Broadband 'is going fibre-based'

While the transition of broadband from copper cables to fibre optics may have been taking place gradually for some time, figures from Infonetics Research show it is now moving at a pace.

In global analysis entitled PON, FTTH, and DSL Aggregation Equipment and Subscribers, the quarterly report for the first three months of 2011 notes how PON - passive optical networking - is benefiting from its growing popularity as a broadband medium.

"The worldwide PON market jumped 20 per cent in Q1 2011 over Q4 2010, surpassing the $1 billion (£620 million) threshold for the first time ever," Infonetics Research says.

By comparison, the market for DSL infrastructure across the world's regions fell by a double-digit percentage in the first quarter.

This may have been in part due to its strength in previous reports - since the first quarter of 2010, it has added 36 per cent to its value.