Fixed broadband revenue likely to top $184 billion by end of 2010

SINGAPORE: Global fixed broadband service revenue totaled $170 billion by the end of 2009, with YoY growth of 14 percent. DSL remains the largest broadband revenue generator with 62 percent of total global broadband service revenue.

Broadband fiber service revenue is the fastest-growing among the various platforms, primarily stimulated by subscriber adoption. The Asia-Pacific region is spearheading fiber installation, with 80 percent of the global broadband fiber market.

In order to satisfy the need for high speed advanced services such as IPTV, operators in Western European countries are accelerating the rollout of broadband fiber. Recently, British Telecom set a target to provide fiber broadband to 40 percent of homes by 2012.

“There is significant potential for broadband fiber service revenue growth,” comments Jason Blackwell, digital home practice director at ABI Research. “In Italy, the three operators, Fastweb, Vodafone and Wind are planning to launch a shared fiber optic network to deliver FTTH to end users. ABI Research expects that fiber broadband service revenue will approach $25 billion in 2010.”

In countries with low penetration fixed broadband pricing can be higher and data speeds lower than in countries with higher broadband penetration. In countries such as Thailand or India, broadband connection with 4 Mbps download speed costs around $19 per month while a 20 Mbps fixed broadband connection costs around $24 in France.

The high price is a barrier to greater broadband adoption in developing countries. Governments need to encourage competition and widen the technology options in order to lower the prices in these countries.

In developed markets, broadband operators are resorting to innovation to attract and retain customers. “Triple play bundles and HDTV are options being touted to customers. These services also help operators to boost ARPU. According to our market data, fixed broadband service revenue should top $184 billion by the end of 2010,” says ABI Research associate Khin Sandi Lynn.