Global DSL (digital subscriber line) customers increased almost 40 percent in the last twelve months, making DSL the most popular broadband technology worldwide, according to the DSL Forum, an industry consortium of DSL service and equipment providers. The data were produced for the DSL Forum by industry analyst Point Topic.

Findings from the Point Topic research include:

• During the 12 months leading up to June 30, 2004, DSL gained 30 million subscribers worldwide, reaching a total of 78 million customers
• Growth in DSL subscribers was more than double that of the other broadband access technologies in the same year
• Total broadband subscribers grew by almost 55% to more than 123 million in the same period
• North America saw a 48 percent increase in DSL subscribers for the period, compared to a 31 percent subscriber increase for cable and other broadband technologies
• DSL customers increased by three percent in the US, which has the world's largest total broadband population
• In Canada, DSL accounts for 48 percent of the total broadband market
• South and East Asia was the fastest growing region for DSL subscribers, with a 110 percent growth, followed by the Middle East and Africa (107 percent) and Latin America (104 percent)
• The European Union (EU) has narrowly overtaken Asia Pacific as the number one DSL region worldwide, with a total of over 23 million subscribers, 11 million of whom joined the DSL community in the last 12 months

One aim of the DSL Forum is to see DSL implemented on 20 percent of all phone lines, a percentage so far achieved in South Korea (28.7 percent) and Taiwan (20.8 percent). Five countries are currently at 17% or above: Hong Kong, Iceland, Belgium, Israel and Japan. The EU's new status as the largest DSL region is reflected in sizeable increases in penetration in Portugal (10.7 percent) and in the Netherlands (8.4 percent).

The DSL Forum lists the top 20 countries for DSL “penetration per 100 phone lines” as of June 30, 2004, as follows:

According to the DSL Forum, China now leads the world in delivering DSL broadband services, climbing up from fourth position a year prior. China has almost 13 million broadband DSL subscribers, an increase of nearly seven million in one year (119.4 percent growth).

The UK, with more than 1.65 million new subscribers in the year ending June 30, has moved up from eleventh to eighth position, and Australia enters the Top 20 DSL countries list for the first time after seeing a growth of nearly 147 percent in one year. Thirteen countries now have more than one million broadband DSL subscribers; 11 have more than two million, and three — China, Japan and the USA — have more than ten million each.

The DSL Forum lists the top 20 countries for total DSL subscribers, as of June 30, 2004, as follows:

The DSL Forum is an international industry consortium of over 200 leading service providers, equipment manufacturers and other interested parties, focused on developing the full potential of broadband DSL to meet the needs of the mass market.

 
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