Global broadband lines grew to a total of 176 million during the second quarter of 2005, a rise of 16% from 152 million lines at 31 December 2004, with the total number of lines added between the end of 2004 and Q2 2005 reaching 24.3 million.
According to Point Topic’s World Broadband Statistics for mid-2005, Europe is pushing to take over the leadership of broadband growth, with the UK and France overtaking the USA in terms of broadband lines per 100 population in the first half of 2005.
According to Continental Research’s Internet Report Autumn 2005, the number of UK homes with internet access has risen by 6% in the last year, with 1.5 million new homes coming online, taking the total number of users in the UK to 14 million, or 56% of the population (see UK Internet Adoption Continues In Strength).
Point Topic claims that leadership in broadband growth is shifting to Europe as saturation causes slowdowns in the Asia Pacific countries. South Korea is still well ahead in terms of broadband penetration, but has seen its lead diminish, with the number of digital subscriber lines (DSL) falling in the first half of 2005.
Russia and India were shown to be making significant appearances on the broadband scene, with Russia’s installed base rising from 890,000 to 1.24 million lines in the first half of 2005 and India’s from 260,000 to 440,000, both well ahead of average growth rates.
Point Topic revealed that China is steadily gaining on the US to become the biggest consumer of broadband.
The increasing global penetration of broadband and advances in the medium are resulting in new technologies being offered over the internet.
Internet protocol television (IPTV) is one such service now becoming part of the media mix, due to the high speeds now offered by broadband. Research from LoveLace Consulting and informitiv forecasts the technology to be firmly established as an alternative platform to digital satellite, terrestrial and cable transmission over the next ten years (see IPTV Moving Into Mainstream TV Marketplace).
The latest research from Informa Telecoms & Media, predicts IPTV o reach 25.9 million subscribers globally by the end of 2010, up from just 2.7 million at the end of 2005 (see IPTV To Reach 25.9 Million By 2010).
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