Ahead of next week’s IPTV World Forum in London, organizer Informa Telecoms & Media has announced the results of its latest research into broadband and multi-channel TV subscription numbers, headlining the fact that FTTx (fibre) subscriptions are approaching 50m, with IPTV nudging 20m.

According to research Informa will conclude this month, global fixed broadband subscriptions stood at 422 million at the end of 2008, adding nearly 68 million subscriptions in the year and 16 million in the final quarter.

The biggest access technology remains DSL (65% of the total), but FTTx (11%) registered its biggest in year gain to date, adding over 11 million subscriptions - almost exactly the same number as cable broadband (21%).

The growth of FTTx is in part explained by robust growth in Asia-Pacific, says Informa: the region added 20% more subscriptions in 2008 than in 2007. In addition, nine of the world’s 10 largest FTTx operators are in the region.

Western Europe, meanwhile, has seen broadband growth stagnate, as all but five of its 30 countries now exceed a household penetration level of 50% and 20 countries enjoy penetration of over 60%.China, where broadband subscriptions grew by 21% over 2008 to reach 82 million subscriptions, passed the USA mid-year to become the world’s largest fixed broadband market, though it still has a household penetration level of below 20%.

Significantly, of the four main multichannel TV platforms, IPTV and digital terrestrial (DTT) are increasing their share of the market and now hold 10% and 3 30% of the global market, respectively.

The research, based on a continuous programme of research covering 730 fixed broadband (xDSL, cable broadband, FTTx, LAN, satellite and fixed wireless) operators in 160 countries and nearly 100 IPTV operators in 50 countries, will be presented in an opening address at the IPTV World Forum at Olympia, London, next week.

Farncombe Technology, which hosts this blog, will be conducting an IPTV Masterclass on IPTV Deployment in association with the Forum.