Summary
This report provides an updated analysis of trends in global and regional broadband subscriptions, technology adoption, and the growth rates in major markets.
In Q3 2024, global fixed broadband connections reached 1.84 billion, as we recorded a healthy quarterly growth of 1.39%. Broadband subscriptions[1] declined in 13 countries[2], down from 18 in Q2 2024. Some of these markets have high mobile subscriber penetration, others are experiencing economic headwinds or are already highly saturated markets, for example Hong Kong, Switzerland, the Netherlands. Others are still in the midst of conflict (Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, Sudan).
Other key points:
The highest growth in Q3 2024 came from the developing and least saturated markets.
India was at the top of the largest 20 fixed broadband markets with a 4.91% growth rate q-o-q.
The share of FTTH/B in the total fixed broadband subscriptions increased further and stood at 71.35%. Broadband connections based on other technologies saw their market shares shrink again, with an exception of satellite and fixed wireless.
Year-on-year, FTTH/B connections grew by 8%. Satellite and FWA saw annual growth as well (+36.4% and +10.5% respectively), with the former mainly driven by Starlink (see the list of top 20 Starlink markets).
Among the largest twenty markets all saw fixed broadband subscriber growth in Q3 2024. The average growth in the 20 markets was 1.12%, compared to 0.93% in Q2 2024.
The highest FTTH/B broadband subscriber growth rates in markets with at least 0.5m fibre connections were in Greece, Peru and Algeria.
Global and regional trends
Figure 1. Trends in world broadband subscriber growth. Source – Point Topic.
In Q3 2024, global fixed broadband subscribers increased by 1.39%, reaching 1.48 billion. The growth rate was the highest in the last four quarters, but lower than that in Q3 2023 and Q3 2022 (Figure 1 and Table 1). Thus, the overall trend seems to be a slowdown in growth, as fixed broadband penetration rates increase.
Table 1. Global broadband subscribers and quarterly growth rates. Source – Point Topic.
As growth recovered in China (1.75% compared to 1.11% in Q2 2024), it led to East Asia’s share of fixed broadband subscriber net adds jumping to from 52.2% in the previous quarter to 58.1% in Q3 2024. The region continued to dominate, maintaining its position as the largest fixed broadband market with a 50.4% share of global subscribers, primarily driven by China with its vast population[3] (Table 2 and Figure 2).
North America was the only other region that increased its net adds share (from 4.6% to 4.7%). In terms of market shares by fixed broadband subscribers, East Asia, Asia Other and America Other saw their shares expand at the expense of other regions.
Table 2. Share of fixed broadband subscribers and trends in net adds by region. Source – Point Topic.
Figure 2. Share of net adds of fixed broadband subscribers by region. Source – Point Topic.
One of the factors which can impact growth rates is fixed broadband penetration among population. Parts of Asia, America and Africa are in the bottom right corner of the chart (Figure 3), signifying relatively low penetration and high growth rates.
Africa and Asia Other rotate from quarter to quarter as the fastest growing regions (1.8% and 2.4% q-o-q), but their fixed broadband penetration remains very low at 4.9% and 6.2% respectively. In Q3 2024, the significantly sized markets of India, Kenya, and Pakistan, among others, saw healthy growth. These regions, along with America Other, retain high potential for expansion, though the dominance of mobile broadband technologies will be hard to overcome.
Figure 3. Penetration and quarterly growth by region (Bubble size represents the size of the market). Source – Point Topic.
As in the previous quarters, Europe, North America and Oceania remained in the top left corner, with modest growth rates of below 1%. At the same time they are enjoying relatively high population penetration, especially in the case of Europe Other (40.2%) and North America (39.1%). Due to already high saturation, these regions have a limited potential for expansion, with migration from copper to fibre remaining an important trend, and satellite as well as fixed wireless gaining ground. In the US, we recorded a further churn in cable and copper broadband subscriptions, while FTTP, FWA and satellite grew at significant pace.
While growth in Eastern Europe remained low (0.6%), not least due to the ongoing war affecting two of its sizeable markets, the region’s fixed broadband penetration rate of 25.5% leaves headroom for expansion.
East Asia is an interesting case, enjoying both a decent growth rate (1.6%) and highest fixed broadband penetration (45.7%), with China dominating this region by the sheer size of its market (see our earlier footnote on the country’s broadband subscriber data). Nevertheless, even South Korea recorded growth again, though its population penetration is already 48%. One explanation could be different methodologies used by some countries of the region to define broadband ‘subscribers’ and household sizes.
Country and technology trends
In Q3 2024, we registered the highest broadband subscriber growth rates mainly in the developing countries and least mature broadband markets (Figure 4). In Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Mali, Ghana and some other countries in this category, the growth came from a very low base.
Figure 4. Top 25 markets by quarterly growth rate in fixed broadband subscribers (Q3 2024). Source – Point Topic.
Among the largest twenty broadband markets all saw fixed broadband subscribers grow in Q3 2024 (Table 3). The quarterly growth varied from 0.08% in Italy (a mature market) to 4.91% in India (huge growth potential due to low penetration and growing economy).
In 13 of the twenty largest fixed broadband markets the growth in Q3 2024 was higher than in the previous quarter. We recorded the most significant slowdown in Spain (from 0.72% in Q2 to 0.15% in Q3 2024).
Table 3. Changes in quarterly growth in fixed broadband subscribers in the largest 20 markets. Source: Point Topic.
For several quarters now, India was at the top of the largest 20 fixed broadband markets with a 4.91% growth rate. The average growth in the 20 markets was 1.12%, compared to 0.93% in Q2 2024.
Technology trends
Fibre continues to be the dominant broadband technology, and its market share has expanded further. Between Q2 2024 and Q3 2024, the share of FTTH/B connections in the total fixed broadband subscriptions went up by 0.45% and stood at 71.35%. Broadband connections based on cable, copper (ADSL) and FTTx technologies saw their market shares shrink further. Satellite and wireless broadband connections expanded their market shares to 0.37% and 1.98% respectively. (Our satellite broadband figures now include Starlink subscriptions in most markets that we cover).
Table 4. Changes in broadband technology market shares. Source – Point Topic.
The share of FTTx (mainly VDSL) subscriptions stood at 6.56%, down from 6.7% recorded in the previous quarter. VDSL subscriber numbers grew only in six countries while elsewhere large numbers of VDSL subscribers migrated to other technologies.
To assess fibre expansion, we look at the growth of FTTH/B in markets with at least 0.5 million fibre broadband connections (Table 5 and Figure 5). Greece and, once again, Peru recorded FTTH/B growth rates of more than 10%. Algeria is leading in Africa, while Pakistan and India are growing fibre connections fast in Asia-Other. Multiple operators are striving to increase fibre adoption rates in Italy, with the incumbent TIM and the likes of Vodafone, Wind and Fastweb among others seeing healthy growth. Ireland is a dynamic FTTH market as well, with three major operators and some smaller providers growing fibre take-up at a good pace.
Table 5. Top 10 markets by FTTH/B growth rates (countries with at least 0.5m fibre broadband subscribers). Source: Point Topic.
Figure 5. Quarterly growth in fibre broadband subscribers around the world. Source: Point Topic.
In terms of FTTH/B broadband net additions in Q3 2024, China continued to maintain a significant lead with 9.2 million, while India added 2.3 million and Brazil 1.3 million. See our complete dataset for full details.
In 12 months to Q3 2024, fixed broadband technologies diverged further. The number of copper lines saw another decline (-13.2%), while FTTH/B connections grew by 8%. In the face of competition from fibre, FWA and 5G, cable broadband subscribers also declined by 0.4%, while FTTx dropped by 3.5% (Figure 6). Meanwhile, satellite broadband subscribers increased by 36.4%, mainly due to the growing Starlink customer base.
Figure 6. Annual growth in subscriber numbers by technology, Q3 2023 to Q3 2024. Source – Point Topic.
Figure 7 provides our estimated figures of Starlink subscribers in the largest 20 markets. In the context of limited public availability of the official Starlink subscriber data, our estimates are based on the service launch dates and countries’ demographic and other characteristics. Our total estimated Q3 2024 figure for Starlink subscribers in the countries where we cover the operator is 3.2 million, up from 2.7 million in Q2 2024[4].
Figure 7. Estimates of Starlink satellite broadband figures (Top 20 markets). Source: Point Topic.
Wireless broadband (mainly FWA / 5G and LTE fixed) connections also continued to grow – they went up by 10.5% year-on-year, not least due to healthy growth rates in the US and Italy (+34% and +10% respectively). We expect this trend to persist due to demand for connectivity in remote and underserved areas where wired broadband infrastructure is not economically or logistically feasible, and due to some consumers cord-cutting their broadband access services.
Overall, our data continues to indicate a steady consumer shift towards more reliable, symmetric bandwidth offered by ultra-fast broadband technologies such as FTTH/B. High speed satellite and fixed wireless is also seeing growth in take-up. Meanwhile, traditional technologies like copper and cable are experiencing a decline. This trend persists as providers strive to meet the growing demand for faster and more dependable broadband services, make broadband availability more universal and increase the value of their networks.
This analysis is based on the data reported in our Global Broadband Statistics service. The full data set is available to subscribers. Contact isabelle.anderson@point-topic.com for more information.
[1] Whenever we refer to ‘broadband’ in this report, we mean fixed broadband. Also, ‘subscriptions’ and ‘connections’ are used interchangeably.
[2] It is possible there will be restatements in the coming quarter/s and single period data should be viewed in that light. Decline in some markets can be due to changes in methodology used by national regulatory authorities.
[3] Although we use them in our reports, we cannot vouch for the country’s officially reported broadband subscriber figures which suggest household penetration well over 100%.
[4] For example, we do not currently cover Africa and some other smaller markets.
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