China is projected to overtake the United States as the world's largest broadband market, according to figures released by Internet market research group Point Topic’s Global Broadband Statistics for the first quarter of 2007.
The USA remains the largest broadband country in the world with more than 60.4 million subscribers in the quarter with 2.9 million new broadband additions but China is fast catching up and has cut the gap to the US from 5.8 million at the end of 2006 to 4.1 million at end of March 2007.
Estimates also suggested that the number of broadband subscribers in the world has passed the 300 million mark.
Greece was the fastest growing market in percentage terms expanding by 26.8% during the quarter, while Eastern Europe is the top growth region, recording a 10% plus growth during the first three months of 2007.
In the top 10 list, France's broadband connections grew by 9.36% percent and pushed South Korea off the 5th spot in the rankings table.
South Korea led the pack in terms of broadband penetration with 90% of all households having high-speed Internet connection. US only managed 24th place with a 53% penetration rate, while China lagged behind with only 14.35%.
The figures also vividly highlighted the digital divide, with the gap between rich countries and poorer ones widening in terms of connectivity.
Only three Sub-Saharan African countries managed to get on the list, and only South Africa had a broadband penetration rate of more than one percent.
Post new comment