Enterprise demand for broadband access will continue to grow with China and India leading the way, a report from research firm Ovum said.
Ovum also said there will be two key factors in the expected rise.
The first being enterprise migration from legacy services to next-generation technologies, which is especially true in vertical segments, such as financial and government, where quality if service is critical, Ovum said.
Furthermore, in some markets, operators are increasing leased line charges to encourage migration to other platforms.
The second factor is due wider implementation of voice over IP and network-based applications throughout the enterprise. Companies are recognizing services convergence and supporting their multiple locations as a competitive advantage.
Enterprises want higher bandwidth and reliability to enable them to increase productivity and ultimately reduce costs.
'Ovum forecasts a total of 59.8 billion broadband connections globally in 2007, rising to 87.6 billion in 2012, representing a CAGR of 8%', said Lucy Hipperson, analyst based in London.
Most importantly, Ovum forecasts an overall decline in broadband access revenues over the next five years, with global revenues of €40.4 billion (US$59.4 billion) in 2007 rising to €42.4 billion (US$62.4 billion) in 2009 before declining to €37.8 billion (US$55.6 billion) in 2012.
Access services in China and India are still subject to severe price decline, which will affect adoption, Ovum further said.