Analysys Mason：Global fixed broadband connections to reach 720 million by 2015

London, UK, 26 November 2010 – The total number of fixed broadband connections worldwide will pass 500 million by the end of 2010 and will continue to grow to 720 million by the end of 2015, according to the Fixed broadband: worldwide forecast 2010–2015 from global telecoms, media and IT adviser Analysys Mason (www.analysysmason.com).

Fixed broadband will account for just 62% of the 1.16 billion broadband connections available worldwide by the end of 2015.

Developed regions (Central and Eastern Europe, developed Asia–Pacific, North America and Western Europe) offer limited growth opportunities in terms of new business. The report forecasts fixed broadband net line additions will grow at a CAGR of 3.9% during 2009–2015 in these regions. By contrast, fixed broadband net line additions will grow at a CAGR of 13.7% in emerging regions (Central and Latin America, emerging Asia–Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa, and sub­Saharan Africa).

“Developed regions will continue to account for the majority of fixed broadband retail revenue between 2009 and 2015, but almost all growth is located in emerging regions,” says Martin Scott, Senior Analyst at Analysys Mason and author of the report.

Central and Latin America will have the highest CAGR of all regions in terms of fixed broadband connections, at 15.4% between 2009 and 2015. However, emerging Asia–Pacific will account for most of the net line additions, growing from 117 million lines at the end of 2009 to more than 250 million by the end of 2015.

“Emerging regions will generate 28.5% of worldwide fixed broadband retail revenue by 2015, up from 17.2% in 2009. Developed markets accounted for 67% of fixed broadband connections at the end of 2009. This will fall to 54% by the end of 2015,” says Scott, who also leads Analysys Mason’s Fixed Broadband research programme.

The Middle East and North Africa’s fixed broadband market will achieve reasonable growth during the forecast period. As a result, it will account for an increasing – albeit small – proportion of worldwide fixed broadband revenue to 2015. Its share of worldwide access retail revenue will grow from 2.3% in 2009 to 3.4% in 2015. In Sub-Saharan Africa, mobile services are, and will continue to be, crucial to the development of the region’s broadband market. The number of mobile broadband connections in the region exceeded that of fixed broadband connections in 2009. By 2015, we expect that fixed broadband will account for only 9% of broadband connections in the region.