Global broadband prices

Broadband users in 30 of the world's most developed countries are getting greatly differing speeds and prices, according to a report.

In Japan net users have 100Mbps lines, 10 times higher than the OECD average.

Japan's price for broadband per megabit per second is the lowest in the OECD at $0.22 (0.11p), said the report. The most expensive is Turkey at $81.13 (£40.56).

In the US, the cheapest megabit per second broadband connection is $3.18 (£1.59) while in the UK it is $3.62 (£1.81).

CHEAPEST ENTRY LEVEL BROADBAND PER MONTH* Sweden $10.79 Denmark $11.11 Switzerland $12.53 US $15.93 France $16.36 Netherlands $16.85 New Zealand $16.86 Italy $17.63 Ireland $18.18 Finland $19.49 *Source: OECD. Figures for October 2006

Subscribers to Japan's fibre networks can also upload at the same speed they can download, which is not possible with ADSL (broadband over a telephone line) and most cable subscriptions.

Sweden, Korea and Finland also offer 100Mbps net connections, as all four countries have switched to fibre optic networks.

The OECD represents 30 of the leading democratic economics, from Australia to the US, France to Japan.

"Broadband is very quickly becoming the basic medium for sevice delivery on both fixed and wireless networks," said the report.

JupiterResearch telecoms analyst Ian Fogg said: "It's very hard to draw comparisons across 30 countries globally because there are different trends happening in each of them.

However, he said the entry price for broadband was an incredibly important criteria to compare.

"Because the market is very fragmented consumers care about cheap prices."

According to the report, broadband prices for DSL connections across the 30 countries have fallen by 19% and increased in speed by 29% in the year to October 2006. Cable prices and speeds followed a similar trend.