DSL still leading the broadband charge

Every week around 1.25 million consumers around the world sign up for broadband, according to the latest statistics published by industry analyst Point Topic on Friday, with around two thirds of new subscribers choosing DSL.

At the end of September, the global broadband subscriber base reached more than 263 million, with DSL contributing more than 173 million users. Point Topic also found that DSL’s position as the most popular broadband access technology in the world at 65.6 per cent market share, is solidified in Europe where its market share rises to 82 per cent.

Cable, by contrast, holds a 22.84 per cent global market share and fibre (FTTx) follows a 10.24 per cent.

The US is the world’s largest broadband market with more than 55.5 million broadband subscribers, but the world’s largest DSL market is China with 35 million users at the end of September. The US is the world’s second largest DSL market with 24.5 million users.

Japan follows with 14.5 million DSL subscribers, Germany with 12.3 million and France and the UK with 11.9 million and 9.3 million respectively.

The UK added 2.9 million new DSL subscribers in the 12 months to September 30, a growth of almost 46 per cent.