Point Topic: Global fixed broadband connections up 1.7% in 1Q-2022, FTTH at 58% market share
Global fixed access broadband subscribers reached nearly 1.3 billion at the end of Q1 2022, up by 1.7 percent from the previous quarter, according to the latest figures from Point Topic. The market research firm said the number of connections increased in 90 percent of the 131 countries researched, including the 20 largest markets. The global growth rate remains slightly less than a year ago.
For the first time ever, Fiber to the Home (FTTH) connections were more than half of all fixed broadband connections. Indeed, the share of FTTH in the total fixed broadband subscriptions continued to increase to 58 percent at the end of March 2022. Cable broadband connections were the next most common technology with a 17 percent share, while connections over all other technologies lost market shares to fibre. Compared to the end of 2021, FTTH connections increased 13.5 percent, while copper broadband lines were down 9.8 percent.
Main trends in Q1 2022:
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Fixed broadband subscriber numbers grew in 90 per cent of the 131 countries covered in this report.
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The share of FTTH in the total fixed broadband subscriptions continued to increase and stood at 58 per cent. Superfast and ultrafast cable broadband connections followed with an 17 per cent share. Connections over all other technologies lost market shares to fibre.
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Between Q1 2022 and Q4 2021, the number of copper lines fell by 9.8 per cent, while FTTH connections increased by 13.5 per cent.
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China added 14 million, Brazil 1.1 million and France a million fibre broadband subscriptions.
In Q1 2022, the quarterly fixed broadband subscriber growth rate stood at 1.7 per cent, with the number of connections reaching 1.3 bn (Figures 1 and 2). Similarly to Q4 2021, the growth rate was slightly lower than in the respective quarter a year ago.
