NBN brings up fixed broadband figures

Australia was expected to gain five places in fixed line broadband penetration globally by 2013 with Gartner predicting a 14 percent rise in the number of households connected in that time.

In a report released today, Gartner said that 55 percent of Australian households had a fixed broadband connection in the home at the end of last year.

That placed Australia 19th in a list of the most wired countries in the world.

But the figure was expected to jump to 69 percent in five years, catapulting Australia up world ranks to number 14 at the expense of countries like Japan.

A total of 422 million households will have a fixed broadband connection in the home this year, up from 382 million households last year, Gartner said.

"The market will steadily grow with nearly 580 million households having a fixed broadband connection by 2013," the firm said.

"Consumers may be watching their household expenditure, but dropping their broadband connections is not on the top of their agendas as a way to reduce outgoings," said Amanda Sabia, principal research analyst at Gartner.

South Korea was expected to remain in the top spot with penetration growing from 86 to 93 percent.

Singapore was expected to be the only new entrant in the top five. Like Australia, it is in the process of rolling out a next-generation fixed broadband network.