World Broadband Access Market

With a base of over 200 million subscribers around the globe at the end of 2005, the world broadband market�s steady growth momentum continues.

1. Access markets: recent trends and changes

� The Asia-Pacific region still dominates with its three leading markets (Japan, South Korea and China), but Europe is catching up and, for the first time ever, its broadband subscriber base outnumbers North America�s
� Nationally, the US still has the largest base of broadband subscribers, but the momentum is slowing and it is likely to be overtaken by China in 2006
� South Korea remains the benchmark for broadband penetration, but several European countries too (the Netherlands, Sweden) now boast very high take-up
� Among the larger developing countries, Brazil, Russia and India are at last coming onto the scene, and reporting steadily increasing growth rates

2. The access technologies dynamic

� Decline of dial-up: broadband access is replacing dial-up irreversibly around the globe, although narrowband access still maintains a sizeable enclave in several countries (Germany, Japan)
� DSL is still the driving force behind broadband: DSL, the leading access mode in Europe and Asia, is growing at a faster rate than cable modem even in the US
� Advent of Very-High-Speed Broadband: the migration to VHS is stepping up in Japan and South Korea, and now becoming a reality in the US as regulatory constraints are being lifted. Debates are now underway in Europe, and incumbent carriers are taking a keen interest.

3. Player strategies and the offers� positioning

� Faced with the rise of unbundling, ISPs are migrating to a broadband operator model
� The cable sector is restructuring itself in a bid to achieve critical mass; incumbent carriers, in the meantime, are reincorporating their ISP subsidiaries
� The levelling-off of access prices is emblematic of the sector�s growing maturity, though the race for ever-higher bitrates continues
� All of the players are adopting triple play, and soon quadruple play strategies

4. Update service

Quarterly market update
� Quarterly mini report on the market�s overriding trends
� Ongoing monitoring of the leading indicators and events: subscriber bases, mergers & acquisitions, regulatory developments, new services�

A comprehensive market database
� Quarterly update of main market trends (Excel format)