IPTV Deployments Double for the Second Year Running as Broadband Continues to Achieve Strong Growth

    Global broadband subscribers reach 370 million IPTV subscribers pass 15

million



    HONG KONG, July 14 /EMWNews/ -- The Broadband Forum,

formerly the DSL Forum, has today announced the latest Broadband and IPTV

statistics at this year's Broadband World Forum Asia in Hong Kong. The

report, prepared for the Broadband Forum by industry analysts Point Topic

(GBS database at http://point-topic.com/home/gbs/), shows that IPTV

subscribers have more than doubled for the second year running with an

increase of 53.14 percent in the 12 months to 31 March 2008.



    The statistics also show that worldwide broadband subscribers have

reached over 370 million with DSL remaining the most dominant access

technology with 65 percent of the world's subscribers. However, fiber

subscriptions have risen by 33 percent since the beginning of 2007, with

over 10 million people connected to a fiber network. This increase in fiber

subscriptions may be attributed to the increased popularity of bandwidth

hungry services such as IPTV. However, the leading technology delivering

IPTV today is ADSL2plus, with 12,049,817 subscribers.



    Nearly 15.5 million people are now subscribed to an IPTV service, with

Europe having over 8.4 million subscribers, making it the strongest market

in terms of growth and total subscriber numbers.



    Regional IPTV subscriber growth worldwide, first quarter 2007 and 2008






     Region                              Q1 2007             Q1 2008

    Europe                             3,875,266           8,425,370

    Asia-Pacific                       1,129,355           2,619,035

    North America                        850,601           2,258,601

    South and East Asia                1,353,000           2,086,000

    Latin America                          2,300              11,183

    Middle East and Africa                10,000              10,000

    TOTAL                              7,220,522          15,410,189

    Source: Data provided for the Broadband Forum by Point Topic



    (http://www.point-topic.com)



    "IPTV operators around the world have shown that systems are scalable

and can handle rapid growth in subscriber numbers," said Point Topic Senior

Analyst John Bosnell. "However, developing and agreeing standards will help

these operators deliver IPTV more simply and effectively over a variety of

access technologies and help to drive higher up take in other markets."



    DSL Dominates



    DSL continues to be the most popular access technology with close to

240 million of the world's subscribers. Cable subscriptions rates have

slowed to 18 percent growth rate, while subscribers on FTTx rose 33 percent

in the last year.



    This increase in fiber subscribers is echoed in the current work of the

Broadband Forum, which has expanded its remit over the past few years well

beyond its DSL roots; first issuing access agnostic management

specifications and most recently developing specifications to incorporate

fiber into the standard architecture and management framework of providers.

Most recently the Forum released Technical Report (TR)-142, "Framework for

TR-069 enabled PON and fiber related devices." Building on its existing

TR-069, TR-142 enables vendors and service providers to remotely configure,

troubleshoot and manage a Passive Optical Network (PON) - an important

consideration as vendors and service providers worldwide look to maximise

revenues, lower management complexities, minimise truck roll and introduce

new revenue generating services.



    The aim is also to enable fiber networks to work side by side with

existing infrastructures - and with 370 million broadband subscribers in

the world using a variety of access technologies, this is imperative to the

success of fiber and others that they share common standards wherever

possible.







    Snapshot of Regional Broadband Growth to 31st March 2008






      Region                          Q1 2007         Q1 2008       % Growth

    Western Europe                   81,937,250      97,610,797      16.06%

    North America                    70,972,699      84,601,988      16.11%

    South and East Asia              61,253,850      78,390,614      21.86%

    Asia-Pacific                     53,310,214      59,017,122       9.67%

    Latin America                    14,867,952      20,154,134      29.30%

    Eastern Europe                   11,867,952      17,627,532      32.67%

    Middle East and Africa            7,068,699      10,284,381      31.27%

    Other                                 9,842          18,509      46.83%

    Source: Data provided for the Broadband Forum by Point Topic



    (http://www.point-topic.com)



    For the second year running, Western Europe continues to lead the way

with over 97 million broadband users. Averaging 30 percent growth, emerging

markets such as Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East and

Africa, demonstrate the exceptional growth of broadband around the globe.



    "This report shows that although DSL remains the key vehicle for

delivering broadband associated services, alternative access technologies,

such as fiber, are increasing their footprints and their requirements need

to be considered in our work," said George Dobrowski, Chairman and

President of the Broadband Forum. "The Broadband Forum recognises this and

is working hard to make sure fiber is integrated seamlessly in to existing

broadband architectures and management platforms worldwide."



    Laurie Gonzalez, Marketing Director of the Broadband Forum, will be

available to discuss the latest statistics, the Forum's recent name change

and the Forum's current and future work, such as recent IPTV and PON work.



    To arrange a meeting please contact Louise Hatton on + (44) 115 948

6901 or email [email protected].



    The Broadband World Forum Asia is taking place at the Hong Kong

Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong between Tuesday 15th Friday

18th July 2008.



    For more information about today's statistics, please visit

http://www.point-topic.com.

    About the Broadband Forum



    The Broadband Forum mission is to develop the full potential of

broadband. Focused on home-to-core network and management solutions, our

standards empower providers to achieve more with their broadband

deployment. Established in 1994 as the ADSL Forum and later as the DSL

Forum, the Broadband Forum has seen its work over the past 14 years evolve

from addressing physical layer ADSL transport specifications to advanced

transport and management specifications for all forms of broadband. The

Broadband Forum's formal BroadbandSuite(TM) Release Program and all

technical reports are publicly available at http://www.broadband-forum.org.



    About Point Topic



    Point Topic is an analyst company focusing entirely on broadband. Point

Topic's international services have a global reputation for providing the

most up-to-date and authoritative user statistics, supplier profiles and

applications reports on DSL, FTTx, cable and other broadband services

worldwide. Free analysis papers and guides to Point Topic's services

available on the website at http://www.point-topic.com.



    CONTACT:



    Natalie Saville, +44 115 9487371



    Louise Hatton, +44 115 9486901