Japan’s broadband total tops 10 million
Published: 07 Aug 2003 12:10 BST
Japan’s overall broadband users have crossed the 10-million-user mark for the first time, thanks to a surge in fibre-to-the-home subscription.
Broadband lines grew by 450,638 for the month of June, bringing the total number to 10.9 million for the first half of the year, stated the report released by Japan’s Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications.
According to the report by NE Asia Online, the sluggish growth of digital subscriber lines (DSL) led to a reduced growth for the month of June, down from May’s 520,000.
The total number of subscribers for fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) services rose by 60,000 in June to 458,293, up from May and April, while cable TV Internet subscribers increased by 41,000 in June to 2.2 million.
According to a report published by the ministry on 10 July, June saw a small increase of 349,681, bringing the number of DSL subscribers to 8.2 million. June’s growth decreased, compared with 450,000 recorded in April and 430,000 in May.
Price falls, an increasing number of mobile users, and increasing availability of broadband infrastructure will see the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, with the most broadband subscribers globally this year.
Asia Pacific’s 14 key countries will see a 31 percent jump from last year's broadband-subscriber total, to 21.8 million this year. They will spend $8.33bn (£5.17bn) on broadband access in all, up 50 percent from 2002, according to market researcher IDC.
Growing at 24 per cent a year, there will be 48.6 million broadband subscribers by 2007, spending more than $26.9bn on broadband, growing 37 per cent a year during the period.













