World broadband statistics for 2008 show a 62.6 million line growth to 410.9 million lines, according to newly released statistics prepared for the Broadband Forum by industry analysts Point Topic. 
While growth slowed late in the year generally, compared to the same quarter in 2007, several countries showed improved performance in the third quarter of 2008, including France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Singapore and The Philippines. IPTV global subscriber totals have now reached 21.7 million, which is an increase of 63 percent on the end of 2007 figures.
As expected, due to the global economic situation, broadband growth slowed, however all countries experienced overall growth during the last year. China has the highest installed based of broadband lines, followed by the USA, Japan and Germany.
In terms of technology, DSL continues to be the most popular broadband access technology, although fiber has grown twice as fast as either cable or DSL in the 12 months to Q4 2008.
“This report shows that despite the economic situation the world is facing, the demand for both broadband and IPTV continues to expand,” said George Dobrowski, Chairman and President of the Broadband Forum. “The Forum continues to drive broadband innovation, and with the recent
release of BroadbandSuite 3.0, which provides new IPTV management and fibre integration tools, we continue to ensure that the industry has all the tools and specifications it needs to optimize networks and to capture the full potential of broadband worldwide.”http://www.point-topic.com
