Consumers' ongoing adoption of file sharing, IPTV and online gaming applications is driving the need for more fiber-based broadband access, according to a new report by ABI Research. By the end of 2014, there will be 501 million broadband subscribers. Included in that figure, 106 million will connect via a fiber-based connection.
In the overall broadband race, DSL continues to be the dominant wireline broadband format with 65 percent of the worldwide broadband consumer market, while cable and fiber broadband command 25 and 11 percent of the overall broadband market, respectively. While there were only 44 million fiber-based subscribers at the end of 2009, ABI said that the amount of fiber broadband subscribers is accelerating with a compound annual growth rate of 20 percent from 2008 to 2014.
"File sharing, music downloads, IPTV, online gaming and video conferencing are all acting to increase the user demand for high speed Internet. The number of fiber broadband subscribers is increasing with growing popularity of these services," comments research associate Khin Sandi Lynn in a release.
For more:
- see the release here