Global broadband lines reach 508m in third quarter of 2010

Global broadband subscriptions reached 508.76 million lines in the third quarter of 2010, up by 6.7 per cent year-on-year, according to data from Point Topic for the Broadband Forum's Global Broadband and IPTV Industry Update.
Over 14.3 million lines were added in third quarter alone, up by 2.88 per cent from second quarter of 2010. China and India both reported their second best ever quarters in the third quarter, and India, Russia, Vietnam, Ukraine and the Philippines all grew by more than 20 per cent in the last 12 months.Asia continues to increase its share of the total broadband lines in the world, adding more than double the number of broadband lines per quarter than any other region.
Robin Mersh, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Broadband Forum, said that growth patterns were shifting as some markets reach saturation and emerging markets show remarkable growth rates. The new figures show that China and the US continue to add more lines than any other single market. Russia and Brazil, however, are the most rapidly growing in percentage terms with 22 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively.
DSL remains the dominant broadband technology worldwide. DSL is growing most rapidly in Asia, driven by the relatively low upfront costs and availability. The total number of IPTV subscribers worldwide now stands at 41.9 million, representing growth of 7.3 per cent (2.846 million net adds in the third quarter of 2010) in the three months to end-September and 36.7 per cent in the last 12 months (11.26 million net adds).
With 46 per cent market share, Europe continues as the leading IPTV region. However, China is fast catching up to France, the current world leader in terms of IPTV subscribers, and at current growth rates China will overtake France sometime during 2011, according to the update.