NEW YORK, USA: The number of fixed broadband subscribers will rise to 501 million at the end of 2014, according to new market data released by ABI Research.

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Of those, about 106 million will subscribe to services delivered via fiber. Fiber broadband subscribers totaled 44 million at the end of 2009.

The number of fixed broadband subscribers totaled more than 422 million at the end of 2009, a nine percent increase from 2008. ABI Research industry analyst Serene Fong notes that broadband penetration continues to increase since more service providers are offering triple-play services and driving down access prices.

Among the three broadband technologies, 65 percent of worldwide fixed broadband consumers subscribe to DSL, 25 percent to cable and 11 percent to fiber broadband services. The number of fiber broadband subscribers is increasing fastest, showing 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.

The Asia-Pacific region has the highest fiber broadband penetration, followed by North America. Asia-Pacific represents nearly 84 percent of worldwide fiber broadband subscribers. South Korea and Japan have the highest fiber broadband penetration. NTT is the largest fiber broadband operator with approximately 12 million subscribers.

In 2009, Western Europe had only about two million fiber broadband subscribers — a very low penetration compared to North America and Asia Pacific, although Western European countries are planning to accelerate fiber broadband penetration.