households in the world get their broadband over Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) which uses copper phone wires connecting homes and businesses.

( www.financialexpress.com)