The Americas Show Strong Broadband Growth and Widespread IPTV Adoption

Region now accounts for 28% of global broadband and nearly one in five IPTV subscribers worldwide

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Broadband Forum today announced the latest broadband and IPTV statistics, which show a strong performance in the Americas region, both in broadband growth at 18 per cent and in IPTV adoption, where subscription grew a remarkable 86% over the last twelve months. Based on data prepared for the Forum by industry analyst Point Topic, global broadband grew by 12.9 million lines in the second quarter of 2009, while IPTV growth remained strong at 11 per cent – reaching 26.9 million lines.

Broadband growth chart:

    Region                  2009Q1                2009Q2
                     -------------------- --------------------
                                                                growth  growth
                                                                  in      in
                        Total    Net Add      Total    Net Add  quarter  year
                     ---------- ---------  ---------- --------- ------- ------
    Asia-Pacific     64,598,397 1,028,132  65,959,917 1,361,520   2.11%  8.35%
    Eastern Europe   23,713,655 1,383,969  25,107,902 1,394,247   5.88% 29.36%
    Latin America    27,947,382 1,711,397  29,292,408 1,345,026   4.81% 31.39%
    Middle East
     and Africa      12,819,703   562,699  13,054,260   234,557   1.83% 19.38%
    North America    93,502,047 3,483,678  95,845,689 2,343,642   2.51% 14.86%
    South and
     East Asia      100,884,917 7,487,522 105,389,289 4,504,372   4.46% 25.46%
    Western Europe  107,878,672 2,985,982 109,650,503 1,771,831   1.64%  9.96%

Source: Data provided for the Broadband Forum by Point Topic

Broadband lines in the world now top 444.2 million. North America had total growth of 3.63 per cent and the USA and Canada between them now have more than 95 million broadband users. In Latin America broadband now serves more than 29 million customers. Brazil, one of the global top 10 countries for broadband, showed solid gains at 4.02 per cent – taking them to 23.3 per cent growth over the year, accounting for more than ten million of the region’s users.

Top 10 broadband countries:

    Country                   2008Q2         2009Q2
                               Total          Total
                            ----------     ----------
    China                   75,768,350     93,549,000
    USA                     74,440,195     86,227,582
    Japan                   29,584,700     31,085,500
    Germany                 21,420,702     24,086,250
    France                  16,601,286     18,324,300
    UK                      16,718,400     17,838,200
    South Korea             15,061,659     15,876,992
    Italy                   11,534,230     12,855,463
    Brazil                   8,490,400     10,469,755
    Canada                   9,005,181      9,618,107

Source: Data provided for the Broadband Forum by Point Topic

The Americas continue to show massive growth in IPTV, where over the last 12 months there has been an impressive increase of 86 per cent, partly due to a major commitment by two of the region’s leading operators. The Americas now have reached a major milestone in IPTV, serving over five million IPTV subscribers – which represent nearly 20 per cent of IPTV penetration worldwide.

IPTV subscriptions per territory, in thousands:

    Territory                                      2008Q2    2009Q2

    Western Europe, Middle East and Africa          8428     12416
    North America                                   2718      5018
    South and East Asia                             2512      4375
    Asia Pacific                                    2817      3835
    Eastern Europe                                   655      1215
    Latin America                                     14        53

Source: Data provided for the Broadband Forum by Point Topic

In terms of technology, fiber and wireless broadband continue to gain access technology market share. Consumer demand for IPTV seems to be driving the rollout of higher bandwidth options.

“This report shows that, while broadband adoption is not immune from the state of the world economy, the technology continues to move forward and I believe this year has shown that broadband expansion is not limited to the top industrialized countries, but is a key factor in assisting developing nations to gain a foothold in today’s tough market,” said George Dobrowski, Chairman and President of the Broadband Forum.

“The Forum continues to drive broadband innovation, and with our latest work around IPTV network and service assurance, we continue to ensure that the industry has all the tools and specifications it needs to optimize networks and to capture the full potential of broadband and IPTV worldwide. We have also undertaken several initiatives in areas such as energy efficiency this year, which will help facilitate network energy savings as broadband growth continues across the world.”

More: Global Broadband Statistics (GBS) database