Global Broadband Reaches 445 Million Lines

The total number of installed broadband lines has passed the 445 million mark, according to the latest projections from the Broadband Forum and data from Point Topic..

Global broadband grew by 12.9 million lines in the second quarter of 2009, while IPTV growth remained strong at 11 percent - reaching 26.9 million lines.

In the past twelve months, broadband subscription in Europe grew 13 per cent overall, to reach 135 million, which included an impressive growth of 29 per cent in the Eastern European territories. Europe is the second largest broadband region in the world, and holds four of the top 10 country spots as detailed below.


Europe continues to lead the IPTV success story with 13,631,074 subscribers, a 51 per cent growth over the twelve months leading up to July 2009. In the second quarter 2009, there was a healthy six per cent growth in Western Europe -- where France remains the "champion" IPTV country with more than seven million subscribers -- and 12 percent in Eastern Europe, where new services in countries such as Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Russia are in demand.


China continues its healthy growth, reaching 93,549,000 subscribers while Japan took the honors among the world's top ten countries -- being the only one to show an increased growth quarter on quarter over the last year. Australia, the Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand and Hong Kong are also among countries where broadband growth continues to grow faster with each quarter.


Asia continues to play its part in the encouraging global growth of IPTV, adding approximately 2.9 million customers over the last year, and 1.2 million in the last quarter alone.


North America had total growth of 3.63 per cent and the USA and Canada between them now have more than 95 million broadband users.


In Latin America broadband now serves more than 29 million customers. Brazil, one of the global top 10 countries for broadband, showed solid gains at 4.02 percent - taking them to 23.3 per cent growth over the year, accounting for more than ten million of the region's users.


The Americas continue to show massive growth in IPTV, where over the last 12 months there has been an impressive increase of 86 per cent, partly due to a major commitment
by two of the region's leading operators. The Americas now have reached a major milestone in IPTV, serving over five million IPTV subscribers -- which represent nearly 20
per cent of IPTV penetration worldwide.


"This report shows that, while broadband adoption is not immune from the state of the world economy, the technology continues to move forward and I believe this year has shown that broadband expansion is not limited to the top industrialized countries, but is a key factor in assisting developing nations to gain a foothold in today's tough market," said George Dobrowski, Chairman and President of the Broadband Forum.
http://www.broadband-forum.org