More stats from Korea....ADSL subscribers hit 1m, cablemodems at 700,000.
koreaherald.co.kr
Broadband Internet users top 2.2 mil.: ADSL the most popular choice for high-speed Web subscribers
High-speed Internet users now number over 2.2 million, according to a survey by the Ministry of Information and Communication.
If the present growth is sustained, the total broadband Internet users could reach over 3 million, the ministry projected yesterday.
ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) services was the broadband Internet service of choice for a great majority of high-speed Internet users, subscribers totaling more than 1 million as of Aug. 25. Next in popularity is CATV modem broadband Internet which drew 700,000 subscribers. The survey noted, however, that the high-speed Internet service using cable television network is experiencing a slow-down in attracting subscribers after an initial lead in the early phase of the market. LAN (local area network) Internet service, deployed in larger apartment complexes, had 400,000 subscribers, its main attraction being a cheaper alternative using domestically made equipment.
An overwhelming majority of broadband Internet subscribers are home users. The ministry projected that over 4 million users are enjoying high-speed Internet at home, based on the estimation that two or more people at home are using high-speed Internet.
Four million users represents nearly 25 percent of all Internet users estimated at 16 million. By the end of the year, over 3 million households out of the total 13 million households in the country would be connected to broadband Internet, making the broadband Internet density in Korea the highest in the world.
Elsewhere around the world, the Internet population in the United States numbered 100 million as of last February with 2 million broadband Internet subscribers. Japan had some 330,000 broadband Internet subscribers as of end of last June, CATV accounting for 320,000 and ADSL, 1,235.
Government's strong policy drive and competition in the telecom market, according to industry analysts drove the rapid uptake of broadband Internet which is the fastest anywhere in the world.
The government drew up a long-term plan for broadband Internet infrastructure back in 1995 which was accompanied by various information projects aimed at creating demand for telecom services.
The multiple competition in the broadband Internet market where different ways of accessing high-speed Internet service are available helped to ensure early spread of broadband Internet. The multiple competing operators and services lowered the price in the early phase of the market attributed to the explosive growth in subscribers, according to analysts.
Updated: 09/05/2000
by Kim Hoo-ran Staff reporter |
