DSL deployments continued to grow at a record pace worldwide during Q1 2004, adding 9.5 million subscribers in three months for a worldwide total of 73.4 million installed lines.
This marks the biggest quarterly deployment of DSL to date, according to the latest figures from the DSL Forum and analyst firm Point Topic, and the third consecutive quarter to produce a record-breaking subscriber increase. Installations are now occurring at roughly double the pace in 2003.
Three countries represented more than half of the new subscribers:
- China added 2.85 million in the quarter and now has almost 14 million subscribers to DSL services - the largest DSL population in the world
- the U.S. added 1.18 million - a growth of 13% - significantly closing the gap on Japan, the second largest DSL country
- France was the fastest growing of the major DSL countries in the quarter adding 1.07 million, a growth rate of 35%.
Some 13 countries now have more than one million broadband DSL subscribers and 16 countries have more than 10% of phone lines delivering DSL services.
South Korea maintains its global lead of DSL market penetration, at 28.3% of all phone lines, and 6.85 million subscribers at the end of March 2004. Taiwan, ranked second in the world by penetration, was just 0.2% away from mass-market classification of 20% in the period.
Over the quarter, no less than six countries: France, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Switzerland, achieved more than 10% of total phone lines providing DSL services - half way to mass-market status (20% penetration to qualify).
The European Union, including the new accession states, is now fast approaching Asia Pacific's global market share. With for 28.18% of global subscribers, the European Union added 3.36 million subscribers in the quarter, an increase that accounted for more than one-third of the total new subscribers worldwide. http://www.dslforum.org
