DSL remains the dominant broadband access technology, accounting for 59.8% of fixed broadband connections in the 30 countries of the OECD at the end of 2008.

For the first time since the technology came to the mass-market, however, the majority of net additions during 2008 were not DSL, which accounted for only 46.2% of new fixed broadband lines, according to the latest research figures released by Analysys Mason, global adviser to the telecoms, IT and media industries.

According to research by Analysys Mason, cable is taking a growing share of new connections and, despite the economic downturn, residential fibre-to-the-home(FTTH) is also gaining line share. [Chart available upon request, showing year-on-year net additions for fixed broadband lines in the OECD region.]

“Operators are competing in one or more of three areas: price, speed or content and services,” explains Martin Scott, Senior Analyst at Analysys Mason.

“Cable operators have at least a marginal advantage in all three of these areas, but content and services is their true advantage. Cable operators frequently have larger content portfolios and longer-standing relationships with rights holders. Because at the core of their service bundles they have TV, spend on which seems to be relatively protected in the recession, cable operators are likely to be best positioned to maintain their share of net additions in 2009.”

Scott says that, while 8Mbit/s is considered ‘fast enough’ by consumers in many markets, this speed is only achievable on a small proportion of lines that use ADSL. Cable operators following the DOCSIS3.0 upgrade route to next-generation access (NGA) often find it less costly than DSL operators to build fibre closer to the home, which often makes cable’s case for ultrafast broadband appear much more attractive than that of telcos, he explains.

“DSL may be losing net additions across the OECD in general, but France, Germany and Mexico still demonstrate a strong bias towards DSL, so it appears that there are still quite a few years left for the world’s dominant broadband access technology. Advances such as dynamic spectrum management (DSM) are still being made.”

In-depth broadband figures for operators across the OECD and in many other global markets can be found in Analysys Mason’s Fixed Broadband research programme. If you would like more details of the programme, email research@analysysmason.com

Источник информации: Analysys Mason' press-release