MUMBAI: The global fixed broadband market has grown steadily in 2010 in terms of subscriber additions as well as service revenue, with revenues for the third quarter of this year rising 10 per cent year-on-year to reach $44.4 billion, according to a new report from ABI Research.
Global revenues from fixed broadband services will reach $186 billion in 2011.
DSL is still the dominant access technology, and currently accounts for nearly 60 per cent of fixed broadband service revenues, according to the report, although this share is expected to dwindle. Due to market saturation in most regions, DSL broadband‘s growth rate is expected to slow, especially in those Western European countries where DSL penetration is greater than 50 per cent.
Global adoption of fibre-based broadband has been growing fast in 2010 as they can provide high enough speeds to offer consumers advanced services such as IPTV, video-on-demand and other interactive applications. ABI Research predicts that fibre broadband services will generate revenues of more than $30 billion in 2011.
Customer demand is described as driving the push for faster and more reliable broadband access, with UK cable operator Virgin Media named as showing a 43 per cent yearly increase in its customer base for high-speed broadband services. Broadband operators around the globe will need to continue innovating to improve broadband speeds in order to maintain growth in average revenue per user (ARPU) and reduce churn.
