Point Topic: Broadband lines number 484 million

After a year of slowing growth, worldwide broadband subscriptions and IPTV sign-ups both showed some verve in the first quarter of 2010, according to Point Topic research unveiled this week by the Broadband Forum at the CommunicAsia trade show in Singapore.

Point Topic said broadband surpassed 484 million lines, a jump of slightly more than 3% in the last three months and almost 12.5% in the last year. Asia remained the world’s most powerful broadband growth engine and China its fuel. Asia accounted for 53% of the total global broadband growth during Q1, while China alone accounted 45% of the worldwide total. China now has more than 112.5 million broadband lines, is the world leader in the category and appears to be quickly distancing itself from the No. 2 country, the U.S., according to Point Topic.

The U.S. had about 87 million broadband lines at the end of Q1 and saw only modest growth in the quarter. Still, both China and the U.S. were among six countries in the top 10 overall — along with the Germany, South Korea, the U.K. and Brazil — that grew broadband lines at a faster rate in Q1 2010 than in Q4 2009. DSL remains the top broadband conduit, but fiber is growing, Point Topic said.

Meanwhile, global growth in IPTV subscribers remained robust in Q1, topping out at 36.3 million. That represents a 46% increase over Q1 2009, or about 11.4 million subscribers. Point Topic further said the IPTV penetration of total broadband lines is at about 7.7%, significant according to the researchers, though obviously leaving a lot of room for growth.