OECD High-Capacity Broadband Infrastructure Expanded by 2025
The transition to gigabit and fibre connectivity accelerated between 2020 and 2025 to meet rising data demand.
Updated on Oct. 13, 2026 in Telecommunications
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Between 2020 and 2025, OECD countries shifted focus from basic access to high-capacity broadband and mobile network performance. During this period, the proportion of fixed broadband subscriptions utilizing fibre connections rose from 31 percent to 51 percent.
Why it matters
This infrastructure shift is driven by the increasing requirements of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and a growing ecosystem of connected devices. These advancements prioritize reliable, high-speed connectivity to support modern computational workflows.
Average monthly mobile data usage jumped to 17 GB per SIM in 2025, a 130 percent increase from the 7.4 GB recorded in 2020. Across all fixed broadband, penetration reached 37 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants by 2025.
The players
OECD
An international organization of 38 countries that facilitates policy coordination and collects economic and technological data.
The details
Nations accelerated these network upgrades by deploying 5G infrastructure alongside more affordable service plans. This effort involved transitioning away from older copper-based standards toward fibre-optic connections—thin glass strands that transmit data via pulses of light—to support higher throughput. The focus remains on improving overall network capacity to handle the surge in data-intensive applications.
Timeline
2020 served as the baseline year for all tracked broadband and mobile data statistics.
Network infrastructure growth occurred consistently across OECD nations from 2020 to 2025.
The Slovak Republic saw a 42 percent annual mobile data growth rate between 2024 and 2025.
2025 marked the final year of the reported data period for network subscriptions and usage.
The Tech Race
This report updates the network capacity benchmarks established by the OECD broadband infrastructure benchmarking program to reflect the 2025 transition to gigabit-capable status. It highlights the competitive disparity between countries that have prioritized fibre deployment and those still relying on legacy connections.
Users in these markets can expect increased availability of high-speed gigabit plans as fibre infrastructure reaches more residential zones. This performance boost enables more seamless cloud-based software use and reduces latency for devices that require constant connectivity.
The takeaway
The data confirms a rapid transition toward high-capacity infrastructure capable of sustaining next-generation workloads. Monitor upcoming annual reports on network performance to see if the growth rates observed in the Slovak Republic and Bulgaria become the standard across all member nations.
Further reading
For a broader look at the state of global network infrastructure, visit the Telecommunications section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Advanced-television.
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