Subscribers of broadband services continue to grow across the globe, with mobile wireless growth, in particular, exceeding all expectations. The primary driver responsible for the growth of broadband subscribers continues to be the desire to access the Internet -- and the increasing availability of online multimedia content.
The growing popularity of bandwidth-intensive applications, such as viewing streamed online video, using IP-based telephony services, and streaming or downloading music files, is directly spurring demand for higher-speed Internet connections -- with global subscribers totaling 763 million in 2010.
"From 2007 through 2009, there was a continued growth rate of 25 percent in broadband subscribers worldwide," says Vahid Dejwakh, Industry Analyst at In-Stat.
Though this momentum is expected to slowly decrease to 10 percent growth by 2014 as the broadband market matures, there are still some substantial gains to be made.
According to the latest market study by In-Stat, the Asia-Pacific region will continue to see very high growth rates, along with Latin America and the Middle East (incl. Africa) regions.
In-Stat's latest market study findings include:
By year-end 2010, the U.S. will have over 179 million broadband subscribers in the country.
- Total worldwide DSL subscribers will reach 371 million at year-end 2010, fueled primarily by strong demand for DSL service in the Asia-Pacific region.
- Mobile wireless broadband subscribers continue to grow rapidly as mobile telephone service providers roll out 3G and 4G services.
- Approximately 76 percent of the world's FTTH subscribers reside in the Asia-Pacific region.
- North America continues to be the largest market for cable modem services.
