17.0 mln Americans have cable modems, 12.6 mln - DSL, 2.2 mln - fixed wireless, 0.4 mln - satellite, 0.2 mln - fiber

The US broadband market is expected to reach an estimated 56.9 mln subscribers by 2008, growing from 32.5 mln subscribers in 2004, according to Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA). The broadband market has grown substantially since 2001, when there were only 5.1 mln subscribers.

In 2004, the number of high-speed subscribers in the United States grew by 35.4% to reach 32.5 mln subscribers, consisting of the following access technologies: cable modem (17.0 mln), DSL (12.6 mln), fixed wireless (2.2 mln), fiber-to-the-home (0.2 mln), satellite (0.4 mln), mobile wireless (3G) (0.1 mln), and broadband over power line (less than 50,000).

Faster speeds are driving demand for cable modem and digital subscriber line (DSL) providers. With telephone companies becoming more aggressive in rolling out bundled DSL services and cable operators losing subscribers to direct broadcast satellite, the gap between cable and DSL narrowed in 2004 and will continue to decrease through 2008. In 2005, for example, DSL is expected to experience a greater% growth (19.8%) than cable modems (17.1%). Despite DSL gains to 12.6 mln subscribers, however, cable modems remained the dominant broadband technology in 2004, with 17 mln subscribers.

Even with fewer subscribers, DSL leads in service revenue and will grow at a 14.3% compound annual rate to $13.6 bln in 2008 from $8 bln in 2004. This growth will be fueled by a 14.6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in DSL subscribership, from 12.6 mln in 2004 to 21.7 mln in 2008. Cable modem service revenue, on the other hand, will expand at a 6.1% CAGR from $8.6 bln in 2004 to $10.9 bln in 2008.