The Americas Show Strong Broadband Growth and Widespread IPTV Adoption

Region now accounts for 28% of global broadband and nearly one in five IPTV
subscribers worldwide

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Broadband Forum today
announced the latest broadband and IPTV statistics, which show a strong
performance in the Americas region, both in broadband growth at 18 per cent
and in IPTV adoption, where subscription grew a remarkable 86% over the last
twelve months. Based on data prepared for the Forum by industry analyst Point
Topic (GBS database at http://point-topic.com/home/gbs/), global broadband
grew by 12.9 million lines in the second quarter of 2009, while IPTV growth
remained strong at 11 per cent - reaching 26.9 million lines.

Broadband growth chart

Region 2009Q1 2009Q2
-------------------- --------------------
growth growth
in in
Total Net Add Total Net Add quarter year
---------- --------- ---------- --------- ------- ------
Asia-Pacific 64,598,397 1,028,132 65,959,917 1,361,520 2.11% 8.35%
Eastern Europe 23,713,655 1,383,969 25,107,902 1,394,247 5.88% 29.36%
Latin America 27,947,382 1,711,397 29,292,408 1,345,026 4.81% 31.39%
Middle East
and Africa 12,819,703 562,699 13,054,260 234,557 1.83% 19.38%
North America 93,502,047 3,483,678 95,845,689 2,343,642 2.51% 14.86%
South and
East Asia 100,884,917 7,487,522 105,389,289 4,504,372 4.46% 25.46%
Western Europe 107,878,672 2,985,982 109,650,503 1,771,831 1.64% 9.96%

Source: Data provided for the Broadband Forum by Point Topic
(www.point-topic.com)

Broadband lines in the world now top 444.2 million. North America had total
growth of 3.63 per cent and the USA and Canada between them now have more than
95 million broadband users. In Latin America broadband now serves more than 29
million customers. Brazil, one of the global top 10 countries for broadband,
showed solid gains at 4.02 per cent - taking them to 23.3 per cent growth over
the year, accounting for more than ten million of the region's users.

Top 10 broadband countries

Country 2008Q2 2009Q2
Total Total
---------- ----------
China 75,768,350 93,549,000
USA 74,440,195 86,227,582
Japan 29,584,700 31,085,500
Germany 21,420,702 24,086,250
France 16,601,286 18,324,300
UK 16,718,400 17,838,200
South Korea 15,061,659 15,876,992
Italy 11,534,230 12,855,463
Brazil 8,490,400 10,469,755
Canada 9,005,181 9,618,107

Source: Data provided for the Broadband Forum by Point Topic
(www.point-topic.com)

The Americas continue to show massive growth in IPTV, where over the last 12
months there has been an impressive increase of 86 per cent, partly due to a
major commitment by two of the region's leading operators. The Americas now
have reached a major milestone in IPTV, serving over five million IPTV
subscribers - which represent nearly 20 per cent of IPTV penetration
worldwide.

IPTV subscriptions per territory, in thousands

Territory 2008Q2 2009Q2

Western Europe, Middle East and Africa 8428 12416
North America 2718 5018
South and East Asia 2512 4375
Asia Pacific 2817 3835
Eastern Europe 655 1215
Latin America 14 53

Source: Data provided for the Broadband Forum by Point Topic
(www.point-topic.com)

In terms of technology, fiber and wireless broadband continue to gain access
technology market share. Consumer demand for IPTV seems to be driving the
rollout of higher bandwidth options.

"This report shows that, while broadband adoption is not immune from the state
of the world economy, the technology continues to move forward and I believe
this year has shown that broadband expansion is not limited to the top
industrialized countries, but is a key factor in assisting developing nations
to gain a foothold in today's tough market," said George Dobrowski, Chairman
and President of the Broadband Forum.

"The Forum continues to drive broadband innovation, and with our latest work
around IPTV network and service assurance, we continue to ensure that the
industry has all the tools and specifications it needs to optimize networks
and to capture the full potential of broadband and IPTV worldwide. We have
also undertaken several initiatives in areas such as energy efficiency this
year, which will help facilitate network energy savings as broadband growth
continues across the world."

For further information about the Broadband Forum and BroadbandSuite 3.0
mentioned here, visit www.broadband-forum.org.

For further information please contact Chrissie Walker or Brian Dolby on +44
(0) 115 948 6901 or by email to chrissie@bcspr.co.uk or brian@bcspr.co.uk.

About the Broadband Forum
The Broadband Forum mission is to develop the full potential of broadband.
With the recent union with the IP/MPLS Forum, the Broadband Forum is now the
central body for next generation IP network specifications. This organization,
comprising around 200 members of most of the world's leading service
providers, equipment manufacturers, chip vendors and other key organizations,
defines and facilitates next generation networks for local broadband access,
mobile backhaul, business services, IPTV, gaming and other applications, and
is poised to address further developments as they arise. The Broadband
Forum's formal BroadbandSuite(TM) Release Program, Technical Reports and
specifications are publicly available at www.broadband-forum.org.

SOURCE The Broadband Forum

Chrissie Walker, chrissie@bcspr.co.uk, or Brian Dolby, or brian@bcspr.co.uk,
both for The Broadband Forum, +44 (0) 115 948 6901