Broadband connections

Broadband connections
According to Point Topic, 140m DSL lines were installed at the end of 2005, of which 33% in Europe. France is the fourth or fifth country, behind China, USA, Japan and close to the UK. DSL penetration is about 25% in France and 29% in S. Korea. Out of a total broadband connections of 205m at the end of 2005, cable modem connections accounted for about 60-65m lines.

Based on 3Q05 figures, some conclusions can be drawn:

• growth is slowing down: 35% in 2005 vs 52,4% in 2004

• about 13m lines are added per quarter

• APAC is the largest market with about 41%-42% market share (but declining); added about 19m lines in 2005. China and India are the largest countries, and South East Asia is performing exceptionally well (+11%). Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan are showing signs of saturation.

• Western Europe accounts for about 26% of the market and grew at about the world average rate (7.4%). Largest countries are UK, France and Germany with each having over 8m lines.

• North America has a 25% market share

• Middle East (2%) ; the fastest growing region (+16%) with Turkey, Morocco, UAE and South Africa

• Eastern Europe (2%); one of the most fast-growing regions with Czech Rep. Slovakia and Bulgaria;

• Latam (3%); one of the most fast-growing regions with Argentina, Mexico and Brazil;

• Top six largest countries are: USA (43,5m), China (38m), Japan (21,5m), S. Korea (12m), France (8m) and UK (8m);

What is also interesting is to analyze the split within a country. With the UK as an example, Point Topic points out that broadband penetration range from 25% in London and home counties to 5% in some rural areas, while the country average is about 12%. We are here into the “broadband digital divide”, a mix of income, education, social environment and business/ rural parameters. Disparity is very high inside a given zone, and average figures are misleading. There is still a long way to go to achieve the goal of Internet access for all.