Fibre notches up 10 per cent of fat pipes

Fibre technology is increasingly stealing a greater share of the broadband market and has now reached more than 10 per cent of all subscribers.

According to research from broadband analysts Point Topic, FTTx (where connectivity is delivered by means of optical fibre rather than copper) now gives connectivity to more than 29 million users worldwide.

Separate research recently found around one million users in Western Europe use FTTx, although overall penetration is low - just one per cent of subscribers favour it as their broadband bearer.

Across the globe, as in Europe, DSL remains the dominant tech with 66 per cent of broadband subscribers, followed by cable at 22 per cent. Point Topic found most new fat pipe connections are still made over DSL.

During 2006, the UK added 2.9 million new DSL subscribers making it the sixth highest ranking country for DSL penetration.