http://ipcommunications.tmcnet.com/topics/ip-communications/articles/49786-report-global-fixed-broadband-subscribers-grew-4-percent.htm
Six months after reports emerged that China had overtaken the United States in total fixed broadband subscribers, the communist nation now appears to be pulling away, according to a Bethesda, Maryland-based telecom research firm.
Officials at Dittberner Associates Inc. say China’s strong showing is a major part of what fueled 4 percent growth globally – to 390 million – in the third quarter of 2008.
According to the firm’s study, the “3Q08 Global Telecom Subscriber Survey,” with the Chinese government looking to encourage home PC acquisition, especially in rural areas, the nation’s growth of 4.8 million new subscribers per quarter should continue at least for the next three or four years.
“France overtook the United Kingdom for fifth place and Brazil displaced Spain in the top ten and will likely overtake Canada by the end of 2008,” according to the firm, “With Mexico overtaking the Netherlands in twelfth place and Russia right behind, they will make the top-10 list but not in 2009.”
Here’s how Dittberner breaks down the 10 largest broadband markets:
The nations in that chart are familiar, and so is the trend toward greater adoption of fixed broadband technology worldwide.
As TMCnet reported, through March of 2008, China added 4.8 million new subscribers, bringing its total to 71.6 million – a 28 percent increase from the prior year and more than the United States’ 70.2 million at the time.
In the first quarter of this year, DSL comprised 67 percent of all access technologies, while cable modems slipped to 20 percent.
But, as Dittberner predicted, the new technology to watch is not FTTH – the fiber optic cable connection that runs directly from a telephone switch to a subscriber’s home – but rather DOCSIS 3.0-based subscribers.
The technology – short for “Data over Cable Service Interface Specification” – defines interface standards for cable modems and supporting equipment. The technology lets manufacturers produce cable modems for retail, so consumers no longer have to depend on leased cable modems from their cable providers. Devices that recognize and support the DOCSIS standard include HDTVs and Web enabled set-top boxes for regular televisions.
Here’s how Dittberner now breaks down broadband subscribers by technology – note that DSL makes up about 65 percent of access technologies, compared to 20 percent cable modems:
“It is dawning on service providers that there is not enough revenue in TV and Broadband Internet to justify the high cost of FTTH deployment,” said James Heath, director of broadband research at Dittberner.
