Fibre to drive global broadband revenue growth to 2018

The global fixed broadband market generated service revenues of $188bn in 2012, up 7 per cent from 2011, and is set to continue growing to reach $251bn by 2018, according to US firm ABI Research.

Last year, fibre broadband had its strongest ever year in terms of service revenues (up 24 per cent), while DSL and cable broadband revenues rose two per cent and six per  cent respectively.

Fibre-optic broadband is expected to grow stronger than other platforms throughout the forecast period.

In 2018, fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) revenue should reach $81.6bn, representing almost one-third of global broadband service revenue.

There was some less good news in the report though – average revenue per user (ARPU) has continued to decline across all broadband platforms over the past few years.

“The trend is expected to endure as the majority of operators are trying to offer lower prices to capture a larger market share,” said Jake Saunders, VP and practice director of core forecasting at ABI Research.

“In some countries like Japan and South Korea, increasing competition from LTE services is expected to pressure fixed broadband operators to offer lower service pricing in the long-term.”

The fixed broadband market in US grew from $41bn in 2011 to $43bn in 2012, with fibre broadband representing just seven per cent of total service revenues.

Despite this small share at present, FTTH revenues in the US are expected to reach $4bn this year as more consumers demand super-fast services.