The global Broadband market is forecast to pass 190 million subscribers this year and will be approaching 440 million by the end of 2010, according to Informa Telecoms & Media. DSL technology is set to strengthen its lead over cable based subscriptions with an anticipated 77 percent of the worldwide broadband market in 2010, representing 332 million subscriptions versus 76 million for cable. The report anticipates that, along with Japan and South Korea, Sweden and Finland countries will top the broadband penetration tables at over 30 percent penetration by population. By the end of the forecast period direct fibre and other access methods will still account for well under 10 percent of global broadband subscribers, though after that date the report predicts that the nature of the broadband market may change fundamentally with the advent of WiMAX and other wireless broadband technologies. The worldwide broadband market will change significantly over the next five years. While the last half decade has seen developed markets account for the lion�s share of broadband net additions, the next five years will see substantial growth in two major Asian markets, China and India, as growth in Western Europe, North America and Asia�s developed markets slow. By virtue of its high population, China will overtake the US for total broadband subscribers in 2008, and by 2010 the country will account for a quarter of all the world�s broadband subscriptions. Despite this, China�s penetration rate will still be less than 10 percent by population. Over the forecast period the source of revenues for operators will substantially switch from providing access to offering services over broadband and the most important of these will be TV, particularly over DSL networks.
What was once a simple, unidirectional flow of electricity from centralized power plants to passive consumers is evolving into a complex, intelligent network where millions of distributed resources actively participate in grid operations. This transformation, powered by smart grid technologies, represents one of the most significant infrastructure shifts of our time. It promises to reshape how we generate, distribute, and consume energy. At its core, the smart grid represents far more than mere digitization of existing infrastructure. This bi-directional capability is fundamental to understanding why smart grids are becoming the backbone of modern energy systems, facilitating everything from real-time demand response to the integration of renewable energy sources. Smart Grid Market Development By 2030, smart grid technologies are projected to cover nearly half of the global electrical grid, up dramatically from just 24 percent in 2025. This expansion is underpinned by explosive gr...