The worldwide total of
broadband lines has surpassed 300m, says analyst
Point Topic.
Point Topic says there were 298 million broadband subscribers
worldwide at the end of March 2007.
“Given the prevailing growth rates it is safe to assume the
number has now passed 300 million,” said Katja Mueller, chief
analyst at Point Topic.
Point Topic’s regional data shows that Eastern Europe is
continuing to grow strongly, and was the only region to record more
than 10% growth in the quarter ending March.
Romania passed the 1 million subscriber mark, helping Eastern
European countries to post three of the ten fastest growing
countries worldwide.
Greece was the top grower in percentage terms expanding by 26.8%
during the quarter.
The USA remains the largest broadband country in the world and
passed its own milestone, exceeding 60 million subscribers for the
first time with 60.4 million.
China continues to push hard for the top spot, however, and has
cut the gap to the US from 5.8 million at the end of 2006 to 4.1
million at the end of March 2007.
The major mover in the top ten countries is France. It achieved
the highest percentage growth rate of 9.36% among the top
countries, leapfrogging South Korea to fifth place in the
chart.
Top ten broadband countries
USA: 60,362,830 lines
China: 56,258,499
Japan: 26,533,000
Germany: 16,142,750
France: 15,304,900
South Korea: 14,102,888
UK: 13,953,000
Italy: 9,348,250
Canada: 8,010,139
Spain: 7,185,932
Swindon is broadband capital >>
Swindon and Milton Keynes top the UK broadband league
>>
Read the Point Topic report >>
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