Fiber optic network statistics at a glance
Fiber optic networks keep taking share from older fixed broadband technologies, and the numbers now show a market that is not just growing but hardening around fiber as the default upgrade path.
The statistics below show how quickly that shift is happening across the OECD and at several major providers, with the most recent figures pointing to broader adoption, faster service tiers, and larger buildouts.
Quick takeaways
- Fibre represented 44.6% of all fixed broadband connections across the OECD as of June 2024 (OECD statistical release, May 2025).
- Gigabit fixed broadband offers reached 19% of OECD fixed broadband subscriptions in 2024, up from 3% in 2019 (OECD statistical release, October 2025).
- Average monthly mobile broadband data consumption in OECD countries reached 17 GB per subscription by June 2024, more than double the 8 GB recorded in June 2022 (OECD statistical release, May 2025).
- U.S. fiber builders and operators continued to report major expansion, including AT&T, Frontier, Brightspeed, Verizon, Lumen, and UTOPIA Fiber in the latest company and industry releases listed in the source dataset.
Table of contents
- The OECD fiber shift
- Where fiber share is highest
- Speed tiers and usage growth
- Operator buildout snapshots
- What the numbers say about market direction
The OECD fiber shift
The clearest pattern in the dataset is the steady rise of fibre across the OECD.
At the end of 2022, fibre accounted for 38% of OECD fixed broadband subscriptions (Statista chart summary of OECD data). By the end of 2023, that share had climbed to 42% (OECD statistical release, July 2024). The most recent OECD release in the dataset shows fibre reaching 44.6% of all fixed broadband connections as of June 2024 (OECD statistical release, May 2025).
That is a meaningful change because broadband networks usually move slowly. A gain of several percentage points in a market this large signals a sustained technology transition rather than a temporary spike.
Fibre share moved higher in successive measurements
| Measurement point | Fibre share | Source label |
|---|---|---|
| End of 2022 | 38% | OECD statistical release, July 2024 |
| End of 2023 | 42% | OECD statistical release, July 2024 |
| June 2024 | 44.6% | OECD statistical release, May 2025 |
| June 2024, previous year comparison | 41% | OECD statistical release, May 2025 |
The year-over-year move from 41% to 44.6% also shows that growth continued rather than flattening (OECD statistical release, May 2025). In other words, fibre was not just winning historically; it was still winning in the most recent period captured by the statistics.
A separate historical figure in the dataset shows the OECD average share of fibre connections reaching 37.7% at the end of 2022 (Statista chart summary of OECD data). That aligns with the broader upward path and helps show how quickly fibre moved from a minority position toward the center of fixed broadband mix.
Why this matters for broadband planning
When fibre gains share, the network planning conversation changes.
Instead of asking whether fibre should be added at all, operators and policy makers increasingly ask how fast they can extend it, where to prioritize it, and how to convert remaining copper-heavy or cable-heavy areas. The OECD figures suggest that those decisions are already being made across many countries, not just in a handful of early adopters.
Where fiber share is highest
The dataset also shows that some countries are far ahead of the OECD average.
At the June 2024 measurement point, Iceland led with 91% fibre share of total fixed broadband connections, followed by Korea at 90%, Spain at 88%, and Lithuania at 80% (OECD statistical release, May 2025). The earlier end-2023 snapshot tells a similar story: Korea at 89.6%, Iceland at 89%, Spain at 86%, Lithuania at 80%, and Japan at 79% (OECD statistical release, July 2024).
Selected country snapshot
| Country | Fibre share | Measurement | Source label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iceland | 91% | June 2024 | OECD statistical release, May 2025 |
| Korea | 90% | June 2024 | OECD statistical release, May 2025 |
| Spain | 88% | June 2024 | OECD statistical release, May 2025 |
| Lithuania | 80% | June 2024 | OECD statistical release, May 2025 |
| Korea | 89.6% | End of 2023 | OECD statistical release, July 2024 |
| Iceland | 89% | End of 2023 | OECD statistical release, July 2024 |
| Spain | 86% | End of 2023 | OECD statistical release, July 2024 |
| Japan | 79% | End of 2023 | OECD statistical release, July 2024 |
Spain is especially useful as a long-run example because the dataset includes an earlier benchmark: its fibre share grew from 35% in 2016 to 86% in 2023 (OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2024). That is not a minor upgrade cycle. It is a structural network transformation over seven years.
A sharp contrast between leaders and the average
The OECD average in the latest statistics is still far below the top countries. That gap matters because it suggests the market is uneven: some countries are nearing near-complete fibre dominance, while others still have substantial room to upgrade.
This kind of spread often reflects a mix of geography, investment history, regulation, competition, and legacy infrastructure. The dataset itself does not break those causes out, so the safest reading is simply that fiber adoption is highly uneven even within a single economic bloc.
Speed tiers and usage growth
Fiber is not only about replacing older lines. It also helps enable faster service tiers and higher data consumption.
In the OECD dataset, gigabit fixed broadband offers reached 19% of fixed broadband subscriptions in 2024, compared with just 3% in 2019 (OECD statistical release, October 2025). The same source says that is a six-fold increase in five years.
That shift is important because gigabit availability changes consumer expectations. Once gigabit offers become more common, service comparisons are no longer centered on basic connectivity alone. They move toward reliability, upload performance, latency-sensitive use cases, and how many high-bandwidth applications a household can support at once.
Gigabit availability expanded quickly
- 2019: 3% of OECD fixed broadband subscriptions were gigabit offers (OECD statistical release, October 2025).
- 2024: 19% of OECD fixed broadband subscriptions were gigabit offers (OECD statistical release, October 2025).
- Change over five years: six-fold growth (OECD statistical release, October 2025).
The usage side of the story moved just as strongly. Average monthly mobile broadband data consumption in OECD countries reached 17 GB per subscription by June 2024, up from 8 GB in June 2022 (OECD statistical release, May 2025). The source says this more than doubled in two years.
Two-year change in mobile data consumption
| Measurement point | Average monthly data consumption | Source label |
|---|---|---|
| June 2022 | 8 GB per subscription | OECD statistical release, May 2025 |
| June 2024 | 17 GB per subscription | OECD statistical release, May 2025 |
This matters for fiber network demand because household and business users increasingly expect fixed and mobile broadband to support heavier traffic patterns. The dataset does not state a direct causal link between the two trends, but the combination of rising fibre share, rising gigabit availability, and rising data consumption points in the same direction: networks are under pressure to provide more capacity.
Operator buildout snapshots
The source list includes several company-specific indicators that show the fiber market through the lens of providers building and monetizing access networks.
AT&T
AT&T passed more than 30 million fiber locations by early 2025, and the company said that figure is halfway to its goal of approximately 60 million homes and businesses with fiber by the end of 2030 (AT&T press release, January 2025). The same source says AT&T added 5.7 million AT&T Fiber customers since the start of 2020 (AT&T press release, January 2025).
More recent and adjacent company figures in the dataset add context:
- AT&T had 28.9 million consumer and business locations passed with fiber in fourth quarter 2024 (AT&T 4Q 2024 earnings release).
- AT&T had more than 9.3 million fiber consumer wireline broadband subscribers at December 31, 2024 (AT&T 2024 Annual Report).
- AT&T added 1 million or more net fiber subscribers for seven consecutive years from 2018 through 2024 (AT&T company focus page, 2025).
- AT&T’s 2024 annual report said adjusted EBITDA margin was 36.6% in 2024 (AT&T 2025 annual report).
Frontier
Frontier reported one of the clearest expansion stories in the dataset.
It added 1.3 million new fiber passings in 2024 and reached 7.8 million total locations passed with fiber in 2024 (Frontier 4Q and full-year 2024 results). Frontier also added a record 385,000 fiber broadband customers in 2024, with its fiber broadband customer base growing 19.2% year over year (Frontier 4Q and full-year 2024 results).
In the fourth quarter alone, Frontier added 241,000 fiber passings and 97,000 fiber broadband customers (Frontier 4Q and full-year 2024 results). Its consumer fiber broadband ARPU was $65.98 in fourth quarter 2024, and the company reported $1.51 billion of revenue and $595 million of adjusted EBITDA in the same quarter (Frontier 4Q and full-year 2024 results).
For 2023, Frontier had passed 6.5 million total fiber locations and added 318,000 fiber broadband customers, with 19% year-over-year growth in its fiber broadband customer base (Frontier 4Q and full-year 2023 results).
Verizon
Verizon’s numbers show a large broadband base with meaningful fiber and fixed wireless activity.
The company reported 7.3 million Fios Internet connections in its fact sheet (Verizon fact sheet, 2025). It reported 47,000 Fios Internet net additions in fourth quarter 2024, 39,000 in third quarter 2024, and 24,000 in second quarter 2024 (Verizon 4Q 2024 earnings release; Verizon 3Q 2024 earnings release; Verizon 2Q 2024 earnings release).
Other Verizon figures in the dataset include:
- Total broadband connections exceeded 12.3 million at the end of fourth quarter 2024 (Verizon 4Q 2024 earnings release).
- Fixed wireless access base grew to nearly 4.6 million subscribers by the end of fourth quarter 2024 (Verizon 4Q 2024 earnings release).
- Broadband net additions were 408,000 in fourth quarter 2024 (Verizon 4Q 2024 earnings release).
- Total operating revenue was $134.8 billion in 2024 (Verizon 4Q 2024 earnings release).
- Full-year 2024 free cash flow was $19.8 billion (Verizon 4Q 2024 earnings release).
- Full-year 2024 capital expenditures were $17.1 billion (Verizon 4Q 2024 earnings release).
Lumen, Brightspeed, and UTOPIA Fiber
Lumen had 4.2 million fiber broadband enabled units in fourth quarter 2024, up from 4.1 million in third quarter 2024, 3.7 million in fourth quarter 2023, and 3.4 million in second quarter 2023 (Lumen 4Q 2024 results; Lumen 3Q 2024 results; Lumen 2Q 2023 results).
The dataset also notes that Lumen’s sale of its Mass Markets fiber-to-the-home business included more than 1 million fiber customers and more than 4 million enabled fiber locations across 11 states (Lumen sale announcement, 2026).
Brightspeed’s fiber network passed approximately 1.82 million locations by January 2025, and the company said it was actively building in 17 states (Brightspeed press release, January 2025).
UTOPIA Fiber served more than 67,000 subscribers in April 2026, added more than 1 million feet of conduit and fiber in 2025, and reported that its subscriber base had more than doubled since 2020, reaching 65,000-plus in its 2025 survey release (UTOPIA Fiber year-in-review release; UTOPIA Fiber customer feedback survey 2025). It also reported 20% year-over-year growth in its subscriber base in early 2025 (UTOPIA Fiber customer feedback survey 2025).
Fiber deployment and competitive pressure
The Fiber Broadband Association said U.S. fiber deployments reached a record 10.3 million homes passed in 2024 (Fiber Broadband Association release, January 2025). It also said 8.4 million homes were passed and marketed with fiber for the first time in 2024 (Fierce Network summary of FBA webinar, 2025).
The same dataset includes a competitive note: the Fiber Broadband Association reported a 33% net loss for HFC cable in areas where fiber was available among customers churning in the past two years (Fiber Broadband Association release, January 2025).
That statistic is useful because it points to market substitution, not just network expansion. In other words, fiber is not only being built in new places; it is also pulling customers away from other technologies where it is available.
What the numbers say about market direction
Taken together, the dataset points to a broadband market moving in three overlapping directions.
First, fibre share keeps rising in the OECD, with the latest value at 44.6% and several countries far above that average (OECD statistical release, May 2025).
Second, gigabit availability is becoming more common, rising from 3% of subscriptions in 2019 to 19% in 2024 (OECD statistical release, October 2025).
Third, operator buildouts and customer additions remain strong enough to support continued network expansion, especially among large incumbents and fiber-focused challengers such as AT&T, Frontier, Brightspeed, Verizon, Lumen, and UTOPIA Fiber.
The practical takeaway is straightforward: the statistics no longer describe fiber as a niche premium option. They describe it as the leading edge of fixed broadband growth, with adoption, capacity, and competition all moving in the same direction.