Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg 'Studies be damned' yet refuses to see facts

When I hear 'studies be damned' and this by a CEO of a 'reputable company' (Verizon was ranked the world's 55th largest company by the latest Fortune Global 500 listing) I feel very uncomfortable. Its as if saying 'I refuse to face facts'. And that indeed is what delusional Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg is now saying. Note this is Verizon, the parent of Verizon Wireless where Vodafone owns 45 percent. The parent, Verizon is what came of several 'Baby Bells' headed by New York City's Nynex. It offers fixed and mobile services including broadband internet. So this blog is (almost) nothing to do with mobile, its about the traditional landline internet business and its broadband.

VERIZON CEO SAYS USA IS NUMBER 1 IN BROADBAND INTERNET

Ivan Seidenberg was quoted from an 'on the record' discussion with the US Council For Foreign Relations as reported by Ars Technica. He said 'The US is number one in the world when it comes to broadband. We're so far ahead of everyone else, its not even close." But then Mr Seidenberg picks and chooses countries and stats to try to make his point.

Mr Seidenberg then continues explaining his thinking "If you go to Korea or go to France, you can get a faster internet connection. Okay? That could be true in some companies - in some countries. The facts are that, in the US, there is greater household penetration of access to the internet than any country in Europe."

Then while apparently household access is a fair measurement for Europe, Mr Seidenberg doesn't like the measurement of broadband penetration of access for Asia, he says 'In Japan, where everybody looks at Japan being so far ahead they may have faster speeds, but we have higher utilization of people using the internet."

And on the question from Wall Street Journal Executive Editor "So on the question that matters most to you, where does the United States rank in terms of.."  to which CEO of Verizon the massively deluded Ivan Seidenberg replies it is number "One" to which he then adds 'its not even close'.

PAGING STATS POLICE

Ok. We need an independent and irrefutable judicator. There is only one global entity that all telecoms authorities are subject to, which also collects global statistics from the national regulators. It is the independent International Telecommunications Union, ITU, which among other things, the US FCC and US CTIA regularly report to. The ITU is based out of neutral Switzerland in the city of Geneve. And conveniently, the ITU publishes regular global total statistics annually of the telecommunications statistics for all countries of the planet. They publish amongst other things, the national internet penetration rates per household, the national fixed broadband penetration rates per capita. And the national average broadband speeds even. Exactly the kind of stuff that Mr Seidenberg just told us that the USA is in the lead.

INTERNET USERS PER HOUSEHOLD

Lets go to the official document from the ITU that is named "Measuring the Information Society" for 2009, subtitled "the ICT Development Index". It conveniently has 4 annexes of statistics and tables. If Mr Seidenberg is telling us the truth, then certainly this document must provide at least consistent data to support his views. Lets take them one by one. Mr Seidenberg first suggests the US is ahead in internet penetration per household. He said "The facts are that, in the US, there is greater household penetration of access to the internet than any country in Europe."

Is it? By limiting his comment to Europe, Mr Seidenberg seems to suggest he knows some Asian and other countries have higher household penetration rates of the internet than the USA (which would immediately invalidate his overall position that the USA is in a clear lead). But lets start with Europe. The 2009 ITU guide has the latest year for which we have uniform data for every nation - which is the year 2007. So all data is harmonized for 2007. Lets see how the USA fares in household penetration rate of internet use. The ITU also provides us with the related statistic, of household penetration of a personal computer so you can also see the related stat to see if they are consistent. Here is where the USA stood in 2007:

USA Household penetration of internet: 61.7%
USA Household penetration of personal computers: 70.2%

So now, lets see how the USA fares in comparison. Remember first that Mr Seidenberg suggested "no Europeans" are ahead of the USA by household penetration of the internet. Is that a fact? Lets see if any European countries score ahead of the USA?

Denmark Household penetration of Internet 79.0%
Denmark Household penetration of personal computers 83.0%

Finland Household penetration of internet 71.0%
Finland household penetration of personal computers 79.0%

Germany household penetration of internet 71%
Germany household penetration of personal computers 79%

Iceland household penetration of internet 84%
Iceland household penetration of personal computers 89%

Netherlands household penetration of internet 83%
Netherlands household penetration of personal computers 86%

Norway household penetration of internet 78%
Norway household penetration of personal computers 82%

Sweden household penetration of internet 79%
Sweden household penetration of personal computers 83%

Switzerland household penetration of internet 77.5%
Switzerland household penetration of personal computers 78.1%

United Kingdom household penetration of internet 67%
United Kingdom household penetration of personal computers 75%

So, on internet penetration, the USA by 2007 had achieved 61.7% household penetration rate, and out of all US households 70.2% had a personal computers. That same year, not one European country or two or three, but a total of 9 countries - with a combined population of 180 million (so we're not claiming rates from say Luxembourg) - had a significantly higher penetration rate of internet per household and of PCs per household. Note how much. In countries like Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden the household penetration rate was 30% better than the USA. To understand how big that is, the US household penetration rate of the internet grew only by 25% in the five years from 2002 to 2007, according to the same ITU report. EVEN if Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden stood still for the past 3 years from 2007 to now in 2010, and the USA grew the internet at the speed than it had in the previous five years - the USA would still not today have caught up with the leves of internet penetration per household in these 3 leading European countries.

No, Mr Ivan Seidenberg, CEO of Verizon. You are badly mistaken, you are stating untruths, and you are misleading the US government and any Verizon investors if you claim that no Europeans are ahead of the USA in household penetration of the internet.

And while we are at it, lets see about the rest of the world, shall we? Mr Seidenberg boldly claimed the USA is ahead of the world. Lets see if we find any other nations on other continents perhaps on par or ahead of the USA by household penetration rate. Remember US internet penetration was 61.7% per household and PC penetration rate 70.2%

Australia internet per household penetration 64%
Australia PC per household penetration 71%

Canada internet per household penetration 72.1%
Canada PC per household penetration 79.1%

Hong Kong internet per household penetration 70.1%
Hong Kong PC per household penetration 74.2%

Japan internet per household penetration 62.1%
Japan PC per household penetration 85.0%

South Korea internet per household penetration 94%
South Korea PC per household penetration 80%

New Zealand internet per household penetration 65.9%
New Zealand PC per household penetration 75.7%

Singapore internet penetration per household 74.0%
Singapore PC penetration per household 69.0%

So there. We find that outside of Europe there are another 7 countries - on three further continents - that have higher internet penetration per household than the USA. Covering countries with a combined population of 220 million. Again I have ignored tiny countries like Macau. But yes, when we add these 7 to the 9 countries in the above, the world has at least 390 million people living in 16 countries on four continents, where the internet penetration rate (and PC penetration rate) is higher per household than in the USA. But Mr Seidenberg has the gall to suggest with a straight face that the USA is 'number one' in the world. Look at South Korea, in 2007 they had 94% household penetration of the internet - that is one half of total households better penetration rate than the USA!

But let me show the REALLY obvious stats. The USA internet peneteration rate in 2007 is 61.7%, up only 11.7 percentage points from 2002 when it was 52.0%. So the USA was at 61.7% and growing about 2 percentage points per year. Now, lets go back to 2002. Five years before the USA reached 61.7% internet penetration per household, Switzerland had already reached that level with a household internet penetration level of 61.9%. Not just Switzerland, in fact three countries were even higher than that - Sweden had 66.0%, South Korea had 70.2%, Iceland 77.0%.

Mr Ivan Seidenberg, CEO of Verizon. The USA is so far behind, that not only do 16 countries rank far ahead of the USA in internet penetration per household today. Four countries were so far ahead, that they have had higher household penetration rate than current USA level five YEARS before.

BROADBAND USERS

But yes, lets look at Broadband then. Mr Seidenberg suggested that we should not look at household penetration rates, we should measure the users of broadband. He said 'In Japan, where everybody looks at Japan being so far ahead they may have faster speeds, but we have higher utilization of people using the internet." The ITU gives us the statistic also of Broadband per Capita. Ie it is measured against the total human population, every person alive whatever their age. This is as perfectly the number Mr Seidenberg asks for. Users of Broadband.

Again the numbers are for the latest year for which the ITU has total data, ie the full year 2007 (in the 2009 report the latest we have today). The ITU reports that it has learned from the US regulators like the FCC that the USA fixed broadband penetration was 24.0% per capita. We also get a related statistic, that of mobile broadband per capita for the USA at 17.4%. Adding these two numbers together gets total broadband users per capita which for the USA is 41.4% per capita. Now lets compare. Let me take Europe first.

Denmark has 36.0% fixed broadband users per capita plus 12.2% mobile broadband for total 48.2% broadband users.

In Finland 30.6% use fixed broadband, 15.4% use mobile broadband giving total broadband per capita 46.0%.

Iceland had no mobile broadband internet users, but their fixed broadband was at a very impressive 32.5% ie almost 50% better than fixed broadband in the USA.

Ireland has only 18.7% fixed broadband but 38.9% mobile broadband users giving total per capita at 57.6% broadband users.

Italy has also less than US in fixed broadband at 18.4% but with 41.3% mobile broadband, they have 59.7% total broadband users per capita.

Netherlands led Europe with 33.5% fixed broadband and 13.4% mobile broadband for a total of 46.9% per capita users of broadband.

Norway is next, having 30.6% fixed broadband and 21.7% mobile broadband for 52.3% broadband users per capita.

Sweden is also on this list with 36% fixed broadband users per capita and 24.8% mobile broadband for Europe's highest broadband user level per capita at 60.8%. That is just about 50% higher level than the US total penetration rate of broadband per capita.

Switzerland is not far behind, 31.8% fixed broadband, 19.3% mobile broadband for 50.1% total broadband users per capita.

And the UK also passes the US on all three measures, with 25.7% fixed broadband, 20.6% mobile broadband and 46.3% total broadband users per capita.

No, Mr Ivan Seidenberg. You cannot say that the USA is number one, that the USA leads Europe in broadband if there are ten countries which each have higher broadband user penetration per capita than the USA, when measured with fixed broadband (8 out of the 10 countries), when measured by mobile broadband (6 out of the 10 countries) and with total aggregate broadband count (all 10 of 10 countries). No Mr Seidenberg, you are simply wrong. And is this only a European phenomenon? What of the rest of the world in broadband?

Australia has 23.3% fixed broadband users per capita, 32.8% mobile broadband users giving total broadband users per capita of 56.1%

Hong Kong has 26.3% fixed broadband users per capita, 30.5% mobile broadband with total 56.8%

Israel has fixed broadband penetration 22.1% per capita, with mobile broadband at 26.0% giving total broadband users 48.1% of population

Japan has 22.1 fixed broadband users per capita, 56.8 mobile broadband, for total of 78.9%

South korea has 30.5% fixed broadband users per capita, 48.6% mobile broadband users with total of 80.1%

New Zealand has 20.4% fixed broadband users per capita, 28.0% users on mobile broadband giving total 48.4%

Singapore 20.2% fixed broadband per capita, 43.3% mobile broadband and total of 63.5%

UAE has only 8.7% fixed broadband but a massive 46.6% mobile broadband giving that country 55.3% total broadband users per capita.

Again we find 9 more countries outside of Europe, now on 2 further continents, which have higher broadband penetration rate in total than the USA. Even if we eliminate those with only mobile broadband higher than the USA, it still leaves us with two countries, Hong Kong and South Korea where even by fixed broadband alone, the countries have more users of broadband than the USA.

Mr Seidenberg suggests we should measure not by speed, but by 'users'. The ITU tells us that if we use the 'most USA-friendly statistic' ie only 'fixed' Broadband users, we find ten countries on two continents that have more users of broadband per capita than the USA. This is Mr Seidenberg's preferred measure. Yet the USA falls on this statistic to Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Iceland, Netherlands, South Korea, Norway, Sweden, Switerland and the UK.

If we measure the total broadband users, then the number is 19 countries in three continents where total broadband user number is greater than in the USA.

How far is the world ahead of the USA? The world's leading fixed broadband countries, Sweden and Denmark both have 36% per capita users of fixed broadband. When compared to the USA level they have quite literally half more users of fixed broadband when measured by penetration per capita. And how much is that in years? The USA grew from 6.9 percent to 24.0 percent in five years, so the USA has been adding fixed broadband users roughly 3 percentage points per year. Therefore Sweden and Denmark are about 4 years ahead of the USA. And that level of 24% that the USA has today? Lets go back 5 years. The world's leading fixed broadband country five years ago was South Korea. Not quite at that level but they had 22% per capita broadband users in 2002, five years before the USA passed that level. And Mr Seidenberg dares to suggest the USA is ahead of everyone else?

It only gets worse if we add mobile broadband or measure total broadband. The total broadband user count adding fixed broadband and mobile broadband for the USA is 41.4%. The world's leading countries are South Korea at 79.1% Japan at 78.9%. Almost twice the penetration level of broadband use per capita as the USA. How fast is the USA growing total broadband users per year? about 6 percentage points. So Japan and South Korea are today six YEARS ahead of the USA in total broadband users per capita.

WHAT OF SPEED

Mr Seidenberg did not want to discuss broadband speed. I wonder why. He said "If you go to Korea or go to France, you can get a faster internet connection. Okay? That could be true in some companies - in some countries." He also admits that Japan has higher speed internet than the USA saying "'In Japan, where everybody looks at Japan being so far ahead they may have faster speeds, but we have higher utilization of people using the internet."

So we know at least 3 countries have faster internet speeds than the USA (France, Japan and South Korea). Lets examine the rest of the world, shall we. The ITU report lists the broadband speed per subscriber. Again, we have a uniform metric across all countries. How does the USA do on this measure? 15.3 Mbit/s. Not bad average speed per subscriber. Thats nowhere near fastest in 2007, the ITU lists for France a speed of 46.1 Mbit/s for example, so Mr Seidenberg at least knew that those three countries were faster. But I wonder if there are any other countries with faster broadband speeds than the USA? Lets count them..

Austria 30.1 Mbit/s
Belgium 37.8 Mbit/s
Canada 22.2 Mbit/s
Denmark 42.7 Mbit/s
Finland 21.8 Mbit/s
Germany 35.5 Mbit/s
Hong Kong 23.5 Mbit/s
Ireland 27.1 Mbit/s
Italy 27.3 Mbit/s
Netherlands 92.8 Mbit/s
Norway 31.7 Mbit/s
Singapore 34.6 Mbit/s
Spain 21.4 Mbit/s
Sweden 62.4 Mbit/s
Swizterland 38.5 Mbit/s
UK 55.2 Mbit/s

Thats 16 more countries in additoin to Japan, Korea and France, that have faster speed broadband than the USA has. 19 in total. How much faster? The fastest, the Netherlands, was 6 times faster by broadband speeds than the USA.

And of the USA's top speed in 2007, at 15.3 Mbit/s? If we go back 5 years, Sweden was for all practical purposes as fast five years earlier with their broadband speed in 2002 already at 14.9 Mbit/s. And yes, there were countries back in 2002 with far faster speeds than that. Netherlands 17.1 Mbit/s, Belgium at 17.6 Mbit/s and Denmark had twice the speed of the USA in 2007, back in 2002 with 31.7 Mbit/s.

USA IS NOT WORLD LEADER IN BROADBAND

It is irresponsible for a CEO of a major internet and broadband provider to suggest leadership, in particular to the national bodies involved in that industry, if the facts do not support that claim. If the US decision-makers did believe this deliberate misleading by Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg, that would make US decision-makers delusional as well. It would simply cast the USA further back on this international competitive measure. Did the readers notice that Finland became the first country to make broadband internet a right to its citizens (while the USA cannot even decide if national healthcare should be a human right, haha).

So Mr Seidenberg boldly states that "The US is number one in the world when it comes to broadband. We're so far ahead of everyone else, its not even close."  Is that true? You could pick and choose countries and find some where a given statistic is ahead, and another behind. Lets take a few irrefutable countries where every single statistic is ahead of the USA.

The USA household penetration rate for internet was 61.7% in 2007, (up from 52.0% five years earlier in 2002). The USA had 24.0% per capita users of the fixed broadband in 2007, (up from 6.9% in 2002) The USA broadband speed was 15.3 Mbit/s in 2007, (p from 2.2 Mbit/s five years before in 2002)

Lets see if there is any country that can legitimately claim a lead in every one of those statistics in 2007.

Denmark Household penetration of Internet 79.0%
Denmark has 36.0% fixed broadband users per capita
Denmark broadband speed 42.7 Mbit/s

Finland Household penetration of internet 71.0%
In Finland 30.6% use fixed broadband per capita
Finland broadband speed 21.8 Mbit/s

Hong Kong internet per household penetration 70.1%
Hong Kong has 26.3% fixed broadband users per capita,
Hong Kong broadband speed 23.5 Mbit/s

Netherlands household penetration of internet 83%
Netherlands 33.5% use fixed broadband per capita
Netherlands broadband speed 92.8 Mbit/s

Norway household penetration of internet 78%
Norway 30.6% use fixed broadband per capita
Norway broadband speed 31.7 Mbit/s

Sweden household penetration of internet 79%
Sweden has 36% fixed broadband users per capita
Sweden broadband speed 62.4 Mbit/s

Switzerland household penetration of internet 77.5%
Switzerland per capita users 31.8% of fixed broadband
Swizterland broadband speed 38.5 Mbit/s

United Kingdom household penetration of internet 67%
UK 25.7% fixed broadband users per capita
UK broadband speed 55.2 Mbit/s

Yes, there are 8 countries, which by every measure mentiond by Mr Ivan Seidenberg, CEO of Verizon, by EVERY measure he mentions, actually lead the USA in broadband internet, in the very latest international independent survey of broadband and internet facts as reported in the ITU report, 'Measuring the Information Society." These 8 countries total a population of 110 million across Europe and Asia, two continents. I am not looking at some rinky-dink tiny country like Luxemburg or Macau. We are looking at real countries. And yes, 110 million people live in countries where by every measure their broadband internet is more widely spread, more used, and faster than that enjoyed by US citizens.

Yet Mr Seidenberg dares to suggest that USA is 'number one' and a clear global leader. The USA falls behind these 8 countries, not on one of the statistis he mentoins, but the US falls behind each of these 8 countries on all 3 of his statistics. By total national measures of household internet penetration rate - a statistic asked for by Mr Seidenberg, by per-capita user levels of broadband - using the most USA-friendly of the 3 statistics of users, that of only fixed broadband users per capita, and by broadband speeds. Eight countries are ahead of the USA on all three counts. Irrefutably and convincingly, by wide margins!

And not just a little bit ahead. The USA's level of internet penetration per household as of 2007, was passed five years earlier all the way back in 2002 by two of these 8 countries (Sweden, Switzerland). Don't tell me the USA leads, if two countries passed this level five years earlier?

The USA's top speed of broadband interent in 2007 was passed five years earlier way back in 2002 by two of these 8 countries (Denmark, Netherlands). Don't you suggest to us the USA has best speeds if the US top speed was achieved by two countries five years before!

Of these 8 countries, one has a internet penetration rate so far ahead of the USA, it is more than a third of the households more than the USA. Netherlands' household penetration of internet at 83% is one third bigger than the US penetration rate at 61.7%. That is not a little bit. It took the USA 5 years just to grow internet penetration by one fifth ie from 52%. By this measure, the Netherlands is arguably 8 years ahead of the USA. Yet Mr Seidenberg suggests the USA leads in internet penetration per household and very specifically he claims that the USA leads every European country by household penetration of the internet. No Mr Seidenberg. You are misleading your audience.

Of these 8 countries, two have fixed broadband user levels per capita that are 50% above the levels of the USA. The USA has 24 percent per capita users of fixed broadband. Sweden and Denmark both have 36%. The USA grew about 3% broadband users per capita each year between 2002 and 2007. So Sweden and Denmark are by this measure of broadband users about 4 years ahead of the USA. Yet Mr Seidenberg suggests that the USA is 'so far ahead in broadband that its not even close." Yes, eight countries are ahead on all three of the measures he listed and on broadband users, the measure he wanted us to use, Sweden and Denmark are four YEARS ahead of the USA.

And the one measure Mr Seidenberg mentions but doesn't want us to use, broadband speed. By that measure six of these 8 countries offer at least twice as high speeds on broadband as the USA, and the fastest, the Netherlands offers 6 times higher speeds than the USA. No wonder Mr Verizon CEO does not want to talk about Broadband speeds. In fact, of these 8 countries, two had higher speeds than the USA in 2007, all the way back five years earlier in 2002 !

FAIR COMPARISON

Lets take the three most advanced countries of these 8 and see is it fair to say the USA is leading any of them. Take the Netherlands and Sweden from Europe and Hong Kong from Asia. And lets compare.

By internet penetration per household. In 2002 the USA had 52% internet penetration per household. It grew by one fifth to 61.7% in 2007. The Netherlands had 58% household internet penetration in 2002 (one sixth better than the USA) which grew to 83% in 2007 (by which time the Netherlands had more than one half more households with internet than the USA). Note, the Netherlands has significantly increased its lead over the USA in the five year period. The USA is not catching up to the Netherlands!

What of Sweden? In 2002 had more internet users than the USA, at 66% household penetration (about a quarter more than the USA). By 2007 that had grown to 79% household penetration rate. Sweden's internet penetration rate was higher back in 2002 than the USA level was in 2007. The Swedish is holding steady with a quarter more than the USA. The USA is not catching up to Sweden. And of Hong Kong? in 2002 Hong Kong's intenet penetration rate was only slightly ahead of the USA at 52%. Five years later Hong Kong's internet penetration rate had shot to 70.1% per household - so Hong Kong has pulled ahead of the USA, now leading it by a sixth.

Then lets take broadband users, and again, lets us the most USA-friendly statistic of fixed broadband and ignore the mobile broadband stats. In 2002 the USA had 6.9% national fixed broadband users per capita. That grew to 24.0% by 2007. What of the Netherlands? They had 7.3% fixed broadband users per capita - almost even with the USA, back in 2002. FIve years later the Netherlands had a penetration rate of 33.5%, meaning they have grown far faster and have today one third more fixed broadband users than the USA. The Netherlands were even with the USA five years ago, now the USA has fallen behind by a third!

Sweden? They had 9.4% per capita users of fixed broadband in 2002. about one fifth more than the USA. Where do they stand now? By 2007 Sweden had grown their number to 36%, HALF more than the USA. Sweden has dramatically added to its lead in broadband users vs the USA over the past 5 years. And Hong Kong here in Asia? They had 15.3% fixed broadband users in 2002, twice the level of the USA which they grew to 26.3% by 2007 (the reason Hong Kong has such modest growth in fixed broadband is that they more than doubled that growth in mobile broadband. Hong Kong by 2007 had about twice the number of mobile broadband users than the USA). Yes, the USA has been catching up to Hong Kong somewhat by fixed broadband users, but Hong Kong still leads comfortably by a tenth.

Then lets look at speed. In 2002 the average USA broadband speed was 2.2 Mbit/s. That has since grown to 15.3 Mbit/s by 2007. How about the Netherlands. The Netherlands was 8 times faster in 2002 at 17.0 Mbt/s - note this is significantly faster than the USA had by 2007. And the broadband speed in Netherlands grew to
92.8 Mbit/s by 2007. While that is 'only' six times faster than the USA, its hardly consolation to the USA that it could be said to be 'catching' the Netherlands when the Netherlands has the world's highest broadband speeds and its 2002 speed was faster than the USA is now.

Then lets look at Sweden. Sweden was at 14.9 Mbit/s in 2002, meaning it was almost as fast five years earlier as the USA was in 2007. And it was thus 7 times faster than the USA. By 2007 Sweden's broadband speed was up to 62.4 Mbti/s, four times faster than the USA. Hong Kong started in 2002 with speed of 3.8 Mbit/s about 1.5 times as fast as the USA. In 2007 Hong Kong broadband average speed was up to 23.5 Mbit/s which was still about 1.5 times as fast as the USA. 

JUDGEMENT

Mr Ivan Seidenberg CEO Verizon says USA is ahead in broadband internet to every country, so much so, he claims its 'not even close.' Is that so?

Take Netherlands vs the USA. In 2002 Holland had far more internet households than the USA had, but the Dutch came and grew that lead to far more today. By broadband users per capita, the Netherlands and the USA were running neck-to-neck in 2002, and the Dutch have pulled a big lead. And broadband speeds? They were 8 times faster in 2002 and 6 times faster five years later. There is no doubt, that in 2002 and now with the latest year for which we have the data for all countries, the Netherlands lead the USA in broadband internet by internet households, by broadband users, and by broadband speeds. Not only leads, but the Netherlands have built a far greater lead in the past 5 years. the USA was behind and falling further behind the Dutch.

What of Sweden vs the USA? In 2002 Sweden had such a major lead in internet households that the USA would not reach that level until five years later. All during those five years, Sweden has held on steadily on the same level of a lead. Meanwhile among broadband users per capita. Sweden led the USA in 2002 and pulled far ahead in the following five years. The USA is falling behind. And on broadband speeds, the USA did not reach the broadband speeds known in Sweden in 2002, until 2007. So much is Sweden's lead. Today the population of Sweden enjoy four times faster broadband speeds than the population of the USA. By every measure in 2002 and today Sweden leads the USA in broadband internet. By every measure. And the USA is falling further behind Sweden.

And then Hong Kong vs the USA. In 2002 Back in 2002 both countries were running even in household penetration of the internet. Since then Hong Kong has taken a big lead. In fixed broadband Hong Kong was leading the USA in 2002 and its still leads the USA today. By broadband speeds Hong Kong has held a steady lead over the USA. Beyond any reasonable doubt, Hong Kong was leading the USA on broadband internet households, users and speeds in 2002 and in 2007.

Here are three countries you did not mention. I did not pick Japan or France or South Korea. Here are three countries, two from Europe, one from Asia, which back in 2002 and again in 2007, by every stat you suggested, have led the USA in broadband internet. Not only that, these 3 countries have been gaining, building a bigger lead. The USA was behind each of these 3 countries in 2002. It has fallen further behind them in the past five years!

I have not 'chery picked' any stats. I did not take one stat from one country and another stat from another country. I did not take the tiny nations. I used the most credible, independent, international source for international telecommunications data and statistics, the ITU. I used their most recent 2009 report on the penetration rates of broadband and internet. I only used those statistics that you, Mr Ivan Seidenberg mentioned. (you also mentioned wireless phone statistics, further blatant lies which I will not answer in this blog, as the main point was about broadband internet use. This blog is long enough.)

No Mr Ivan Seidenberg, CEO of Verizon. You are blatantly misleading your audience, the US public,  your government, and your investors if you suggest the USA is ahead in broadband internet, by any measure. That is irresponsible of you. Shame on you. This kind of smoke and mirrors does not serve the US internet and broadband community any good, and it does not serve the American public. Your investors shareholders should be ashamed of you. This does not make Verizon seem credible in the US broadband internet market. What respectable CEO comes and says 'Studies be damned'? What kind of man are you? The kind who believes in fairy-tales? In a Rumsfeldian way refusing to face facts? Is that how Verizon is run? Perhaps its time the company be sold to the British and you be put to pasture? Shame on you Ivan Seidenberg, CEO of Verizon!

Comments

[kevin]

What if you used absolute numbers of users and not percentages? Would any of his comments be true then?

[em]

Tomi,

First, thank you very much for your excellent blog.

This razor-sharp, fact-based thinking and writing is like a paradise island in the vast ocean of the net, or like an oasis with palm-trees and cold fresh water in the middle of the desert. Great, just great!

--
Kevin,

US would be bigger because there are more people. But numbers won't make the claim "The facts are that, in the US, there is greater household penetration of access to the Internet than any country in Europe." true.

The smartphone and internet connection war is really in the low-end of smartphones. Saunalahti (a brand of Finnish Elisa operator that started the SMS "madness") now delivers low-end Nokia 2730 phone for 90 EURO CENTS per month for 24 month contract. Monthly price includes 50 minutes voice. The phone is Series 40 Symbian and has Opera mini web browser, MicroSD, MMS, email, Maps etc. In my books this is an internet connection, just a really cheap one. No question the operator is covering its costs with data services, but the price is still crazy. Operator is basically betting that the phone will create enough traffic during its lifetime to cover the costs. It will sell, although everyone is not using it as a connection for the net.

But when talking about Internet connections, it should NOT be "per household" any more for a CEO of a forward-looking telecoms company. It MUST be "per capita" or rather "per pocket", ie. when I change jacket I will have a different phone that fits the style.

[Joey1058]

Personally I find most practices of the carriers dismal anyway. Every time I start to consider perhaps biting the bullet and switching carriers from my prepaid acct., I read something like this and come to my senses.

[ounkeo]

It's absolute madness everytime I read something from a US telecoms provider. I read the claim by this CEO and I was fuming mad. He's a CEO, responsible to the public whom have vested interest in shares of the company. It's a blatant lie. And being an Asian American lving and working in Singapore, I know his claims to be absurd. I at least know the numbers for where I live and work! And that are not what Mr CEO are claiming.

Completely irresponsible. Thank You Tomi for calling people out for bold face lies & untruths!

[mobilejones]

Yes Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner, etc. are all posturing as the Obama administration has the FCC preparing a national broadband plan. Sadly, there is no good data on true broadband penetration in the US. All data available to the FCC is provided by the industry.

They refuse to release this information openly as it is regarded by them as proprietary information and a trade secret. Baloney!

Verizon et al don't want people to accept the reality of the US degradation in connectivity and lack of growth. The US taxpayer has incentivized these companies to build out FTTH for the last 15 years. We've paid them without results.

So of course they will not tell the truth as it will reveal something worse than the lies - theft.

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It's absolute madness everytime I read something from a US telecoms provider. I read the claim by this CEO and I was fuming mad. He's a CEO, responsible to the public whom have vested interest in shares of the company. It's a blatant lie. And being an Asian American lving and working in Singapore, I know his claims to be absurd. I at least know the numbers for where I live and work! And that are not what Mr CEO are claiming.

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