Fiber and cable networks are dominating the broadband market, servicing 77 percent of fixed subscriptions, Point Topic said.
Full-fiber, fiber-fed copper or cable connect more than 50 percent in more than 40 countries, including Singapore (97 percent), China (89 percent), United States (87 percent), and the UK (55 percent), according to the Global Broadband Statistics.
The report did not mention about India, the second largest telecom market in the world in terms of mobile phone customers. India is home to telecom operators such as Airtel, BSNL, Idea Cellular, Vodafone and Reliance Jio.
Point Topic Research Director Jolanta Stanke said fiber-fed subscriptions including Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH), Fiber-to-the-Building (FTTB), Fiber-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC), Very High Bitrate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL), VDSL2 and Gfast – accounted for 57 percent of broadband subscriptions, with more than 530 million connections.
VDSL and Gfast are largely responsible for the growth that fiber has seen, with more than 30 operators across all continents deploying or trialing Gfast.
Jolanta Stanke said Gfast gives operators a more cost-effective variant of fiber that will be used by operators who want to upgrade their existing networks quicker and more easily. This could enable broadband operators to serve more customers in less densely populated areas, where direct fiber investment is less economically feasible.
Cable, including hybrid fiber-coaxial, accounted for 20 percent of fixed broadband connections.
“If operators want to deliver competitive broadband services, maximizing their investments through the use of technologies like Gfast is vital,” Broadband Forum CEO Robin Mersh said at Broadband Forum event.
