Asia-Pacific broadband increases to $47.7B despite mobile service movement

Wireline broadband may be been seen as an anomaly at a time when wireless-based communications continues to rise, but the reality is that service providers are still signing up subscribers and generating revenue.

An ABI Research report said that as of Q1 2012 there were 586.7 million wireline broadband subscribers worldwide, generating a total of $47.7 billion.

Asia Pacific, led by both China and India, is a region that continues to report strong growth, adding almost 7 million subscribers in the first quarter alone.

In China, the broadband cause is centered on FTTx-based services driven by the government and large telco China Telecom (NYSE: CHA). The country is getting aid from the Chinese government, which is allocating 80 percent of its $303 billion infrastructure investment around broadband development. Meanwhile, China Telecom said it will have about 100 million fiber-based broadband subscribers in the next three years and is rolling out more cloud computing and Internet applications to make their services more attractive.

Likewise, in India, the government also has a hand in advancing its country's broadband drive with a goal of reaching 175 subscribers by 2017.

Khin Sandi Lynn, research analyst for broadband at ABI Research said that "the Asia-Pacific broadband market is expected to grow faster than other regions, generating service revenue of $92.2 billion in 2017," with China and India leading the majority of the region's deployments.

April 5, 2012

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