Broadband is growing more than expected in the UK, as in many countries around the world, according to research by Point Topic. Britain added 445,000 net new broadband lines in the first half to reach over 17.8 million in total, about 100,000 more than Point Topic forecast at the beginning of the year. The number of net additions forecast for this year is now 900,000, some 240,000 (36%) more than before. Point Topic now also projects over 23 million broadband lines in the UK by the end of 2013, nearly 1.2 million more than in its last forecast. Point Topic's figures show there are still over 9 million 'no-net' homes, and the number is falling only slowly. Thus, even by 2014 there will still be 6.5 million homes without internet access. There is a long way to go to meet the government's target of 90 percent coverage of IP broadband by 2017 as well. Coverage is actually negligible today although it is expected to increase quickly over the next year, and Point Topic forecasts it will pass 50 percent by 2014. At that rate the 2017 target should be achievable, although it will depend on some kind of subsidy to reach the more remote areas. Point Topic expects there to be over 7 million IP-based fibre lines in service by the end of 2014. By then there will over 20 million households and 1.7 million business premises with one or more broadband lines. IP-based access will have 30 percent of the market, with cable claiming 21 percent and DSL down to 49 percent as it loses market share to NGA.
