Global broadband subscribers now total 400mn

November 20, 2008 - The number of total broadband subscribers globally has reached the milestone of 400mn, according to a new report prepared for the Broadband Forum by research firm Point Topic, underlining its phenomenal growth in the past few years, achieved thanks to technological developments and increased geographical spread.

By comparison there were just 57,200 broadband subscribers globally in 1998, increasing nearly six-fold in the following 12 months to reach 280,890 in 1999, with DSL becoming the most popular choice of delivery method. The past ten years have seen a reported 600,000% increase in the number of subscribers, with a 300% increase in the last five years alone, to now reach 400mn.

During the same period, access technologies evolved to include fibre, which had 18,000 subscribers in 2002 and now accounts for 45mn broadband connections around the globe. The emergence of triple-play services also contributed to the strong growth of broadband subscriptions, making broadband an increasingly integrated part of daily lives.

“When Point Topic started researching broadband in 1998 it was still mostly in the technical trial stage," said Oliver Johnson, Senior Analyst with Point Topic. "Getting to 400 million subscribers in the ten years since then, has been one of the fastest rollouts of a major new technology the world has ever seen. Now we’re in the early days of a new era, which is going to be much more about quality than quantity.

"The emphasis is now going to shift to providing high bandwidth, high quality broadband, that can deliver multiple, steady, pin-sharp images for applications," adds Mr Johnson. "To do this, we’ve got to have advanced global standards for end-to-end delivery of broadband data streams."

The Broadband Forum is a pan-industry initiative with over 200 members, intended to develop the full potential of broadband in the areas of network management and control, access development, network architectures, interoperability, and digital home management.