Worldwide Broadband Lines Top 174 Million In Q1 2005
Worldwide broadband lines grew to 174.4 million during the first quarter of 2005, enjoying an increase of 8.5% from the 151.5 million lines at 31 December 2004, according to internet research specialist, Point-Topic.
The US retained its position as the leader of the top ten broadband countries, with over 36.5 million broadband lines.
China is shown to be in second place reaching 28.3 million lines, while Japan remains third with 19.7 million lines and looks set to pass 20 million by the second quarter of this year.
France overtook Germany in the first three months of the year, with 7.7 million lines, making it the largest European broadband market. The UK added over one million lines in Q1, and now with 7.1 million lines, is also predicted to overtake Germany.
In terms of percentage growth, Turkey was shown to be one of the most impressive countries leading the growth rankings in Q1 2005, achieving 38% growth to reach 665,000 lines as of 31 March 2005.
Thailand came second obtaining 24.2% growth and reaching 225,000 lines, while Poland led the European countries, achieving 23.8% growth and becoming the first Eastern European country to pass one million lines.
Point Topic claims that there is still plenty of scope for increasing broadband penetration, with South Korea shown to be the first country to reach 25 lines per 100 population and Hong Kong passing 22 lines per 100.
Looking at the technology markets separately, China remains the world’s largest DSL market in the first quarter of 2005, reaching 19.5 million by the end of March. China was still the world’s most dynamic DSL market in absolute terms, adding 2.6 million lines in Q1 2005.
The USA remains the leading market for cable modems, with 21.4 million subscriptions by the end of March 2005. China is second with 8.8 million lines, while Japan has overtaken the saturated South Korean market for third place with 5.9 million lines.
The UK maintains its position in sixth place with 2.1 million lines; having gained some ground on fifth placed Canada, which has 3.1 million lines.
According to data released by the Federal Communications Commission, (FCC) broadband connections in the US rose by 34% to 37.9 million users during 2004(see US Broadband Up 34% In 2004).
Cable and digital subscriber lines (DSL) were shown to be leading the growth in terms of broadband penetration, with DSL lines increasing by 45%, to 13.8 million in 2004. High-speed cable connections rose by 30% during 2004, reaching 21.4 million lines.
Cable connections in US broadband households are declining however, with research and consultancy firm, Strategy Analytics, predicting digital subscriber lines (DSL), fibre and other types of broadband to make up over 10% of the market by 2010 (see DSL Overtaking Cable Broadband In US).
Strategy Analytics forecasts broadband households in the US to rise to 77.6 million by 2010, up from 34.1 million in 2004.
The global firm shows cable to be steadily losing favour with US broadband customers, estimated to fall to 57% of the total market by the end of 2005, down from 59% in 2004 and 62% in 2003.
DSL, however, is forecast to perform strongly over the coming years, with Strategy Analytics predicting its market share to increase to 41% by the end of 2005, up from 39% in 2004.