Latest research by Quantum-Web
has revealed a belting increase in broadband subscriptions
world wide. The total now stands at a thumping 203.1
million in December 2005 up 41.6% from the same period
last year. The graph below depicts how the total is
broken down:
Table 1- World
broadband subscribers by region Q4, 2005
| Region |
Subscribers ('000) |
| Asia- Pacific |
77,562 |
| European Union |
58,277 |
| Latin America |
8,317 |
| Middle East- Africa |
2,106 |
| North America |
50,645 |
| Other Europe |
6,232 |
| Total |
203,140 |
According to our
finding, the growth was driven mainly by the 51.9%
increase in the number of broadband lines in European
Union, to reach 58.8 million at 31 December 2005.
Asia-Pacific growth was much slower at 39.6%, to reach
over 77.6 million lines by the same date.
The North America
the third largest market has shown a slower trend
growth yet. The region is standing at an annual growth
rate of 25.8% to reach 50.6 million lines by the end
of December 2005.
The fastest growing region
on an annualised basis was “Other Europe”
with a dramatic growth of 97.5% followed by Latin
America and Middle East- Africa with 84.2% and 72.6%
respectively.
Graph 1- World
broadband subscribers by region Q4, 2005
The findings also point to
the fact that DSL with trend growth of 45.7% reaching
138.3 million by 31 December 2005 is acting as the
engine of broadband growth. Cable Modem meanwhile
has shown a robust 24.1% growth passing the 50 million
line mark by the same period.
FWA with 159.6% annual growth
shows the fastest access technology whereas FTTx with
80.6% increase in the number of broadband lines to
8 million is the third largest access technology.
“Other technologies” and Satellite with
48.7% and 29.0% are less employed.
Graph 2 shows DSL, Cable Modem
and other technologies market share through the last
quarter of 2005.
Graph 2-
World broadband subscribers by access technology Q4,
2005
In our ranking
system, based on the absolute number of broadband
subscribers, shown in Graph 3, the USA is the largest
broadband market with over 43.8 million broadband
subscribers. China and Japan are far behind, with
31.8 million and 22.3 million respectively. Germany
has become the first European country of the club
of “over 10 million Subscribers” together
with US, China and South Korea. We estimate that the
UK and France with over 9 million subscribers will
be the next countries in the world to join the 'over
10 million club' by the end of march 2006.
Then there are further proportionately large markets
namely Canada and Italy with nearly 6.7 million broadband
subscribers followed by Spain.
Graph 3- World
top broadband markets by size, Q4 2005
For more information about
this press release or this research paper, please
contact us at
info@quantum-web.com
About Quantum-Web:
Quantum-Web is the leading provider of tailored research,
assessments and market forecasts of broadband and
advanced telecommunications. The firm's forecasts,
analysis, and insights are results of both a deep
technology understanding and a first-rate research
methodology, which examines each segment of the value
chain for each individual market. Technology vendors,
service providers, technology professionals academic
and media, worldwide, rely on experienced staff and
in-depth research to support critical technology,
product and success decisions.
