Fibre-to-the-home is killing ADSL

Point Topic has released its latest Global Broadband Subscriber Trends report, which shows a significant growth in fixed broadband subscribers.

The global total is now 793 million.

The high growth was mostly caused by developments in the Chinese broadband market, stated the report.

The report showed that, over the last year, the number of copper-based broadband lines (ADSL and VDSL) fell by 16%, while FTTH connections nearly doubled.

China has largely contributed to the FTTH growth, more than doubling its FTTH connections in the last 12 months.

The chart below shows the growth of fixed broadband connections by technology type over the last year.

South Africa’s FTTH growth is accelerating

In South Africa, the growth of fibre-to-the-home is accelerating – with companies like Telkom, Vumatel, and Cybersmart rolling out fibre networks.

Telkom recently launched a fibre-to-the-home trial, where thousands of DSL users across South Africa were migrated to FTTH free of charge.

DSL customers within Telkom’s fibre footprint were given the opportunity to upgrade their copper-based connectivity to the advanced fibre network.

While a lot more needs to be done to extend fibre coverage in the country, replacing ADSL with FTTH in neighbourhoods is a good start.

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