FTTH surges as copper declines in global broadband report

The number of global fixed broadband subscribers grew by 2.17% in Q3 2019.

According to new figures from Point Topic, there are now 1.12 billion fixed broadband subscribers as of September 2019, with East Asia representing the largest area with 46.9% of all subscribers. East Asia also saw 65.96% of all net additions, with Europe only making up 8.36% of new subscribers.
The region’s growth was driven by China’s continued position as the largest fibre growth market. The country saw 69.6% (15 million) of global FTTH net adds in the quarter. China is by far the biggest user of broadband, with almost half a billion fixed broadband subscribers to cover 1.386 billion people. The US, in second, has a little more than 100 million fixed broadband subscribers out of 327.2 million residents.

In Europe, the growth of FTTH and FTTX was complemented by the ongoing decline of copper lines. FTTH in the continent saw an increase of around 0.5%, while copper lines dropped by more than 1%.

Belgium and Ireland in particular saw significant FTTH ned adds, with growth of 25% and 21% respectively. The UK, which saw broadband access as a major talking point in the December general election, saw modest growth of 13% and charted around 25 million broadband subscribers.

In Germany, Deutsche Telekom has announced that it will work with a third party – Deutsche Glasfaser – for the first time on a shared FTTH project in Lüdinghausen. Elsewhere in the country, M-net and Stadtwerke Augsburg have announced an expansion in the city to add at least 12,500 fibre connections to homes and businesses by 2027.