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Broadband DSL Achieves Record Breaking Growth for the Third Consecutive Quarter

New Global Total - 73.4 Million DSL Subscribers

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 9, 2004--Broadband DSL won another 9.5 million subscribers around the world in its third consecutive record-breaking quarter ending 31 March 2004. Now 73.4 million globally subscribe to broadband DSL, according to the latest figures prepared for the international DSL Forum by telecommunications analyst firm, Point Topic. The North America region holds onto about 18% of the world's subscribers, just behind the Asian regions and the European Union, while the USA retains its 2003 rank of 3rd largest overall DSL subscribers.
"This is the biggest ever quarterly addition to the global DSL subscriber figures, representing growth of nearly 15%. It is also the third consecutive quarter to produce a record-breaking subscriber increase - this time almost double that of the same period in 2003. This is strong evidence of the growing popularity of high-speed broadband DSL connections among businesses and consumers for email, shopping, online entertainment services, telecommuting, and more," said Tom Starr, president of the DSL Forum.

Three countries represented more than half of the new subscribers:

-- China added 2.85 million in the quarter and now has almost 14 million subscribers to DSL services - the largest DSL population in the world.

-- The USA added 1.18 million - a growth of 13% - significantly closing the gap on Japan, the second largest DSL country.

-- France was the fastest growing of the major DSL countries in the quarter adding 1.07 million, a growth rate of 35%.

13 countries now have more than one million broadband DSL subscribers and 16 countries have more than 10% of phone lines delivering DSL services.



Market penetration figures indicate that the popularity of DSL in Asia Pacific continues to be strong. In 2002, South Korea was the first country in the world to achieve the DSL Forum's goal of mass-market status - 20% DSL penetration of phone lines. The latest figures confirm that South Korea maintains its global lead of DSL market penetration, at 28.3% of all phone lines, and 6.85 million subscribers at the end of March 2004. Taiwan, ranked second in the world by penetration, was just 0.2% away from mass-market classification in the period.

Over the quarter, no less than six countries: France, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Switzerland, achieved more than 10% of total phone lines providing DSL services - half way to mass-market status. Belgium overtook Hong Kong to become the first European country to enter the global top three by penetration. Finland also overtook Singapore in this category. Israel leads the DSL market share among the countries of the Middle East and Africa, with 40,000 new subscribers, raising the penetration figure to 14.5 per cent.



The European Union, including the new accession states, is now fast approaching Asia Pacific's global market share, accounting for just over one per cent fewer subscribers. With for 28.18% of global subscribers, the European Union added 3.36 million subscribers in the quarter, an increase that accounted for more than one-third of the total new subscribers worldwide.



"While the big economies continue to dominate the rankings, take-up of DSL is by no means confined to these markets. This quarter we have also seen substantial success in less developed countries as they start to appear on the percentage growth charts. Peru, Malaysia, Mexico and Turkey are all growing fast on a significant installed base," said Tim Johnson, senior analyst and founder of Point Topic.



Tom Starr explains how the DSL Forum is helping the market stay on track for a global mass market by the end of 2005:

"The DSL Forum is working with key industry players to ensure that standards and interoperability support the variety of exciting new service offerings that maintain DSL's position as the first choice for broadband delivery around the globe. Recent developments in interoperability testing such as the publication of the TR-067 (Technical Report) raise the performance threshold for DSL technology even higher, as increasing numbers of customers sign on to enjoy faster service speeds and a range of value-added services."

About the DSL Forum

DSL Forum is an international industry consortium of about 200 leading service providers, equipment manufacturers and other interested parties focused on developing the full potential of broadband DSL to meet the needs of the mass market. With the established goal of 200 million customers by the end of 2005, DSL Forum works to streamline processes, develop specifications and share best practices that set the stage for effective deployments and explosive global DSL growth. By developing new standards and embracing new applications, DSL Forum is tailoring DSL to meet the needs of the next generation of multi-media services and the online community. Established in 1994, more information about the DSL Forum is available from its industry site www.dslforum.org.

DSL - more than a phone line - it's a global solution.

Contacts


Hot Off the Presses PR
Kristi Kosloske (Media), 773-755-2012
dslforum@hotpresspr.com
or
PIELLE Consulting
Carol Friend or Louisa Stanton (Media), 44-0-20-7323-1587
dsl.forum@pielleconsulting.com

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