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Omdia’s Fiber Development Index Analysis 2024 Report Highlights Latest Progress in Global Fiber Broadband Expansion
November 14, 2024
3 Min Read
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Sponsored by World Broadband Association
LONDON, November 12, 2024 – A new report from Omdia published by the World Broadband Association (WBBA) emphasizes the pivotal role fiber broadband networks play in shaping future growth, detailing key trends and policy recommendations.
Fiber investment is crucial for ensuring the high-quality delivery of all data services and requires a comprehensive contextual analysis. Unlike other fiber benchmarks that largely track household coverage, penetration, or both, the Fiber Development Index (FDI) includes a wider set of fiber investment metrics, including:
Fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) coverage
Fiber-to-the-household (FTTH) penetration
Fiber-to-the-business (FTTBusiness) penetration
Mobile cell-site fiber penetration
Advanced wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology investment
In addition to the fiber investment metrics, the FDI, based on Omdia’s analysis of Ookla Speedtest data, then quantifies the overall broadband quality of experience (QoE) improvements driven by that investment, namely:
Median download speed
Median upload speed
Median latency
Median jitter
The FDI currently covers 93 countries and territories of varying sizes, demographic and geographical profiles, and levels of broadband development. Therefore, to compare individual results in a fair way, the FDI splits territories into three different country clusters:
Cluster 1: Countries with highly developed fiber-based broadband networks
Cluster 2: Developed broadband countries that are moving toward greater fiber broadband adoption
Cluster 3: Emerging broadband countries with low levels of broadband household penetration
Key Insights:
The Shift Towards Multi-Gig Services: With the widespread adoption of 1Gbps services in leading markets, there is a clear trajectory towards multi-gig and 10Gbps offerings. These high-tier services are expected to meet future demands, supporting intensive applications such as extended reality (XR) and AI-powered solutions.
Bridging the Digital Divide: While global broadband access is set to surpass 80% by 2028, access to high-quality gigabit services remains uneven. The report highlights a growing "second digital divide," where disparities in fixed-broadband quality will continue to expand without targeted interventions.
The Need for Advanced Fiber Networks: Current GPON systems, which offer shared bandwidth, are increasingly being challenged by rising traffic and the demand for symmetrical gigabit connectivity. Upgrades to XGS-PON technology will be essential to sustain quality and expand multi-gigabit services.
Home Network Innovations: To enhance quality of experience (QoE) in home networks, next-gen technologies like fiber-to-the-room (FTTR) and Wi-Fi 6/7 are highlighted as critical investments. These technologies reduce signal interference and improve connectivity, ensuring true gigabit capabilities throughout homes.
Policy Recommendations for Accelerated Growth: The report advocates for regulatory policies that streamline infrastructure deployment, encourage public-private partnerships, and enforce QoS guarantees for gigabit services. Best practices include facilitating municipal approvals and leveraging existing public infrastructure for network expansion.
Fiber Development Index (FDI) 2024 Findings:
Singapore continues to lead Omdia’s FDI, with maximum scores in six out of the nine metric categories, followed by the UAE and Qatar. Romania, Europe’s leading FDI territory, continues its development and moves up into fourth place, followed by Chile, Latin America’s leading territory, which continues to climb up the Index for several years in a row. China, South Korea, Japan, Denmark, and Spain make up the rest of the top ten. Further down the ranking, the US continues to be the leading North American territory, at number 28 place, with Mauritius being the leading African nation (number 46 place)
Cluster Analysis Highlights:
Cluster 1 (Top Performers): Singapore, UAE, and Qatar maintain their positions, while China sees a decline mainly due to slower progress in upload speed and latency metrics. Uruguay, Sweden, and Brunei need further improvements to keep pace.
Cluster 2 (Developed Markets): France, Switzerland, and Australia showed significant improvements, but countries like Hungary and Italy dropped due to stagnated investment.
Cluster 3 (Emerging Markets): Most countries in this cluster saw declines, except Peru and Ukraine, which benefited from early FTTP investments.
To access the full report, visit the World Broadband Association Knowledge Center here: https://worldbroadbandassociation.com/knowledge-center/.
ABOUT OMDIA
Omdia, part of Informa Tech, is a technology research and advisory group. Our deep knowledge of tech markets combined with our actionable insights empower organizations to make smart growth decisions.
ABOUT THE WORLD BROADBAND ASSOCIATION (WBBA)
The World Broadband Association (WBBA) is a multilateral, industry-led association, providing leadership for digital broadband innovation across the next decade.
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