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China could overtake US in broadband access this year
By Peter Sayer

China will have more broadband Internet access subscribers than the U.S. by the end of the year, if the number of subscribers to broadband Internet access services continues to grow at current rates, according to figures published Monday by market analyst Point Topic Ltd. of London.

At the end of December, the U.S. had 33.9 million broadband subscribers, and China 25.8 million, according to Point Topic.

If those numbers continue to grow at the rates observed by Point Topic during the six months from July to December last year, then China will overtake the U.S. by the end of this year.

In third place, Japan had 18.1 million broadband subscribers, South Korea 11.9 million, Germany 6.9 million, France 6.8 million and the U.K. 6.1 million, the company said.

There are around 150.5 million broadband subscribers worldwide, using either DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) or cable modems, Point Topic estimated. That number grew by 50 million in 2004, and will rise to 215 million by the end of the year.

The majority of subscribers are already using DSL, and the proportion is growing, the company said.

Six of the top 10 countries ranked by broadband market penetration are now European, according to Point Topic. South Korea still leads the world for the proportion of broadband subscribers in its population, closely followed by Hong Kong, but the Netherlands and Denmark are closing the gap, the company said.

Some of the fastest growth is to be seen in Europe and the Middle East. The number of broadband subscribers in Turkey grew by 155 percent in the second half of last year, and the number in Poland by 122 percent, Point Topic said.

Posted April 4, 2005 02:54 PM |