Global Broadband Lines Top 581 Million

Approximately 17.4 million broadband lines were deployed during Q3 2011, bringing the global total to 581.3 million, a quarterly increase of 3.08% - and an annual growth rate of 12.89%, according to figures prepared for the Broadband Forum by Point Topic. The quarter witnessed the strongest growth since 2009, thanks largely to continued rollouts in China.


"These are very healthy figures for Q3 and they demonstrate the ongoing strength of the broadband market," commented Robin Mersh, CEO of the Broadband Forum. "We are especially pleased to see the trend in fiber technologies beginning to take off. Our G-PON certification program, launched in Q3 and with first certifications already in place, has been very widely welcomed and this is an indication that the market is ready for much further growth in this area."


Some highlights:

FTTx is gaining ground but DSL remains the dominant technology.


Both FTTH and FTTx/hybrid technologies, showed the largest growth with over 8% overall, compared to 2.2% for cable modems and 2% for DSL.

FTTx added just under 19 million lines in Q3 2011 - this is more than double the number in the same period last year.

FTTx now accounts for 16% of the global broadband market - fast catching up with cable's 19.5%.


China topped 152 million broadband subscribers, up from 126 million a year earlier.


IPTV subscribers grew by 6.06% in the third quarter of 2011 and now total 54.4 million globally.


France remains the top country for IPTV, but China will soon surpass it in total number of IPTV subscribers. http://www.broadband-forum.orghttp://www.point-topic.com