In another sign that the economic crisis has had little impact on broadband growth, one in five households worldwide will have a fixed broadband connection by the end of the year, Gartner said.
In total 422 million households will have a connection in their home by the end of the year, up from 382 million in 2008, the research firm said.
Broadband accounted for around 27% of the revenue from the $372 billion fixed-line market last year.
“Consumers may be watching their household expenditure, but dropping their broadband connections is not on the top of their agendas,” principal research analyst Amanda Sabia said. “Multiple motivations are conspiring to keep broadband growth strong.”
At the start of the year, around 21 markets had broadband connections in at least 50% of homes, Gartner said, including Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan.
South Korea had the highest penetration at the end of 2008, with 86% of households connected. Gartner predicts that that figure will reach 93% by 2013.
Hong Kong placed second among Asian nations, and fourth overall, with 72% penetration. New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Australia and Japan all had penetration levels of between 55% and 65%.