DSL subscriber numbers worldwide grew by 20% during the first quarter of 2002 and showed an increase of 110% over the previous 12 months, according to an analysis by PointTopic.
DSL stands for digital subscriber line and is a high-speed system of connecting to the internet or other computer networks. The report says that DSL is continuing to grow strongly throughout the world, with Japan and Norway showing the highest proportional growth rates at present.
“Despite the problems in the telecoms industry, there were a fifth more people in the world with DSL at the end of March than there were at the start of the year,” said John Bosnell, editor at PointTopic. “As more people find out about broadband, more want it. That’s why DSL more than doubled during 2001.”
This report comes as an Oftel survey found that the UK has some of the lowest prices for DSL access in Europe and the US (see Cheap UK Broadband Internet Access Drives Uptake).
