China has overtaken the United States as the country with the most broadband lines, growing twice as fast as America, according to new data from the broadband research company Point Topic.
Point Topic found that China and the US both had around 78 million broadband lines at the end of August, but the number in China is now growing rapidly, making them the largest broadband market in the world.
In the first half of the year China reportedly added around 9.5 million broadband lines, while the US only added around 3.5 million.
“This is a major milestone for China,” said Oliver Johnson, chief executive of Point Topic. “Launching people into space is spectacular, but having the biggest broadband market down here on earth means a lot more for building a modern, hi-tech economy.”
The broadband research company pointed out that China has more than three times as many people and homes than the US but the report shows that America’s broadband market has also fallen behind other leading Asian and European countries.
Point Topic says that in countries where there is open competition in the broadband market, figures are rapidly increasing, while the US is seeing slower growth patterns and higher prices because it has allowed fewer operators to run the market.
Earlier this month, Point Topic released new data showing that broadband value added services generated $25.7 billion worldwide in 2007, an increase of 62% on 2006 (see Broadband Services Generated $25.7bn Globally In 2007).
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