China named global broadband leader
7 October 2004
China is leading the world in terms of numbers of high-speed internet subscribers, a new report reveals.
The number of broadband subscribers via DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) in the country has doubled in the past year to 13 million, six per cent of China's total phone lines.
The report by international broadband consortium The DSL Forum claims that worldwide high-speed DSL internet subscription increased over the last year by around 30 million. Four years ago, there were about one million DSL subscribers worldwide and the figure is now approaching 100 million.
China has seen a recent surge in the number of online gamers, and gaming and gambling are also very popular, according to the BBC. Wider use of broadband in education by both pupils and Chinese authorities has also boosted subscription rates.
Although China has more DSL lines than any other country it is still only reached one per cent of the population. In nearby South Korea, 29 per cent of all phone lines carry broadband net.
China's rate of growth is forecast to pass 20 million subscribers by the end of the year, despite the country's notoriously strict censorship laws. Typically, Chinese DSL is eight times faster than in the UK, which usually varies from 512Kbps to 1mbps.
Industry analyst David Greggains, a vice president of the DSL told BBC News Online: "Worldwide, the number of subscriptions has grown amazingly. By the end of June 2004, there were 78 million subscriptions worldwide. At this current growth rate, we confidently expect that around December this year, it will hit 100 million."
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