World Broadband Statistics: Q3 2008 Fiona Vanier December 2008 Point Topic Ltd 61 Gray s Inn Road London WC1X 8TL, UK Tel. +44 (0) 20 3301 3303 Email info@point-topic.com
2 Contents 1. Introduction 4 2. Global and Regional Perspectives 5 2.1 Overall Growth 5 2.2 Regional Trends 6 3. Technology Trends and Choices 10 4. Top Ten Broadband Countries 14 4.1 Number of Subscribers 14 4.2 Broadband Subscribers Added 15 4.3 Percentage Growth 15 4.4 Technologies Adopted 17 4.5 Population and Household Penetration 18 5. Methodology and Supporting Material 20 5.1 Data Collection 20 5.2 Variations in Coverage and Definitions 21 5.3 Resources for Subscribers 21 6. Tables 22
3 Figures Figure 1: World Broadband Subscriber Net Additions (Q1 2006 Q3 2008) 5 Figure 2: Share of World Broadband Subscribers by Region in Q3 2008 6 Figure 3: Penetration and Quarterly Growth by Region in Q3 2008 6 Figure 4: Region Share of World broadband Net Additions in Q3 2008 8 Figure 5: Technology Trends in Q3 2008 10 Figure 6: Total Broadband by Technology in Q3 2008 10 Figure 7: DSL, Cable Modem & FTTx Market Share by Region in Q3 2008 13 Figure 8: Total Number of Subscribers in Q2 2008 and Q3 2008 14 Figure 9: Broadband Subscribers Added in Q3 2008 15 Figure 10: Top Ten Countries by Quarterly Growth in Q3 2008 16 Figure 11: Top Ten Countries by Annual Growth from Q3 2007 to Q3 2008 17 Figure 12: Total Subscriber Numbers by Technology Adopted in Q3 2008 18 Figure 13: Broadband Penetration by Population in Q2 2008 and Q3 2008 19 Figure 14: Broadband Penetration by Household in Q2 2008 and Q3 2008 19 Tables Table 1: DSL subscribers, Non-DSL, and total broadband subscribers in major countries in Q2 2008 and Q3 2008 22
4 1. Introduction This report continues the series of Point Topic s quarterly World Broadband Statistics publications. The series originated as several DSL reports, first published in Q2 2002, which were eventually expanded to include cable modem and other technologies in Q2 2003. Other technologies covered include optical fibre and different forms of broadband Internet such as, for example, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), Satellite and Powerline. Fibre in this context means anything from Fibre-to-the-kerb to Fibre-to-the-home and is often generalised as "FTTx. Mobile broadband is undoubtedly taking off in many countries where 3G or WiFi/WiMAX networks are used as an alternative or complementary to fixed-line broadband access. To address the importance of this new development, Point Topic embarked on a special wireless broadband project in Q3 2006 with the aim of including more comprehensive coverage of wireless subscriber numbers in our quarterly broadband statistics report. Throughout this data collation process, we found that the figures are still very much restricted to certain geographical regions. Consequently, it remains too early for wireless subscriber data to be examined in depth within the world broadband statistics analysis. However, as far as available, WiFi and WiMAX broadband subscriber data is being entered into GBS and clients to this Point Topic service are welcome to conduct their own in-depth analysis. For Q3 2008, GBS country coverage has been extended to 112 countries and over 440 operators. This report begins with an examination of the growth in broadband subscribers for Q3 2008 at both a global and a regional level. The next section of the report addresses technology trends and choices, looking firstly at general trends in uptake followed by an analysis of regional market shares in a variety of broadband technologies. The focus of the report then shifts to the top ten broadband countries for Q3 2008. Here we examine the total number of broadband subscribers, the net additions for the quarter, quarterly and annual percentage growth, technologies adopted as well as population and household penetration. The last section of the report offers a selection of tables highlighting both, quarterly and annual changes in total broadband, DSL and Non-DSL subscriber figures.
Millions World Broadband Statistics Report Q3 2008 5 2. Global and Regional Perspectives 2.1 Overall Growth By the end of Q3 2008 there were 398.4 million broadband subscribers worldwide. This total represents a 4.15 per cent increase on Q2 2008 when it was 382.6 million. Figure 1 shows net additions for each quarter from Q1 2006 to Q3 2008. During this period, Q1 2007 saw the highest number of net additions at 19.6 million. Figure 1: World Broadband Subscriber Net Additions (Q1 2006-Q3 2008) 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 Net additions in Q2 2008 were the lowest over this period at just over 14 million. However, new broadband subscriptions picked up in Q3 2008 when the number of net additions increased by 13.3 per cent to 15.86 million. Over the 12 months to end Q3 2008, just over 64.2 million new broadband subscribers were added worldwide, representing 16.1 per cent of total subscribers as at Q3 2008. Global broadband population penetration stood at 6.9 per cent in Q3 2008, up 19 per cent from the same time a year ago when it was 5.8 per cent and up 4.5 per cent from the previous quarter when it was 6.6 per cent. Global household penetration was 25.3 per cent in Q3 2008, up 19.3 per cent from 21.2 per cent a year ago and up 4.1 per cent from 24.3 per cent in the previous quarter.
Growth in Period Q208 - Q308 World Broadband Statistics Report Q3 2008 6 2.2 Regional Trends Figure 2 shows the world s broadband subscribers by region while the population and quarterly growth by region is shown in figure 3. Western Europe has the largest share of broadband subscribers at 25.81 per cent but is closely followed by South and East Asia at 22.65 per cent in Q3 2008. North America has the third largest broadband market commanding over 22 per cent of the global total while Asia Pacific is fourth placed with a 15.49 per cent share. The last three regions were Latin America (5.92 per cent), Eastern Europe (5.21 per cent) and Middle East and Africa (2.85 per cent). Figure 2: Share of World Broadband Subscribers by Region in Q3 2008 South and East Asia 22.65% North America 22.08% Middle East and Africa 2.85% Western Europe 25.81% Latin America 5.92% Eastern Europe 5.21% Asia-Pacific 15.49% Figure 3: Penetration & Quarterly Growth by Region in Q3 2008 10% 9% 8% Latin America 7% 6% South East Asia Eastern Europe 5% 4% Middle East and Africa 3% 2% Asia-Pacific Western Europe North America 1% 0% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% Population Penetration
7 As shown in figure 3, the position of the globes relative to the horizontal axis is a measure of their population penetration. Their position relative to the vertical axis is a measure of their quarterly growth. Their size is a measure of the population within each region. For example, the globe representing South and East Asia is an indication of its vast population. This region includes India and China, two countries with populations totalling over 1 billion each. North America had the highest population penetration rate in Q3 2008 at 26.6 per cent, closely followed by Western Europe at 25.8 per cent and Asia Pacific at 9.5 per cent. The four regions with the lowest penetration rates were Eastern Europe (6.6 per cent), Latin America (4.9 per cent), South and East Asia (3.4 per cent) and Middle East and Africa (2.6 per cent). The growth rates in Western Europe, North America and Asia Pacific were 2.71 per cent, 2.42 per cent and 1.97 per cent respectively. All three regions reported growth less than 4 per cent, mainly due to the fact that these regions have very well established and mature broadband markets with little room for potential growth. Latin America reported the highest quarterly growth at 8.32 per cent, followed by South and East Asia at 7.39 per cent, Eastern Europe at 6.86 per cent and Middle East and Africa at 4.77 per cent. Growth in all regions was positive, but in two of the regions quarterly growth was down from that reported in Q2 2008. This was in Asia Pacific where the quarterly growth fell by 0.37 per cent from 2.34 per cent to 1.97 per cent and Middle East and Africa where the quarterly growth fell by 0.45 per cent from 5.22 per cent to 4.77 per cent. The largest increase in quarterly growth was experienced in North America, where growth increased by 0.90 per cent from 1.51 per cent to 2.42 per cent. The next largest increase was in South and East Asia where quarterly growth increased by 0.47 per cent from 6.92 per cent to 7.39 per cent. The shares of net additions in terms of worldwide regions in Q3 2008 are shown in figure 4. The largest share of new subscribers was acquired by South and East Asia at 39 per cent, representing over 6.2 million. China acquired the largest number of new subscribers by far. Totalling 5.2 million, this represents over 83 per cent of the new subscribers in this region and 32.7 per cent of new subscribers acquired globally in Q3 2008. China Telecom acquired the most new subscribers in this region at 2.22 million, followed by China Netcom with 1.5 million and China Tietong at just over 1 million. Western Europe had the next largest share of new subscribers at 17 per cent, representing over 2.7 million. The top four countries in this region in terms of net additions were Germany (805,048), France (428,339), UK (321,300) and Italy (245,420). The equivalent top four operators were German incumbent Deutsche Telecom (364,000), UK incumbent BT (258,000), German operator Arcor (243,000) and French incumbent Orange (242,689).
8 Figure 4: Regional Share of World Broadband Net Additions in Q3 2008 Western Europe 17% Asia-Pacific 8% Eastern Europe 8% Latin America 12% Middle East and Africa 3% South and East Asia 39% North America 13% North America had the third largest number of net additions at 2.1 million, representing a 13 per cent market share. The top operators in this region in terms of net additions are all US-based and were Comcast (381,000), Time Warner Cable (222,000), Cox Communications (200,000) and AT&T (148,000). Latin America had a 12 per cent share of net additions totalling 1.8 million. The Latin American countries which had the highest number of net additions include Mexico (620,122), Brazil (610,800), Argentina (189,100) and Colombia (145,138). The top operators were Mexico-based Telmex (558,000) and Brazilian operators NET Servicos (261,000), Telefonica de Brasil (161,200) and Telemar (114,000). Both Eastern Europe and Asia Pacific had similar shares of net additions at 8.4 per cent (1.33 million) and 7.6 per cent (1.2 million) respectively. The countries in Asia Pacific which acquired the majority of the net additions in this region were Australia (294,400), Japan (243,200), South Korea (203,258) and Indonesia (201,000). The operators which reported the highest number of net additions were Japanese operator NTT (East and West) (403,000), Australia-based Telstra (223,400), Indonesian operator PT Telkom (201,000) and South Korean operator Powercom (109,420). In Eastern Europe, the countries which acquired the most subscribers were Russia (632,161), Poland (172,351), Romania (134,100) and Hungary (60,773). The top three operators in terms of net additions were all Russian and include Comcor TV (167,000), Golden Telecom (93,000) and Volga Telecom (80,300). At 3 per cent, or 517,000 new subscribers, the smallest number of net additions was acquired in the Middle East and Africa. The net additions in Turkey at 250,900 represent 48 per cent of new subscribers acquired in this region. Other countries that followed Turkey include Egypt (56,692), South Africa (56,174), Algeria and Saudi Arabia (40,000 each). The highest number of new subscribers was acquired by
9 Turkish incumbent Turk Telecom (250,000 est.), Telecom Egypt (56,692) and South African operator Telkom (46.774).
Subscribers (in millions) World Broadband Statistics Report Q3 2008 10 3. Technology Trends and Choices Figure 5: Technology Trends in Q3 2008 300 250 DSL FTTx Cable Modem 200 150 100 50 0 The number of subscribers using different technologies for broadband access worldwide are shown in figures 5 and 6. Usage continued to increase in all three cases in Q3 2008, with 64.5 per cent of the total using DSL (representing 257 million), 21.3 per cent of the total using cable modems (84.7 million) and 12 per cent using FTTx (48 million). FTTx experienced the highest quarterly growth at 5.95 per cent from 45.3 million reported in Q2 2008. DSL had the next highest quarterly growth at 4 per cent from 247.1 million while the quarterly growth of cable modem subscribers was 3.29 per cent from 82 million. Figure 6: Total Broadband by Technology in Q3 2008 DSL 64.51% Cable Modem 21.27% Other 2.17% FTTx 12.05%
11 The growth of subscribers using all three technologies was positive, but the quarterly rate of growth compared to that in Q2 2008 was down for FTTx connections but up for cable modem and DSL connections. FTTx growth was down 1.13 per cent from 7.08 per cent reported in Q2 2008, while cable modem growth was up 0.47 per cent from 3.41 per cent and DSL growth was up 0.86 per cent from 2.81 per cent. Figure 7 shows the market shares by region of DSL, cable modem and FTTx technologies. With a 33.3 per cent share of the DSL market, Western Europe continues to have the largest number of DSL subscribers totalling 85.6 million. The Western European countries with the largest number of DSL subscribers were Germany (20.6 million), France (16.1 million), UK (13.4 million) and Italy (11.4 million). South and East Asia had the second largest share of the worldwide DSL market at 27.05 per cent, or 69.5 million subscribers. China had the largest number of DSL subscribers in South and East Asia and globally at 62 million. This represents 24 per cent of DSL subscribers worldwide. North America had the next largest market share at 13.55 per cent or 35 million subscribers. The USA had the highest number of DSL subscribers in this region, which at 30.6 million was the second largest DSL subscriber base after China. In Canada there were 4.2 million DSL subscribers. The operators making the most significant impact include US-based AT&T with just fewer than 15 million subscribers, US-based Verizon with 6.2 million subscribers, US-based Quest with 2.8 million subscribers and Canadian operator Bell Canada with just over 2 million subscribers. Asia Pacific had an 11.44 per cent share of the market in Q3 2008, representing 29.39 million subscribers. Countries with the highest number of DSL subscribers include Japan (12 million), Australia (5.4 million), South Korea (3.9 million) and Taiwan (3.3 million). Despite the large numbers of DSL subscribers in North America, The broadband users in this region favour cable modems, with over 47.22 million of them using this type of technology for broadband connection. This represents a 55.7 per cent share of the cable modem market, amounting to 42.3 million in the USA and just under 5 million in Canada. Western Europe had the second largest market share at 17.6 per cent, representing 14.9 million subscribers. The Western European countries with the largest number of cable modem subscribers were the UK (3.6 million), the Netherlands (2.22 million), Spain (1.71 million) and Germany (1.6 million). The Asian regions continue to favour FTTx for broadband connections, commanding an 83.54 per cent market share between them. This amounts to 40 million FTTx subscribers. Despite the large subscriber base, the total originates from a small number of countries with relatively large subscriber bases. They include China (18.7 million FTTx subscribers), Japan (13.6 million) and South Korea (6.4 million). Asia Pacific was the only region that reported negative growth in its DSL subscriber base during Q3 2008. It fell by 0.42 per cent from 29.5 million to 29.4 million. The countries within this region which had negative growth include South Korea whose DSL subscriber base was down by over 5 per cent, while its FTTx subscriber base grew by 7.59 per cent.
12 Latin America s DSL subscriber base experienced the highest quarterly growth at 8.56 per cent from 15.5 million to 16.8 million. South and East Asia followed with 8 per cent quarterly growth from 64.4 million to 69.5 million. In both regions these high quarterly growth rates were due in part to high growth rates in countries with disproportionately small subscriber bases in comparison to their population. Such countries include Trinidad and Tobago (35 per cent growth), India (17 per cent growth), Mexico (15 per cent), Uruguay (12.5 per cent) and Colombia (12.21 per cent). Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa were the only other two regions which experienced quarterly growth over 5 per cent. Their growth rates were 6.7 per cent (from 9.9 million to 10.5 million) and 5 per cent (from 9.8 million to 10.3 million) respectively. Western Europe s DSL subscriber base grew by 2.5 per cent from 83.5 million to 85.6 million and North America reported the lowest quarterly growth at 0.91 per cent from 34.5 million to 34.8 million. As expected, the regions with the largest number of DSL subscribers experienced the lowest quarterly growth due a reduction in potential growth coupled with high penetration rates. These include North America, Western Europe and Asia Pacific. None of the regions experienced a reduction in their cable modem subscriber bases. The largest increase was experienced in Eastern Europe which reported a quarterly growth rate of 10 per cent from 3.97 million to 4.36 million. Latin America reported the next highest growth at 7.49 per cent from 5.3 million to 5.7 million. Both South and East Asia and Western Europe reported a 3.4 per cent growth rate from 1 million to 1.036 million in South and East Asia and from 14.4 million to 14.9 million in Western Europe. The Middle East and Africa and North America experienced growth rates of 1.37 per cent (from 793,900) and 2.84 per cent (from 45.9 million) respectively. The lowest growth rate was reported in Asia Pacific at 0.58 per cent from 10.7 million to 10.8 million). All regions using FTTx technology experienced positive growth except for Latin America, whose subscriber base remained at 10,500 as it did for the previous two quarters. The growth in the use of this type of technology suggests the trend for many operators to invest in FTTx connections in order to launch broadband services with very high downstream speeds. The highest growth was reported by North America at 8.9 per cent from 2.8 million to over 3 million in Q3 2008. The next highest was in Western Europe at 7.75 per cent from 1.6 million to 1.7 million. The regions with the two most developed broadband infrastructures had the highest growth in this relatively new technology. This could be an indication that well established broadband operators are phasing out old technology in favour of new more reliable and faster ways of connecting their subscribers by updating existing infrastructure. Both Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe had the next highest growth rates at 6.13 per cent and 6.07 per cent respectively. The lowest positive growth was reported in South and East Asia at 5.12 per cent.
13 Figure 7: World DSL, Cable Modem & FTTx Market Share by Region in Q3 2008 North America 13.55% DSL Market Share by Regions South and East Asia 27.05% Western Europe 33.30% Middle East and Africa 4.02% Latin America 6.55% Eastern Europe 4.10% Asia-Pacific 11.44% Cable Modem Market Share by Regions North America 55.72% South and East Asia 1.22% Western Europe 17.55% Middle East and Africa 0.95% Latin America 6.67% Eastern Europe 5.15% Asia-Pacific 12.74% FTTx Market Share by Regions Eastern Europe 6.55% Latin America 0.02% North America 6.37% South and East Asia 40.04% Asia-Pacific 43.50% Western Europe 3.51%
Millions World Broadband Statistics Report Q3 2008 14 4. Top Ten Broadband Countries 4.1 Number of Subscribers Figure 8 shows the top ten countries worldwide in terms of total broadband subscribers in Q2 2008 and Q3 2008. For the first time since we started reporting subscriber figures in China back in Q4 2002, China has overtaken the USA in the top ten ranking. Therefore, China is now the dominant nation with the highest number of broadband subscribers, totalling 80.9 million in Q3 2008. This was up 6.8 per cent on the previous quarter (from 75.8 million) and represents 20 per cent of the global total. USA is now in second place with 78.7 million subscribers in Q3 2008, up 2.4 per cent on the previous quarter from 76.88 million. The USA total represents 19.8 per cent of the global total. As mentioned in the previous report, the Chinese broadband subscriber base is growing at a higher rate than that in the US. As a result, it was inevitable that China would overtake the US becoming the dominant broadband nation in terms of subscriber figures. The difference between their subscriber bases was 2.2 million in Q3 2008, almost three times greater than that difference reported in the previous quarter when the US was in first place. Figure 8: Total Number of Subscribers in Q2 2008 and Q3 2008 90 80 70 60 Q208 Q308 50 40 30 20 10 0
Millions World Broadband Statistics Report Q3 2008 15 4.2 Broadband Subscribers Added The top ten ranked countries in terms of subscribers added during Q3 2008 are shown in figure 9. China added the most new subscribers at 5.16 million, up 9 per cent on the previous quarter when 4.73 million new subscribers were added. The USA added the second highest number of new subscribers totalling 1.87 million, up 64 per cent on the previous quarter when 1.14 million new subscribers were added. China and the USA were the only two countries to add more than 1 million subscribers in Q3 2008. Between them they added over 44 per cent of all net additions during the quarter. Of the top ten countries shown in figure 9, three added less new subscribers in Q3 2008 than they did in Q2 2008. They were France with 428,339 new subscribers in Q3 2008 (down from 450,790), UK with 321,300 new subscribers (down from 400,100) and Australia with 294,400 new subscribers (down from 301,600). Figure 9: Broadband Subscribers Added in Q3 2008 6.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 4.3 Percentage Growth The top ten countries in terms of quarterly and annual growth are shown in figures 10 and 11 respectively. In both figures, the countries that reported at least 100,000 broadband subscribers by the end of Q3 2008 were included. This is to remove the effect of disproportionately high growth rates exhibited by countries with very small subscriber bases.
16 Figure 10: Top Ten Countries by Quarterly Growth in Q3 2008 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% At 50.4 per cent, Indonesia had the highest quarterly growth. This represents 201,000 new subscribers, which is twice as many as reported in the previous quarter. These new subscribers were added by Indonesian operator PT Telkom which reported 593,000 DSL subscribers in Q3 2008, up 51 per cent from 392,000 in Q2 2008. India had the second highest quarterly growth at 18.9 per cent (777,161 net additions), followed by Belarus at 18.35 per cent (29,000 net additions), Greece at 13.15 per cent (184,652 net additions) and the Philippines at 12.91 per cent (103,921 net additions). Of the ten countries shown in figure 10, India had the highest number of net additions during the quarter at 777,161. In Q1 2008, India was also featured as having the highest number of net additions in this category, but in Q2 2008 it fell to second place in favour of Mexico. Mexico is now in second place with 620,122 net additions, followed by Indonesia with 201,000 new subscribers and Vietnam with 197,000 new subscribers. Mexico and India had such high net additions in figure 10 that they also appeared in the top ten overall in figure 9. Both countries have appeared in this figure previously but their ranking has changed. India has improved it position from 7 th in Q2 2008 to 2 nd in Q3 2008, while Mexico fell slightly from 6 th position in Q2 2008 to 7 th position in Q3 2008. Figure 11 showed that Saudi Arabia reported the fourth highest annual growth at 86.67 per cent after being in the top position for the previous two quarters. The country acquired 390,000 new subscribers during Q3 2008. Indonesia reported the highest annual growth at 178.19 per cent, representing 384,000 net additions.
17 Belarus was in second place for the third quarter running with 120 per cent growth (102,000 new subscribers) followed by Pakistan which was third with 100.9 per cent growth (96,000 new subscribers). Once again, three countries included in figure 11 added over 500,000 new subscribers during the quarter. They were India, which added an impressive 2.22 million new subscribers, Vietnam, which added 803,500 new subscribers and Greece with 638,401 new subscribers. Figure 11: Top 10 Countries by Annual Growth from Q3 2007 to Q3 2008 180% 160% 140% 120% 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 4.4 Technologies Adopted The top ten ranked countries in figure 8 in terms of broadband technologies used are shown in figure 12. DSL is the most popular technology within the top ten countries shown, with 180.8 million connections representing 62 per cent of total top ten subscribers. Cable modem connections were the next most popular with 64.7 million subscribers (22.21 per cent) followed by FTTx with 42.3 million subscribers (14.52 per cent). Figure 12 gives an overview of the trends in broadband technology in the countries that make the most significant impact on the global total. Collectively they represent 73 per cent of the global total. China leads the way with respect to DSL connections, with 62.1 million subscribers in this country using DSL. This represents over 34 per cent of the top ten total and 76.6 per cent of the country total. USA has the second largest number of DSL connections at 30.5 million, representing 17 per cent of the top ten total and 39 per cent of the country total.
Millions World Broadband Statistics Report Q3 2008 18 Figure 12: Total Subscriber Numbers by Technology Adopted in Q3 2008 90 80 70 60 FTTx Cable DSL 50 40 30 20 10 0 DSL is also popular in Germany, UK, France and Italy. Collectively their subscribers totalled 61.5 million, or 34 per cent of the top ten total. This gives some indication of the size of China s DSL subscriber base, since the DSL connections between the four Western European countries combined is still not as much as the connections in China alone. The US clearly favours cable modem technology, with over 42 million connections, representing an impressive 65 per cent of connections in the top ten total. South Korea and Canada had a similar number of cable modem subscribers at 5.05 million and 4.96 million respectively. 4.5 Population and Household Penetration Figure 13 shows the top ten countries ranked in terms of population penetration in Q2 2008 and Q3 2008. Monaco (43.8 per cent), Denmark (37.3 per cent) and the Netherlands (35 per cent) maintained their 1 st, 2 nd and 3 rd placed positions respectively. South Korea (31.7 per cent), in the top ten ranking for Q2 2008 in 7 th place, is no longer in the top ten ranking in terms of population penetration. Hong Kong (31.9 per cent) is the new entrant at 10 th place. Switzerland and Norway have changed places since Q2 2008, with Switzerland now in fourth place (34.4 per cent) and Norway in fifth place (34.3 per cent). Luxembourg has improved its position from 10 th place to 7 th place (33.3 per cent) followed by Sweden and Finland which remained unchanged from the previous quarter (32.3 per cent and 31.9 per cent respectively).
Broadband Household penetration % Broadband Population penetration % World Broadband Statistics Report Q3 2008 19 Figure 13: Broadband Penetration by Population in Q2 2008 and Q3 2008 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Q208 Q308 Figure 14 shows the top ten countries ranked in terms of household penetration in Q2 2008 and Q3 2008. Monaco remains in 1 st place (100 per cent) but for the first time since Q4 2007, South Korea is no longer in 2 nd place after being displaced by Hong Kong (98.6 per cent). South Korea is now in 3 rd place (96.7 per cent) followed by Macau (89.5 per cent). Singapore is now in 5 th place (89.5 per cent) down from 3 rd place in Q2 2008. The only new addition this quarter was Australia (81.5 per cent) in 10 th place while Denmark no longer has a household penetration high enough to appear in the top ten. Figure 14: Broadband Penetration by Household in Q2 2008 and Q3 2008 120% 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Q208 Q308
20 5. Methodology and Supporting Material 5.1 Data Collection Point Topic aims to offer the most complete, up-to-date and accurate source for world broadband statistics and estimates. In order to do this, we collect quarterly statistics from major primary suppliers of DSL lines, cable modems and FTTx services. We also collate data from service providers which resell products provided by these primary suppliers. Many operators now publish quarterly numbers as part of their regular reporting cycle. Numerous others provide us with their numbers via email and personal communication. We are, as always, most grateful to all of them for having taken the time to do so. Many operators continue to release annual reports as opposed to quarterly ones. Some also choose to aggregate subscriber trends into overall totals, avoiding breakdowns by technology. In these cases, Point Topic has continued conservatively estimating broadband up-take. Key sources for such estimated totals typically include prior and partial reports by the operators themselves. National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) also frequently report DSL and other broadband statistics, although often with a greater time delay. Despite any difficulties that may arise as a consequence of this publication schedule, Point Topic will continue to provide the most up-to-date broadband statistics and estimates in our reports. In cases where these sources are unavailable, DSL and cable vendors often give useful indicators, as do estimates quoted by the trade press. Where we do have secondary estimates, we try as far as is possible to trace these to their original source. During the research process for the latest quarterly statistics report, we often return to preceding quarters with the aim of synchronising earlier estimates with official sources. Some changes to the figures in Q2 2008 were necessary and deviation from earlier reports is possible. We shall continue to maintain close correspondence with broadband operators, national regulators and industry organisations in order to avoid ambiguities and also so as to minimise the number of restatements. Some of the historical statistics will be different from those published in earlier reports and contained within Excel spreadsheet datasets. Point Topic s Global Broadband Statistics service (GBS) contains the most up-to-date information and we endeavour to continuously update its data entries on an ongoing basis. Generally, precedence should be given to the figures contained within the most recent report (this report) and the figures in GBS. Data collected for individual operators may be aggregated in GBS in order to derive country and region totals, growth and penetration rates, market shares of operators and net additions. Full details at the operator level are also contained in the GBS service, which is available to Point Topic subscribers.
21 5.2 Variations in Coverage and Definitions In principle, the definition of broadband Internet refers to connections with speeds of no less than 256 Kbps. For DSL statistics, all lines which are described by their suppliers as "DSL" are included. In practice the great majority of these are ADSL, variants such as ADSL2+ or other such versions of ADSL. The main exceptions are: VDSL lines, of which Korea Telecom and Hanaro are the major reporting suppliers Symmetrical DSL lines, offered mainly by Competitive Local Exchange Carriers such as Covad in the USA and their counterparts in other countries Occasionally, there are contradictions between operator and regulator reports. This happens in South Korea, for example, where the operators typically report broadband subscriptions as either DSL or cable modem, whereas the regulator chooses to break this down further down into an "apartment LAN" or "A-LAN" category. A-LAN is defined as using a shared fibre or broadband copper connection to the apartment block with Ethernet-based distribution within the apartment block. Operator classifications of these A-LAN subscriptions vary, but they are often included as DSL lines. We have classified all these A-LAN lines as FTTx, although a proportion of them do use copper rather than fibre backhaul. Other reported statistics may combine broadband lines of different technology types. If a number is an aggregate of major broadband types, such as DSL and cable modem, we generally break up such an aggregate and state uptake for each category separately in GBS. In cases where there is only a marginal proportion using a different technology, the aggregate is kept and assigned to the larger group. These cases are usually noted with a comment in the source Notes of (GBS v2). 5.3 Resources for Subscribers In August 2006, Point Topic launched the full version of its Global Broadband Statistics database (GBS). Subscribers to Point Topic who wish to carry out their own analyses of broadband trends are welcome to query GBS and download data relevant to their own research. Subscribers to the Operator Source service will also be granted direct online access to data in old workbooks collated up to December 2005. For further information, please refer to our website. This workbook series was discontinued in Q1 2006. It is inevitable that a production of this nature will contain errors and omissions. We would be grateful if readers would notify us of any they may discover by sending an email to info@point-topic.com.
6. Tables 22 Table 1 DSL subscribers, Non-DSL, and total broadband subscribers in major countries (Top 30): Americas Total broadband subscribers Non-DSL subscribers DSL subscribers Country Q208 Q308 Q208-Q308, Growth % Q208 Q308 Q208-Q308, Growth % Q208 Q308 Q208-Q308, Growth % World Total 382,572,830 398,782,169 4.24% 135,455,186 141,752,396 4.65% 247,117,644 257,029,773 4.01% USA 76,878,195 78,745,996 2.43% 46,541,830 48,174,744 3.51% 30,336,365 30,571,252 0.77% Canada 9,005,181 9,212,465 2.30% 2,943,781 2,819,265-4.23% 6,061,400 6,393,200 5.47% Brazil 8,490,400 9,101,200 7.19% 4,647,400 4,683,893 0.79% 3,843,000 4,417,307 14.94% Mexico 5,082,058 5,702,180 12.20% 905,722 1,448,144 59.89% 4,176,336 4,254,036 1.86% Argentina 2,641,200 2,830,300 7.16% 763,000 798,000 4.59% 1,878,200 2,032,300 8.20% Other Americas 5,558,466 5,948,894 7.02% 1,825,717 1,948,436 6.72% 3,732,749 4,000,458 7.17% Total Americas 107,655,500 111,541,035 3.61% 57,627,450 59,872,482 3.90% 50,028,050 51,668,553 3.28%
Table 1 (continued) DSL subscribers, Non-DSL, and total broadband subscribers in major countries: APSEA 23 Total broadband subscribers Non-DSL subscribers DSL subscribers Country Q208 Q308 Q208-Q308, Growth % Q208 Q308 Q208-Q308, Growth % Q208 Q308 Q208-Q308, Growth % China 75,768,350 80,930,000 6.81% 17,952,000 18,800,570 4.73% 57,816,350 62,129,430 7.46% Japan 29,434,700 29,677,900 0.83% 16,998,700 17,642,900 3.79% 12,436,000 12,035,000-3.22% South Korea 15,061,659 15,264,917 1.35% 10,980,008 11,400,197 3.83% 4,081,651 3,864,720-5.31% Australia 6,039,100 6,333,500 4.87% 910,500 941,500 3.40% 5,128,600 5,392,000 5.14% India 4,123,588 4,900,749 18.85% 710,600 901,600 26.88% 3,412,988 3,999,149 17.17% Taiwan 4,673,000 4,682,000 0.19% 1,150,000 1,306,000 13.57% 3,523,000 3,376,000-4.17% Hong Kong 2,185,154 2,244,954 2.74% 907,354 924,654 1.91% 1,277,800 1,320,300 3.33% Vietnam 1,642,500 1,839,500 11.99% 28,500 29,500 3.51% 1,614,000 1,810,000 12.14% Malaysia 1,462,000 1,546,000 5.75% 0 0 0.00% 1,462,000 1,546,000 5.75% Singapore 934,100 938,500 0.47% 425,100 436,500 2.68% 509,000 502,000-1.38% Other APSEA 3,201,216 3,571,997 11.58% 577,954 634,424 9.77% 2,623,262 2,937,573 11.98% Total APSEA 144,525,367 151,930,017 5.12% 50,640,716 53,017,845 4.69% 93,884,651 98,912,172 5.35%
Table 1 (continued) DSL subscribers, Non-DSL, and total broadband subscribers in major countries: EMEA Country Total broadband subscribers Non-DSL subscribers DSL subscribers Q208 Q308 Q208-Q308, Growth % Q208 Q308 Q208-Q308, Growth % Q208 Q308 Q208-Q308, Growth % 24 Germany 21,711,702 22,516,750 3.71% 1,641,702 1,878,450 14.42% 20,070,000 20,638,300 2.83% France 16,646,786 17,075,125 2.57% 919,786 985,125 7.10% 15,727,000 16,090,000 2.31% UK 16,718,400 17,039,700 1.92% 3,610,400 3,672,700 1.73% 13,108,000 13,367,000 1.98% Italy 11,534,230 11,779,650 2.13% 359,230 365,650 1.79% 11,175,000 11,414,000 2.14% Spain 8,566,835 8,776,316 2.45% 1,666,284 1,717,722 3.09% 6,900,551 7,058,594 2.29% Russia 6,379,200 7,011,361 9.91% 3,382,500 3,720,000 9.98% 2,996,700 3,291,361 9.83% Netherlands 5,649,800 5,697,600 0.85% 2,372,200 2,405,300 1.40% 3,277,600 3,292,300 0.45% Poland 3,740,470 3,912,821 4.61% 1,208,521 1,294,742 7.13% 2,531,949 2,618,079 3.40% Sweden 2,854,200 2,917,200 2.21% 1,127,200 1,160,200 2.93% 1,727,000 1,757,000 1.74% Belgium 2,756,300 2,850,465 3.42% 1,032,800 1,065,000 3.12% 1,723,500 1,785,465 3.60% Switzerland 2,460,700 2,566,300 4.29% 836,640 845,300 1.04% 1,624,060 1,721,000 5.97% Romania 2,427,200 2,561,300 5.52% 1,922,200 1,994,300 3.75% 505,000 567,000 12.28% Denmark 2,014,997 2,026,297 0.56% 793,797 811,597 2.24% 1,221,200 1,214,700-0.53% Austria 1,715,481 1,732,781 1.01% 591,081 587,481-0.61% 1,124,400 1,145,300 1.86% Czech Republic 1,651,600 1,707,900 3.41% 1,008,000 1,051,400 4.31% 643,600 656,500 2.00% Finland 1,648,600 1,674,400 1.56% 267,850 278,290 3.90% 1,380,750 1,396,110 1.11% Portugal 1,572,110 1,622,801 3.22% 660,110 681,801 3.29% 912,000 941,000 3.18% Greece 1,403,916 1,588,568 13.15% 3,916 3,916 0.00% 1,400,000 1,584,652 13.19% Other EMEA 8,075,772 8,518,598 5.48% 2,745,984 2,929,981 6.70% 5,329,788 5,588,617 4.86% EMEA Total 119,528,299 123,925,933 3.68% 26,150,201 27,798,955 6.30% 93,378,098 96,126,978 2.94%