Regulatory involvement is a key factor in boosting a
country's broadband penetration rate, says analyst
Ovum.
The analyst has published its top-ten fastest growing broadband
markets. It says infrastructure competition and relative pricing
are common factors that drive broadband growth in such
countries.
Jonathan Coham, an analyst at Ovum, said, "Wealth relative to
the cost of broadband is a major consideration in most of these
markets. Broadband ISPs in Greece, Turkey, Ireland and Russia all
offer cheap services relative to the average disposable income, in
order to make broadband attractive to greater proportions of the
country."
He said, "Regulation surrounding wholesale and local loop
unbundling broadband pricing is also a major factor to consider in
these regions."
Ovum said the top-ten developing broadband countries
are: Greece, Philippines, Indonesia, India, Ukraine, Ireland,
Thailand, Vietnam, Russia and Turkey.
Broadband in the UK was slow to take off once it became
available from 2000 because it was initially expensive and not
widely available.