European Broadband Grows To 135 Million Subscribers

Europe now accounts for 30% of global broadband and 51% of all IPTV customers

8 September 2009 – The Broadband Forum today announced the latest broadband and IPTV statistics in a press conference at Broadband World Forum-Europe. Based on data provided for the Forum by industry analysts Point Topic (GBS database at http://point-topic.com/home/gbs/), global broadband grew by 12.9 million lines in the second quarter of 2009 to reach 445 million, while IPTV growth remained strong at 11 per cent - reaching 26.9 million.

Broadband growth chart
 
Broadband regional numbers                        
Territories      2008Q2      2009Q1      2009Q2              
                 Total      Total      Net Qtr Add   growth in quarter   growth in 12 months      
Asia-Pacific      60,875,668   64,598,397   65,959,917   1,361,520   2.11%      8.35%      
Eastern Europe      19,408,909   23,713,655   25,107,902   1,394,247   5.88%      29.36%      
Latin America      22,294,590   27,947,382   29,292,408   1,345,026   4.81%      31.39%      
Middle East and Africa   10,934,739   12,819,703   13,054,260   234,557      1.83%      19.38%      
North America      83,445,376   93,502,047   95,845,689   2,343,642   2.51%      14.86%      
South and East Asia   84,002,699   100,884,917   105,389,289   4,504,372   4.46%      25.46%      
Western Europe      99,721,070   107,878,672   109,650,503   1,771,831   1.64%      9.96%      
Global Total      380,683,051   431,344,773   444,299,968         3%      14%   

Source: Data provided for the Broadband Forum by Point Topic (www.point-topic.com)

In the past twelve months, broadband subscription in Europe grew 13 per cent overall, to reach 135 million, which included an impressive growth of 29 per cent in the Eastern European territories.  Europe is the second largest broadband region in the world, and holds four of the top 10 country spots as detailed below.

Top 10 broadband countries

 
Country      2008Q2      2009Q2      
       Total      Total      
China      75,768,350   93,549,000      
USA      74,440,195   86,227,582      
Japan      29,584,700   31,085,500      
Germany      21,420,702   24,086,250      
France      16,601,286   18,324,300      
UK      16,718,400   17,838,200      
South Korea   15,061,659   15,876,992      
Italy      11,534,230   12,855,463      
Brazil      8,490,400   10,469,755      
Canada      9,005,181   9,618,107   

Source: Data provided for the Broadband Forum by Point Topic (www.point-topic.com)

Europe continues to lead the IPTV success story with 13,631,074 subscribers, a 51 per cent growth over the twelve months leading up to July 2009.  In the second quarter 2009, there was a healthy six per cent growth in Western Europe – where France remains the “champion” IPTV country with more than seven million subscribers – and 12 per cent in Eastern Europe, where new services in countries such as Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Russia are in demand.

IPTV subscriptions per territory in thousands
 
Region               2008Q2   2009Q2      
Western Europe, Middle East and Africa   8428   12416      
North America            2718   5018      
South and East Asia         2512   4375      
Asia Pacific            2817   3835      
Eastern Europe            655   1215      
Latin America            14   53   

Source: Data provided for the Broadband Forum by Point Topic (www.point-topic.com)

In terms of technology, fiber and wireless broadband continue to gain access technology market share.   Consumer demand for IPTV seems to be driving the rollout of higher bandwidth options.

“This report shows that, while broadband adoption is not immune from the state of the world economy, the technology continues to move forward and I believe this year has shown that broadband expansion is not limited to the top industrialized countries, but is a key factor in assisting developing nations to gain a foothold in today's tough market,” said George Dobrowski, Chairman and President of the Broadband Forum.

“The Forum continues to drive broadband innovation, and with our latest work around IPTV network and service assurance, we continue to ensure that the industry has all the tools and specifications it needs to optimize networks and to capture the full potential of broadband and IPTV worldwide. We have also undertaken several initiatives in areas such as energy efficiency this year, which will help facilitate network energy savings as broadband growth continues across the world.”

For further information about the Broadband Forum and the work mentioned here, visit www.broadband-forum.org.