The Top 10 Countries for Broadband Internet

Asia continues to be the globe's leading region when it comes to the number of broadband Internet users, according to a report last week from Broadband-Forum.org. And despite the ongoing global economic recession, the broadband market saw its highest growth in two years.

Around the world approximately 581 million people subscribe to some sort of broadband Internet service. This number doesn’t include users who access the Internet via mobile phones. Most users (61.5 percent), according to the report, get broadband via a DSL subscription. Another 19.5 percent get service via cable and 16 percent of broadband Internet users have access to FTTx (fiber-to-the-home, building, curb, etc.) service. Fiber, the report notes, saw 8 percent growth in the third quarter of 2011 — twice the rate of growth compared to 2010. In the U.S., nearly 5 million more people have broadband Internet access compared to a year ago, with 90.5 million total users.