The Dutch broadband market grew by 0.8 percent or 38,300 net additions during the third quarter of 2009, to reach 5.996 million connections on 30 September, despite DSL losing 12,700 customers, according to Telecompaper’s Dutch Broadband Q3 2009 report. The number of DSL connections dropped by 0.4 percent during the quarter, to reach a total of 3.542 million on 30 September 2009. At the same time, cable broadband reported 1.5 percent growth to 2.294 million customers, and FTTH broadband saw its customer base grow by almost 12 percent to around 160,000.

The Dutch broadband (including FTTH) penetration per household increased to 82.2 percent at the end of Q3 2009, growing by 2.4 percentage points compared to the end of the third quarter a year earlier. Penetration per 100 inhabitants increased to 36.2 percent at the end of the third quarter, compared with 35.1 percent on 30 September 2008.

Of all broadband ISPs, cable network operator Ziggo reported the largest quarterly net additions with 18,000, followed by DSL provider Tele2 Netherlands with 15,000 and cable network operator UPC Netherlands with 14,500. Ziggo is still the largest broadband provider in the Netherlands with 1.418 million customers on 30 September, followed by Internet van KPN with 1.161 million DSL customers and UPC with 707,900 customers at the end of Q3 2009. UPC extended its lead over the number four player, KPN subsidiary and DSL provider Het Net, which lost 11,000 customers during the quarter to end at 670,000 DSL users. Tele2 remains number five in the Dutch broadband ISP rankings, winning 15,000 net additions during the third quarter to end September 2009 with 390,500 DSL customers.

Source: TelecomPaper

The potential market for broadband connections of at least 50Mbps is 900,000 households in the Netherlands, according to a report from Telecompaper.

The consumer survey, conducted in August, shows that 900,000 households would like to have at least 50Mbps download within four years. The report 'Dutch Consumer Connected Q3 2009' was released to coincide with the FTTH Netherlands conference sponsored by Telecompaper. The survey found DSL is currently the most used technology with 49 percent of the market, followed by cable with 40 percent, fibre-optics with 4 percent and other technologies at 6 percent. Around 5 percent of respondents said they still use a dial-up connection. Asked about the most important element of a broadband connection, 55 percent said price, while 37 percent appreciate the possibility of a dual-play plan of internet and telephony. Over a quarter (26%) said that a download speed of at least 50Mbps is also important, while 8 percent want a minimum upload of 8Mbps.

Source: Telecompaper

British fixed line incumbent BT has confirmed that the first official commercial rollout of its fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) broadband services will take place in January 2010, ISPreview reports. The telco says it expects to extend the service to approximately 1.5 million homes and businesses by the middle of next year, rising to ten million or more by 2012, and expects to invest around GBP1.5 billion (USD2.47 billion) on the deployment. No final pricing details have been revealed for the service, which will offer download speeds of up to 40Mbps, with uploads speeds expected to be between 10Mbps and 15Mbps.

BT has previously released two separate lists detailing a total of 98 exchanges where the service will initially be rolled out, including Welsh capital Cardiff and two exchanges in the Scottish capital Edinburgh.

Source: Telegeography

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has invited bids from both private and state-owned operators to roll out around 28,000 fixed line broadband exchanges and 6,000 satellite broadband sites as part of efforts to increase broadband penetration across the country, particularly in rural regions. According to the Economic Times the project will be funded from the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), which at present is understood to have around INR200 billion (USD4.1 billion) in unutilised funds. The successful bidders will be required to share their infrastructure with other operators, and the subsidy granted by the USOF will be allocated in a phased manner, with the final value determined by the degree to which infrastructure is shared.

Source: Telegeography

Cambodia’s state-owned incumbent Telecom Cambodia (TC) gained twice as many fixed lines subscribers in 2008 than in the previous year, boosting its number of lines in service to 26,091, writes local newspaper Phnom Penh Post. In 2008 more than 3,600 fixed lines were added, compared with just 1,500 in 2007. TC's subscriber growth has continued in 2009, with the number of fixed lines up by 1,337 in the first five months of the year. The report also adds that in total there are around 50,000 fixed line voice connections in the country, with the remainder shared between rival telcos Camintel and Mfone.

Meanwhile Camnet, the internet arm of TC, has also witnessed an increased growth in subscribers. ‘In 2007 there were about 300 Camnet subscribers, but by the close of the first half of this year (2009), the number climbed to around 1,000,’ said Lao Saroeun, director general of TC. One reason behind the increase in customers is the operator’s decision to cut the cost of broadband internet access, Saroeun added. Previously, the monthly cost for a 1Mbps downlink connection stood at USD1,300, but since Vietnamese military-owned rival operator Viettel entered the market, Camnet had dropped its price to USD700 for the same amount of bandwidth.

Source: Telegeography

British fixed line and broadband incumbent BT has announced that it is accelerating its plans for the deployment of its new 'super fast' fibre-optic broadband network, and now expects more than 1.5 million homes to have access to fibre-based services by ‘early summer 2010’.

The telco expects around one million properties to be able to connect directly via fibre by March 2010 in what it claims is a doubling of the speed of its network deployment. It has released a list of 69 locations spread across England, Wales and Scotland that have been earmarked for the latest phase of development, and the revelation comes just days after it revealed it had begun pilots of the technology in the London and Cardiff areas. Commenting on the plans, Steve Robertson, CEO of Openreach, the division of the operator responsible for the rollout said: ‘Fibre is the future and so we’re speeding up the pace of our plans. We had aimed to get fibre to half a million homes by next March but we’re now being far more ambitious. We’ve received a tremendous response to date and so we’re keen to get on with the job.’ BT has set aside GBP1.5 billion (USD2.41 billion) for the construction of its new infrastructure, and aims to have made super fast broadband available to around 40% of the population by 2012.

Source: Telegeography

Filipino telco Globe Telecom has expanded its wireless broadband coverage to meet rising demand in the country. According to a report from AsiaPulse, Menchi T. Orlina, Globe's head for consumer marketing group, said the operator is spending heavily and aggressively to improve both broadband penetration and its position in the market. Orlina forecasts the country’s potential market for wireless internet broadband could top 20 million subscribers by 2012. In order to capitalise on this she says Globe is offering Globe Broadband Tatoo – a W-CDMA/HSDPA service offering download speeds of up to 2Mbps – and Globe Broadband Powered by WiMAX. The company currently has 287,000 broadband subscribers for both fixed and wireless platforms, compared with Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) with 1.84 million. Globe’s WiMAX network is based on the 802.16e standard and operates in the 2.5GHz band. It is currently available in selected areas in South Luzon, National Capital Region, Visayas and Mindanao. Around 4,000 users are signed up to the service, Orlina said.

Source: TeleGeography.