Figures from research firm Point Topic on global broadband trends have hinted at a robust market for the Asian region, in particular the developing markets of China and India.
The report, which examined changes to the worldwide broadband scene in Q3 2010, stated that broadband subscriptions exceeded 508 million during that period, up 11.9 per cent year-on-year.
Developing broadband markets such as China, India, Russia, Vietnam, Ukraine and the Philippines all grew by more than 20% in the last 12 months, with China and India reporting their best ever growth results that same quarter. China added the greatest number of subscribers at 6.1 million, while India was third with 762,000 adds.
DSL technology continues to be the dominant technology worldwide, the report said, with Asia leading the pack on its adoption. According to the report, China lay claim to the world’s largest DSL market with 98.2 million subscribers, followed by the USA (30.1 million) and Germany (23.34 million).
The charge for fiber was also led by Asia, which controlled over 81% of the market, an equivalent of 56.98 million lines. China also proved to be the world’s largest fiber market with 25.8 million subscribers, followed by Japan (19.1 million) and South Korea (9.3 million).
Japan and South Korea were the only two Asian markets to feature in the list of top five countries that spearheaded the adoption of broadband delivered via cable modem. The cable modem market was found to be dominated by the United States and Canada, who jointly held 51% market share.
On the Asian front, South Korea was found to be the only developed market to maintain continued overall broadband subscription growth.
Steady growth rates were reported for the Middle East and Africa region, with strong growth in Egypt, Turkey and South Africa. But barriers in terms of availability and cost prohibited much of Africa from mass broadband adoption, Point Topic added.