China overtakes U.S. for total broadband subscribers

After growing by 28 percent last year, China finished 2007 with 71.6 million broadband subscribers, placing it ahead of the United States by more than 1.4 million subscriber. These figures, by market research firm Dittberner Associates, effectively peg China as the largest fixed broadband market in the world. What's more, with just a mere household penetration of just 20 percent among other factors such as double-digit growths in the number of PC households, China is poised to not only maintain the lead, but to pull away from the United States.

In comparison, there are 355 million fixed broadband subscribers globally at the close of the first quarter 2008. The other top 10 subscriber bases are in the countries of Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Korea, Italy, Canada and Spain.

For more on broadband penetration:
- check out this Network World article