With countries like Korea boasting the fastest gaming download speeds in the world, it's easy to understand why many assume that in the Asia Pacific region, copper-based DSL is dead. But while it is true that APAC leads the world in terms of FTTH/B (Fiber to the home/Business) deployments, the reality is DSL is still the dominant broadband access service.
As of the end of 2010, there were 341 million homes in APAC that were eligible for DSL service, and the number of growth targets in India and China indicate that number will scale to 491 homes by the end of 2016.
Alternatively, there were only 70 million FTTH network-eligible homes at the end of 2010. Even with the potential growth in major Chinese cites and in Japan, FTTH will only reach 215 million homes by the end of the same period.
One factor that will likely contribute to greater DSL growth in APAC during this period will be a host of new technologies, including VDSL2 with bonding, Dynamic Spectrum Management (DSM) and vectoring, all of which can expand the rate and reach of DSL on existing copper wire.
For more:
- telecoms.com has this article
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