The global broadband subscriber base grew by 16.1 million during the first quarter of 2012, to a total of over 600 million lines, according to figures from Point Topic for the Broadband Forum. This represents a quarterly rise of 2.7 percent and an annual increase of 11.5 percent. The figures point to an acceleration in growth, with over 100 million subscribers added in the last 18 months. China (4.4%), Russia (3.9%) and Brazil (3.6%) showed the strongest quarterly growth, and China remains the largest broadband market, with a total 137.9 million broadband users. FTTx had the strongest growth in terms of broadband access technology, rising 4.4 percent in the three months to 66.4 million users worldwide, of which 13.3 million were on FTTH. Growth in IPTV users is also picking up, with the total base rising by 3.8 million in Q1 to 65.6 million subscribers. Growth is led by China, which added over three times as many IPTV subscribers in the quarter as any other country, while France and the US also continue to grow strongly.
