DSL lines in service in North America totalled 6.2 million at the end of Q1 2002, according to new statistics published by TeleChoice. The US had 4.9 million DSL lines at the end of the quarter, representing 12% growth over the figure reported at the end end of last year. Canada ended the quarter with 1.3 million lines in service.
DSL stands for digital subscriber line and is a high-speed method of connecting to the internet or any other type of computer-based network.
In the US market, net subscriber additions were 538,287; this is the second quarter in a row in which more than 500,000 subscribers were added, says TeleChoice. The Canadian market once again outpaced the US, with an overall growth rate of 17%. Net subscribers grew by 195,217 – 10% fewer than were added at the end of last year.
Cable still leads the way The level of growth of DSL services is still not closing in on the cable operators, according to TeleChoice. Cable MSOs (multiple service operators) currently have more than twice the market share of residential broadband users in North America.
“The success of cable operators in adding voice services to their video and data portfolio is perhaps the biggest challenge ILECs [traditional telephone companies] face in the residential market today and one they must aggressively fight with their own innovative service bundles if they want to remain competitive in the long run against the cable threat,” says TeleChoice president Claudia Bacco.
