{
  "title": "Broadband access comparison: data dictionary and measurement crosswalk",
  "version": "1.0",
  "evidence_cutoff": "2026-09-18",
  "series": {
    "indicator": "IT.NET.USER.ZS",
    "definition": "Individuals who used the internet from any location in the last three months, via any device, expressed as a population percentage. Underlying survey numerator and denominator use the in-scope population.",
    "observations": 9,
    "countries": [
      "Germany",
      "Sri Lanka",
      "United States"
    ],
    "reference_years": [
      2022,
      2023,
      2024
    ],
    "latest_common_nonmissing_year_within_inspected_2022_2025_window": 2024,
    "missing_2025": "Null in all three countries; no value imputed.",
    "source_revision": "2026-07-13"
  },
  "fields": {
    "observation_id": "Stable identifier for a country-year observation within this version.",
    "source_id": "Source register identifier C-R01.",
    "country_code": "World Bank country code: DEU, LKA or USA.",
    "country": "Country label.",
    "year": "Annual source reference year, not access or publication year.",
    "indicator": "IT.NET.USER.ZS for all rows.",
    "value_pct": "Full decimal value published in the inspected API snapshot; precision is not an uncertainty interval.",
    "display_pct_1dp": "One-decimal percentage used in the article.",
    "unit": "Percentage of the source-published in-scope population; identical original national age ranges are not established.",
    "reference_window": "Indicator definition: internet use from any location or device in the preceding three months.",
    "source_revision": "API dataset lastupdated value; not each observation\u2019s original publication date.",
    "accessed_date": "Date the original API dataset was retrieved.",
    "comparability": "Qualification restricting this series to source-published country context."
  },
  "calculation_method": "The 2022\u20132024 change equals the 2024 percentage minus the 2022 percentage, in percentage points. Arithmetic uses the source decimals before rounding.",
  "comparison_status": "Source-published harmonised contextual series. Exact original age coverage and country-year survey/estimation status remain unresolved; not demonstrably identical raw samples.",
  "measurement_crosswalk": [
    {
      "measurement_object": "Network reach",
      "evidence_needed": "Defined premises or geographic footprint, technology and date",
      "permitted_interpretation": "Deployment potential; not guaranteed orderability or unique households"
    },
    {
      "measurement_object": "Local choice",
      "evidence_needed": "Independently controlled networks and orderable offers at the same address",
      "permitted_interpretation": "Feasible alternatives for a specified customer; not the number of national brands"
    },
    {
      "measurement_object": "Paid service",
      "evidence_needed": "Active subscriptions, customer scope and reporting period",
      "permitted_interpretation": "Commercial service stock; not people or newly included households"
    },
    {
      "measurement_object": "Growth in service stock",
      "evidence_needed": "Net additions, acquisitions, disposals and reporting adjustments",
      "permitted_interpretation": "Separation of operating expansion from ownership or classification changes"
    },
    {
      "measurement_object": "Effective expenditure",
      "evidence_needed": "Recurring charges, installation, equipment, taxes, discounts and contract duration",
      "permitted_interpretation": "A specified household scenario; not national affordability without an income distribution"
    },
    {
      "measurement_object": "Service experience",
      "evidence_needed": "Comparable performance, reliability and support observations",
      "permitted_interpretation": "Whether a connection meets an identified task; not inferred from advertised speed"
    },
    {
      "measurement_object": "Participation",
      "evidence_needed": "Defined people or households, reference window and survey method",
      "permitted_interpretation": "Use within that population; not automatically fixed-broadband adoption"
    }
  ],
  "crosswalk_status": "Original analytical classification grounded in the country reports; not a measured causal sequence, matched household cohort, validated forecast model or pooled transnational telecom market.",
  "excluded_uses": [
    "Telecommunications market-share or concentration ranking",
    "Household fixed-broadband subscription estimates from individual internet-use percentages",
    "A common-country affordability ranking from unmatched tariffs or FX conversion",
    "Causal effects of regulation, competition or income",
    "Statistical significance or an equality-of-survey-design claim"
  ],
  "licence": {
    "licence": "CC BY 4.0",
    "evidence_url": "https://databank.worldbank.org/metadataglossary/world-development-indicators/series/IT.NET.USER.ZS",
    "attribution": "International Telecommunication Union (ITU), via World Bank World Development Indicators, IT.NET.USER.ZS, accessed 18 September 2026; source revision 13 July 2026. Original calculations by the Market Audit Series.",
    "qualifier": "Licence applies to this series per metadata, not to unrelated national/operator sources."
  }
}