INTERNET: OECD RECOMMENDS BROADBAND ACCESS IN RURAL AND REMOTE AREAS.

• Position: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Falling equipment costs are helping many new wireless Internet service providers to enter the market and deliver broadband to remote areas previously considered too expensive to reach via digital subscriber line (DSL) or cable modems. The arrival of these start-up companies and the low prices they charge are in turn causing established telecoms operators to speed up their scheduled broadband roll-out and introduce wireless technology themselves so as not to lose potential customers.

The report seeks to brush aside the idea that broadband access in rural areas would necessarily be more expensive and the standard of service poorer. The prices on offer are in some cases lower than those available in urban areas. " If rural broadband is not developing apace, in a particular country, this could signal the need for a review of the competitiveness of market settings before considering the need for subsidies that are likely to further distort competitive outcomes.".

The number of broadband subscribers in OECD countries is expected to reach 100 million by mid-2004, up from 82 million subscribers at the end of 2003 and 56 million at end 2002. Access to high-speed Internet is now available to 75% of households in OECD countries, with one in four already signed up. The report forecasts, however, that over the next few years DSL availability among member countries will continue to vary widely:

- The possibility of...