Point Topic: Global Broadband Subscribers Hit 400 Million

The number of broadband subscribers worldwide has reached the 400 million mark, according to a report prepared for the Broadband Forum by industry analysts, Point Topic. In 1998, there were just 57,200 broadband subscribers globally. Only a year later, this number had increased by nearly six times over to 280,890 subscribers worldwide. DSL quickly became the most popular choice of delivery. The past ten years has seen a 600,000 percent increase in the number of subscribers - 300 percent in the last 5 years alone - which now tops the 400 million mark. Over the same period, access technology evolved to include fiber, which began in 2002 with 18,000 subscribers. Since then, fiber now delivers broadband services to over 45 million people across the globe.


The Broadband Forum also noted its 15th anniversary. The organization evolved from the ADSL Forum, to the DSL Forum, and finally to the Broadband Forum, each time expanding its scope and remit to fit the needs of the industry. During this time its 200 plus member companies have worked together to issue 100 Technical Reports (TRs), with the aim of helping the industry develop the full potential of broadband in the areas of network management and control, access development, network architectures, interoperability, and digital home management. Planning for the future, focusing on IPTV, fiber access, Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) and Energy Efficiency (EE) are all high on the agenda at the Forum's last quarterly meeting of 2008, which is being held this week in Hawaii.


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