The worldwide installed base of DSL now tops 85 million -- a 39% expansion so far in 2004 -- according to data produced for the DSL Forum by industry analyst Point Topic. This gain of 24 million DSL subscribers in the first nine months of the year represents a pace of more than half a million new subscribers each week. According to the data, DSL gaining market share in countries with high cable penetration rates.
Some highlights of the report:
- China has the world's largest DSL population with a total of 13.7 million subscribers
- South Korea has a the highest penetration rate at 28.88%, while Taiwan is second at 22.14%.
- European Union (EU) countries currently make up the largest regional DSL population worldwide, adding more than 9.25 million subscribers in the first three quarters of this year, to reach 26.5 million.
- Latin America is now emerging as a DSL market, adding 1.2 million subscribers from January to September 2004, a growth in subscribers of more than 72%. Brazil is leading the way, gaining over 620,000 DSL subscribers, and three countries, Mexico, Argentina and Peru, have experienced more than 50% growth since the beginning of the year.
