At the end of 2013, ultra-fast broadband (UFB) access – with a throughput equal to or above 30Mbps – represented 29% of all broadband connections worldwide.
This is one of the findings from IDate’s ranking of countries that lead the way in ultra-fast fixed and mobile broadband subscriber numbers, in Europe and worldwide.
The penetration of UFB marks real progress as the percentage stood at 22% just one year ago.
FTTH/B is still the mostly widely deployed technology, accounting for 60% of UFB subscribers around the globe, followed by cablecos’ FTTx/D3.0 systems, which account for 29% of users, and VDSL for 11%.
In terms of subscriber numbers, all UFB architectures combined, the US is by far the global leader with 62,5-million subscribers at the end of 2013, compared to 42,4-million for China and 27-million for Japan. France is in seventh place with more than 2-million subscribers.
This ranking changes depending on the indicators that are taken into consideration, such UFB subscribers’ share of a country’s total broadband customer base. Here South Korea tops the ranks, ahead of the US, Japan and China, with 66% – versus 64% for Japan, 60% for the US and 22% for China.
As to the technologies deployed, the US is the undisputed VDSL market leader with some 11-million subscribers, well ahead of the UK and its 2,1-million subscribers. The US is also the world’s biggest FTTx/D3.0 market, with 42-million subscribers, again ahead of the UK which is home to 3,1-million subscribers, followed by Spain where competition between FTTH/B and FTTx/D3.0 is fierce.
LTE also continues to make tremendous strides. IDate counts close to 212-million LTE subscribers around the world at the end of 2013, of which 190-million are located in just 10 countries. The revenue generated by these subscriptions tripled in 2013, to reach €68-billion or 6% of global mobile telephony revenue.
The US is the biggest LTE market with more than 100-million subscribers, or three times more than the number two market, Japan. France is in sixth place in terms of user numbers.
There are several reasons for these huge disparities: telcos in the United States have far outspent their European counterparts on LTE rollouts (virtually double the Capex per capita), while in Japan and South Korea LTE is part of a strong on-going industrial policy. Here, it is worth remembering that South Korea covered its entire population with LTE in just one year.