The FCC released today its semi-annual report on high-speed services (press release here and full report here) and the Commission’s data are suprisingly illuminating.
The report contains the usual litany of high-speed (defined as 200 kbps in at least one direction) statistics. (Click on thumbnail picture at the end for one key table in the report.) High-speed subscriptions, or lines, advanced by 18% during the second half of 2005 and by 33% for the full year to reach 50.2 million by December 31, 2005.
Cable modem service represented 57.5% of these lines while 40.5% were ADSL connections, although for the first time ever, the growth in ADSL lines exceeded the growth in cable modem connections. For the full year, ADSL lines advanced by 5.7 million lines while cable modem subscriptions grew by 4.2 million lines.
The report gives a detailed break-down of what the FCC calls advanced service lines, namely high-speed connections that exceed 200 kbps in at least one direction. Advanced service lines grew even faster, in percentage terms, than the lower-speed options. The number of advanced service lines grew by 15% during the second half of the year and by 48% during the full year to reach 42.8 million by year-end 2005.
While the telcos may be gaining on cable in overall subscription levels, cable beats its telephone rivals in speeds delivered. Cable modem service represented 62.4% of advanced service lines while 36.2% were ADSL connections.
One interesting statistic: around 448,000 of the advanced service subscribers were served by fiber optic connections. Of these, around 213,173 were residential customers (as opposed to small business customers), more than double the 82,831 fiber-based high-speed home subscribers as of June 2005, a figure that in all likelihood reflects the number of Verizon FiOS broadband customers. To date, Verizon hasn’t revealed its FiOS broadband customer statistics. (The FCC, however, claims that it protects the confidentiality of companies by withholding data if the disclosure could reveal company-specific statistics.)
Cynthia Brumfield at 12:04 AM|Comments(0)
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