Global DSL Community Reaches 73.4 Million Subscribes

According to the DSL Forum, 9.5 million subscribers around the world signed up in the quarter the ended in March, bringing the total number of DSL subscribed lines around the world up to 73.4 million. "This is the biggest ever quarterly addition to the global DSL subscriber figures, representing growth of nearly 15 percent. 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.