Fiber to drive fixed broadband in Asia Pacific: GlobalData

Investment in fiber broadband will drive the growth in the fixed broadband services market in the Asia Pacific, says GlobalData.
Fiber investment trends in Asia PacificFiber-optic access lines will account for about 62 percent of the total fixed access lines in the developed APAC region by 2027. The share of fiber-optic access lines in the total fixed lines in the emerging APAC markets will be 90 percent.

Demand for high-speed internet services and competitively priced fiber broadband plans with benefits like unlimited internet and access to major subscription video on demand (SVoD) platforms will drive the fiber broadband service adoption, Kantipudi Pradeepthi, Telecom Analyst at GlobalData, said.

In India, Reliance Jio’s basic broadband plan starts from 399 per month that offers unlimited data @ 30 mbps speed. Reliance Jio’s 999 per month plan offers unlimited data @ 150 mbps with access to 15 OTT platforms.

China leads the APAC fixed broadband services market with 98 percent of its broadband subscriptions on fiber optic lines as of 2022. China government’s Dual Gigabit Network Coordinated Development Action Plan (2021-2023) aims to expand fiber-optic networks to over 200 million households by the end of 2023.

FTTH/B will account for almost 100 percent of the broadband lines in Singapore by 2027. This is backed by the aggressive approach and investments by the NetLink NBN Trust in fiber broadband network expansions.

Fixed communications service revenue in Asia-Pacific is set to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.1 percent to $378.5 billion in 2027.

Fixed broadband account penetration of population in Asia-Pacific reached 19.7 percent at year-end 2022.

By 2027, fixed broadband account penetration of population in Asia-Pacific is expected to reach 21.4 percent, driven by the broadband network expansions and service adoption in emerging countries like India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand.

Developed Asia has high broadband penetration thanks to the national broadband network (NBN) projects, such as in Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.