Worldwide consumer broadband connections will grow from 323 million connections in 2007 to 499 million in 2012, according to latest research by Gartner. Worldwide consumer broadband connections penetrated 18 percent of households in 2007, and by 2012, households with a broadband connection are expected to reach 25 percent.

Five countries exceeded 60 percent broadband penetration into the home in 2007; and, this is expected to grow to 17 countries by 2012. The five countries with broadband penetration into the home above 60 percent are Canada, Netherlands, Switzerland, South Korea and Hong Kong.

Amanda Sabia, principal research analyst at Gartner, says:

“Depending on the specific market conditions, availability of Internet-enabled devices and the continued impact of broadband on consumer lifestyles, we expect some markets will have a broadband ceiling at 80 percent penetration or greater… Broadband penetration will increase, especially in the geographically larger markets, as current broadband providers continue to deploy their services, as newer technologies (wireless broadband, such as WiMAX) attract subscribers, and as users experience firsthand how speed enhances their Internet sessions.”

Markets with Highest Broadband Penetration of Households, 2007 and 2012
Source: Gartner – July 2008

The top three markets of South Korea, the Netherlands and Hong Kong are already heavily penetrated so the change in penetration rates is minimal compared with markets such as the United States, Japan, Czech Republic, New Zealand and Australia. These markets are reported to exhibit a swelling of broadband penetration by more than 20 percentage points. Growth in broadband adoption is dependent on specific market conditions, availability of Internet-enabled devices and the continued impact of broadband on consumer lifestyles.

“Consumers in heavily penetrated markets are already addicted to broadband, thus the future in these markets is less concerned with increasing subscriber numbers, and more with addressing what new applications and/or content will be transmitted over this pipe,” Sabia says. “Newer ventures in these markets are primarily entertainment (such as Internet video content and games), Internet Protocol television (IPTV) and home networking, which will bring these devices and services into one integrated system within the home.”

Additional information is available in the Gartner report “Dataquest Insight: Consumer Broadband, Global Penetration Rates and Growth Prospects.”