Fibre Optic Based Connections Push Global Broadband Users to 678.6M

The world became home to a total of 678.6 million broadband lines at the end of 2013 (up by around 1.5% in the final quarter vs 1.8% in Q3), which is being driven by continued growth in the uptake of Next Generation Access (NGA) style superfast fibre optic (FTTH/P) and hybrid fibre (FTTC) connections.

Overall Point Topic’s latest data reveals that true fibre optic FTTH/P subscribers increased by 12.8% during Q4 2013 (down from 13.6% in Q3), while hybrid fibre (FTTx) services grew 4.8% (stable from 4.7% over the same period), wireless increased by 2.2% (down from 3.1%), Satellite jumped slightly by 1.6% (up from 1.3%) and cable (e.g. Virgin Media) connections gained 1.6% (up from 1.5%).

Meanwhile slower pure copper broadband lines (e.g. ADSL) still controlled the majority of connections but saw their share decline by -1.6% in the quarter, which reflects an increasing fall from the -0.9% lost during Q3 2013 as superfast broadband coverage grows and people switch accordingly.

In terms of the Top 10 Countries by Broadband Subscribers, China remains at the top of the table with over 192 million, having added over 3 million new subscribers in Q4 alone.

Top 10 Countries by Broadband Subscribers
1. China (All Territories) 192,015,484
2. United States 95,203,107
3. Japan 35,779,190
4. Germany 30,267,477
5. Russian Federation 25,365,452
6. France 24,905,000
7. United Kingdom 22,782,100
8. Brazil 21,276,500
9. South Korea 18,760,623
10. India 15,490,685

In related news IPTV is nearing the 100 million subscriber threshold with 21% growth in 2013 and 17 million new subscribers, taking the total to 96 million in Q4 2013. At the end of 2013, 14.1% of fixed broadband subscribers also subscribed to an IPTV service.