The number of broadband lines grew by 50
million across the world in 2004, according to figures from telecoms analyst
Point-Topic.
Worldwide growth slowed slightly from 63 per cent in 2003 to 50 per cent in
2004, but some individual countries far outstripped the global average. Thai
broadband lines, for example, grew by 90 per cent over the year.
Figures produced by the analyst for Q3 and Q4 of 2004 show the UK staying in
eighth place worldwide for number of lines. Though three of the top four
countries in the league are in the Asia/Pacific region - China, Japan and
South Korea - the gap is narrowing.
But China added more lines in a single quarter than the UK did in the entire
year, and growth is continuing to accelerate.
The world market is dominated by digital subscriber line (DSL) technology,
which constitutes 60 per cent of all broadband connections. The US, which is
second in the overall league, is still dominated by cable broadband, but
added 1.2 million new DSL subscribers in 2004.
Point-Topic says penetration is levelling out at around 25 lines per hundred
of population.
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