Over 10 million new subscribers chose xDSL broadband services in the first quarter of 2005, according to the latest data produced for the DSL Forum by analysts Point Topic. The UK alone accounted for 840,000 of those:

By 31st March 2005 the global total stood at 107m, with an estimated 115 million subscribers worldwide during early June 2005.

DSL increased its share of the broadband market in the USA, with more than 1.37 million subscribers added in the first quarter of 2005 – the second largest subscriber increase worldwide. Canada gained almost 165,000 subscribers in the quarter, to total more than 2.8 million DSL subscribers by 31 March 2005.

China, comfortably the largest DSL population worldwide and accounting for 95% of total subscribers in South and South East Asia, has added more than 2.5 million subscribers to DSL services in the first quarter of 2005, to a record total of almost 19.5 million. Five countries have more than seven million subscribers, and a further eight have at least two million DSL-enabled phone lines.

France, UK, Germany and Japan all added over half a million new subscribers to broadband DSL in the first three months of 2005 and a further nine countries gained more than 100,000 subscribers. The UK is the fastest growing established DSL market, adding over 20% to reach almost five million subscribers, but other fast-growing countries are generally those at an earlier stage of market development. Turkey has already added almost 180,000 subscribers to DSL services this year – representing a growth of 39%. Significant growth in DSL subscribers over the quarter is also evident in Thailand (27%), Poland (25%), Mexico (19%) and Portugal (18%).

UK:

• The UK added more than 840,000 new DSL subscribers in the first three months of 2005, bringing the total figure to almost five million – a growth of 20.3%

• The UK experienced the fourth highest increase in subscriber numbers worldwide in the first quarter of 2005

• Of countries with more than 100,000 DSL subscribers, the UK was the fifth fastest growing (by percentage growth) in the first quarter of 2005

• The UK has the seventh highest DSL population worldwide

• The UK has the 17th highest DSL market penetration worldwide, with 14.2% of all telephone lines (per 100 lines) delivering DSL services.