Half a billion people will be using broadband connections
within a year, figures released at theBroadband World
Forumyesterday suggest.
The annual growth rate of 17% means 444.3 million people
worldwide now have access to a broadband connection, according to
figures prepared by Point Topic. They showed that Asia makes up 40%
of the market, followed by Europe with 30% and the Americas with
28%.
The world broadband market added 12.9 million lines in the
latest quarter, with the number of IPTV (television over internet)
connections growing 11% to 26.9 million. The fastest-growing
regions were Latin America (31.4%), Eastern Europe (29.4%) and
South and East Asia (25.5%). Western Europe, which was the single
biggest market at 110 million subscribers, grew 10%.
The leading countries were China, the US and Japan. The UK was
sixth with 17.8 million subscribers, fewer than France or
Germany.
DSL (digital subscriber line) continued to be the most popular
transmission medium with almost two-thirds of connections, but
fibre and wireless were each increasing their market share, the
researchers said.
Broadband Forum chairman George Dobrowski said broadband
adoption was not immune from the recession, despite the growth
rates. "This year has shown that broadband expansion is not limited
to the top industrialised countries, but is a key factor in
assisting developing nations to gain a foothold in today's tough
market," he said.
The figures were prepared for the
Broadband Forum, the
central body for next-generation IP network specifications.
The Broadband Forum
The Broadband Forum has around 200 members, including of most of
the world's leading service providers, equipment manufacturers,
chip vendors and other key organisations.
It defines and facilitates next-generation networks for local
broadband access, mobile backhaul, business services, IPTV, gaming
and other applications.
The Broadband Forum's formal BroadbandSuite release programme,
technical reports and specifications are available on its
website.