(Associated Press via NewsEdge) Worldwide use of DSL broadband technology for Internet access rose 38% to 164 million users in the 12 months ended June 30, boosted by strong growth in the European Union, an industry trade group said.
China had the world's highest number of DSL subscribers, at 33.3 million, followed by the US at 23.2 million.
The EU added roughly 18 million new DSL users during the 12 months, an increase of 45%, bringing the regional total to 56 million.
The figures were announced by the industry group DSL Forum, which is holding a quarterly meeting in Athens.
Use of DSL has accelerated in the past few years as advances in the technology have driven down prices while enabling heavier-bandwidth services such as video to be delivered over existing telephone lines.
In North America, where cable television penetration is widespread, slightly more than half of broadband subscribers use cable TV lines.
However, in the 12-month period, DSL use rose faster than cable modem subscriptions, growing 31% to 26.7 million users.
In the Asia-Pacific region, DSL use rose 9.5% to 29.8 million users. In South and Southeast Asia, the number of users rose 57 % to 36.2 million, due largely to 11.6 million new subscribers in China.
Greece has the EU's lowest penetration rate, with fewer than 6% of phone lines delivering DSL services, as opposed to 40% in Finland and more than 32% in France. Britain aims to fully digitize its phone lines by 2012.
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