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The Broadband Forum: Global Broadband Subscribers Hit 400 Million; The
Broadband Forum enters its 15th year as the broadband industry hits
historic milestone
(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge)
RDATE:19112008
Global broadband subscribers have now reached the significant milestone
of 400 million, according to a report prepared for the Broadband Forum
by industry analysts, Point Topic. This major industry achievement also
coincides with a historic landmark for the Broadband Forum, which is
now entering its 15th year.
This latest statistic is representative of the technological
developments and increasing geographical spread of broadband over the
last few years. Since its inception, broadband has morphed from simple
internet access into triple play service delivery - and broadband is
now an integral part of our lives, both at home and at work.
In 1998, there were just 57,200 broadband subscribers globally. Only a
year later, this number had increased by nearly six times over to
280,890 subscribers worldwide. DSL quickly became the most popular
choice of delivery. The past ten years has seen a 600,000 percent
increase in the number of subscribers - 300 percent in the last 5 years
alone - which now tops the 400 million mark.
Over the same period, access technology evolved to include fiber, which
began in 2002 with 18,000 subscribers. Since then, fiber now delivers
broadband services to over 45 million people across the globe.
(See 'Broadband Technologies' Table)
Oliver Johnson, Senior Analyst with Point Topic, explains, "When Point
Topic started researching broadband in 1998 it was still mostly in the
technical trial stage. Getting to 400 million subscribers in the ten
years since then, has been one of the fastest rollouts of a major new
technology the world has ever seen. Now we're in the early days of a
new era, which is going to be much more about quality than quantity.
"The emphasis is now going to shift to providing high bandwidth, high
quality broadband, that can deliver multiple, steady, pin-sharp images
for applications. To do this, we've got to have advanced global
standards for end-to-end delivery of broadband data streams. This is
exactly what the Broadband Forum, working with other standards
organizations, is doing, and we believe its role is going to be even
more important in the next decade than it has been in the last ten
years," adds Oliver.
The Forum journey has mirrored these industry developments over the
past 15 years, evolving from the ADSL Forum, to the DSL Forum, and
finally to the Broadband Forum, each time expanding its scope and remit
to fit the needs of the industry. During this time its 200 plus member
companies have worked together to issue 100 Technical Reports (TRs),
with the aim of helping the industry develop the full potential of
broadband in the areas of network management and control, access
development, network architectures, interoperability, and digital home
management.
Planning for the future, focusing on IPTV, fiber access, Fixed Mobile
Convergence (FMC) and Energy Efficiency (EE) are all high on the agenda
at the Forum's last quarterly meeting of 2008, which is being held this
week in Hawaii. The technical working groups - Architecture and
Transport; Operations and Network Management; Testing and
Interoperability; and BroadbandHome - are meeting to celebrate the
Forum's entry into its 15th year - and to plan for the next 15. James
D. LaClair, VP of Network Operations at Hawaiian Telcom, opened the
meeting with a keynote address.
George Dobrowski, President and Chairman of the Broadband Forum,
explains, "The last 14 years have seen immense changes in the broadband
industry, from the initial development stages, to the explosion of
different access technologies and sophisticated applications we see
today. For an industry consortium to be entering its 15th year in such
an ever changing and diverse industry, and to recognize the role we
have played along the way to this historic milestone of 400 million
global broadband subscribers, is a great achievement."
George continues, "The Forum's longevity is testament to its continued
relevance to the industry and its response to industry needs, together
with the continued commitment of its members whom I would like to thank
for their support. We are excited about the next 15 years and we commit
to continue to drive the global standards and specifications that are
imperative to the successful development and deployment of broadband."
About the Broadband Forum
The Broadband Forum mission is to develop the full potential of
broadband. Focused on home-to-core network and management solutions,
our standards empower providers to achieve more with their broadband
deployment. Established in 1994 as the ADSL Forum and later as the DSL
Forum, the Broadband Forum has seen its work over the past 14 years
evolve from addressing physical layer ADSL transport specifications to
advanced transport and management specifications for all forms of
broadband. The Broadband Forum's formal BroadbandSuite Release Program
and all technical reports are publicly available
atwww.broadband-forum.org
About Point Topic
Point Topic is an analyst company focusing entirely on broadband. Point
Topic's international services have a global reputation for providing
up-to-date and authoritative user statistics, supplier profiles and
applications reports on DSL, FTTx, cable and other broadband services
worldwide. Free analysis papers and guides to Point Topic's services
available on the website atwww.point-topic.com.
CONTACT: The Broadband Forum
WWW: http://www.broadband-forum.org
Louise Hatton, BCS Public Relations
Tel: +44 (0)115 948 6901
e-mail: louise@bcspr.co.uk
Natalie Saville, BCS Public Relations
Tel: +44 (0)115 948 6901
e-mail: Natalie@bcspr.co.uk
Point Topic
WWW: http://www.point-topic.com
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Copyright ? 2008 M2 Communications Ltd.
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