Making sense of broadband

Source: CNet News

So many broadband providers disappeared after the dot-com boom that casual observers might think broadband itself has met with indifference from Internet users. Nothing could be further from the truth; in fact it has enjoyed striking growth throughout the world in the past three years. This expansion has implications not only for providers of broadband access and content but also for companies beyond the telecommunications and media sectors.

The number of broadband users around the globe rose impressively during the past 36 months. By mid-2002, we estimate, operational broadband networks had a reach of well over 300 million households in the world's 20 largest economies. More than 40 million households and businesses actually subscribed to broadband, and more than 100 million people around the world had access to it. In certain markets, it is on track to become one of the fastest-growing technology-based consumer offers ever. In the United States, broadband will likely reach the 25 percent penetration mark more quickly than either PCs or mobile telephones did.

Active residential lines are spread fairly evenly across the Americas, Asia and Europe, though only a few countries--Canada, Germany, Japan, South Korea and the United States--account for 84 percent of the total. Market penetration is most advanced in South Korea, where more than half of all households subscribe; and Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States have all reached penetration rates ranging from 10 percent to 25 percent. The vast majority of broadband connections are made over upgraded telephone or cable TV networks, though even faster newly laid fiber-optic ones are doing well in a handful of markets that include China, Italy and Sweden. Other technologies are proving valuable for particular customer segments: satellite for people in remote areas, to name just one.