Broadband subs grew by 40m in 2013

The global broadband subscriber base grew by 40 million to 678.6 million in 2013, according to the latest figures from the Broadband Forum.

While copper-based technologies continue to dominate broadband connections, fiber-based connections including FTTx and VDSL are the fastest growing, according to data compiled by Point Topic.

Fiber-based connections grew by 17.6% during the year, compared to the 6.1% growth rate for all broadband connections. Subscribers to copper broadband services in fact shrunk by 1.6% during the year – the only decline among the broadband connection technologies.

The global IPTV subscriber base meanwhile grew by 17 million during 2013 to 96 million. This translates to 14.1% of fixed broadband subscribers also taking up an IPTV service.

The figures show that APAC has a far greater share of FTTx subscribers than any other region, making up around 50% of the market.

Greater China has by far the largest number of broadband customers in the world, with 192 million subscribers. The region added over 3 million new subs in Q4 alone. Japan, South Korea and India were the only other Asian nations among the top 10 countries by subscribers.

But emerging markets – including Indonesia and Sri Lanka – dominated the top 10 list of countries by percentage subscriber growth in Q4.

Source: Point Topic Q4 2013

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