Skip to main content

Fiber Networks Drive Economic Development

Coupled with impressive growth in its broadband subscriber base, the Asia-Pacific region is standing at the forefront of the Fiber to the Home/Node/Business (FTTx) evolution, according to In-Stat.

Carriers such as Korea Telecom and NTT have committed to investing heavily to change copper infrastructures to fiber by 2010. Asia-Pacific market leaders now have such a significant head start, when compared to other developed markets, that their strategic economic advantage is already daunting.

"The next-generation broadband access services strategy, as proven in markets like Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong, is to focus on market proliferation of value-added broadband services, driven by the launch of compelling broadband content (i.e. IPTV and VoIP) and innovative broadband pricing plans," says Bryan Wang, In-Stat analyst.

I believe that it's important to remember that the Asia-Pacific leadership in broadband infrastructure investment is the result of proactive government economic policies that created the right environment. Meaning, this scenario can be attributed to decisive action.

Similar to prior transport infrastructure investment trends -- such as railways and roadways -- where preemptive activity had a direct impact on economic viability, strategic foresight has enabled the current leaders to succeed within the global networked economy.

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

- The total Asia-Pacific broadband access services market will exceed 225 million subscribers by 2011.

- In 2006 FTTx represented 9.5 percent of the total Asia-Pacific subscriber base.

- Japan and South Korea are the two markets that will see FTTx significantly replacing existing xDSL subscriber connections by 2011.

Popular posts from this blog

The Smartphone Market's Premium Pivot

The global smartphone market closed 2025 with a story less about recovery and more about transformation. Premium product, ecosystem lock-in, and manufacturing scale are now the forces shaping competition. For business and technology leaders, the latest IDC market study data confirms that smartphones remain a critical indicator of consumer demand, supply chain health, and AI commercialization at the edge. Smartphone Market Development Global smartphone shipments grew 2.3 percent year-over-year in Q4 2025, reaching 336.3 million units and bringing full-year volumes to 1.26 billion units — a modest 1.9 percent annual increase, according to IDC. This smartphone growth emerged despite a memory shortage crisis, tariff volatility, supply chain disruption, and macroeconomic headwinds. What stabilized demand? Two factors: sustained growth in premium devices and strong foldable momentum, combined with accelerated purchases as consumers bought ahead of anticipated price increases. Buyers weren...