The demand for high-bandwidth applications will jump in the next few years as the number of households worldwide with broadband will reach close to 650mn by 2013, according to a new study from US research firm Parks Associates.
The number of broadband households globally grew by more than 18% last year to reach 400mn by year-end, according to Parks, with Asia-Pacific being the largest market and accounting for over 160mn subscribers. The APAC region is expected to account for over 49% of the global broadband market by 2013, the report adds.
“Bandwidth will continue to be a focus as the operators re-architect their networks to deliver multiple services over the same infrastructure; however, in such a competitive field, bandwidth alone is not enough to win subscribers,” said Kurt Scherf, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Parks Associates. “Blended applications, combining services such as online video and customer support, offer operators an opportunity to increase ARPU. In addition, innovative new services will help differentiate service providers, which can then compete on factors beyond pricing or raw bandwidth.”
From the article, "Over 640mn broadband households worldwide predicted by 2013"
