The total number of fixed broadband connections worldwide will pass 500 million by the end of this year and will continue to grow to 720 million by the end of 2015, according to a study by Analysys Mason. Fixed broadband will account for 62 percent of the 1.16 billion broadband connections available worldwide by the end of 2015. Developed regions (Central and Eastern Europe, developed Asia-Pacific, North America and Western Europe) offer limited growth opportunities in terms of new business. The report forecasts that fixed broadband net line additions will grow at a CAGR of 3.9 percent during 2009-2015 in these regions. By contrast, fixed broadband net line additions will grow at a CAGR of 13.7 percent in the emerging regions (Central and Latin America, emerging Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa).
Central and Latin America will have the highest CAGR of all regions in terms of fixed broadband connections at 15.4 percent between 2009 and 2015. However, emerging Asia-Pacific will account for most of the net line additions, growing from 117 million lines at the end of 2009 to more than 250 million by the end of 2015. Emerging regions will generate 28.5 percent of worldwide fixed broadband retail revenue by 2015, up from 17.2 percent in 2009. Developed markets accounted for 67 percent of fixed broadband connections at the end of 2009. This will fall to 54 percent by the end of 2015, the researcher said. The Middle East and North Africa's fixed broadband market will achieve reasonable growth during the forecast period. As a result, it will account for an increasing, albeit small proportion of worldwide fixed broadband revenue to 2015. Its share of worldwide access retail revenue will grow from 2.3 percent in 2009 to 3.4 percent in 2015. In sub-Saharan Africa, mobile services will continue to be crucial to the development of the region's broadband market. The number of mobile broadband connections in the region exceeded that of fixed broadband connections in 2009. By 2015, Analysys expects that fixed broadband will account for 9 percent of broadband connections in the region.