DSL continues global surge

Global growth of DSL continues to surge, with 11.5 million new customers coming on line in the first quarter of 2006, according to industry analyst Point Topic. In its quarterly report to the DSL Forum, the company said DSL usage jumped 39% for the 12 months ending March 31, 2006.

Seven countries reached the one-million DSL subscriber mark during that period to bring the worldwide total to 22 countries with at least one million DSL users.

“DSL continues to grow with the subscriber demand for broadband residential and business services,” said Michael Brusca, chairman and president of the DSL Forum, in a prepared statement. “This is driven by the global demand for multiple applications -- including new video and voice services. The DSL Forum has been providing the tools to help service providers build the networks that employ effective management and provisioning of value-added broadband services, which has resulted in increased take and customer satisfaction.”

India was the fastest growing market, increasing its subscriber base by more than 700% in the one-year period while neighboring Pakistan grew by 484%. . Other major gains came from Morocco, Greece and Bulgaria, all over 200% as well as Turkey (190%), Mexico (99%) and Australia (84.6%).

U.S. growth was a relatively modest 34% but that put DSL providers well ahead of their cable rivals who grew only 21%, according to Point Topic. Europe remained the dominant DSL player, with 35% of the world’s DSL market, adding 17 million new subscribers in the period to reach 52.8 million, an increase of 48%.