The number of people connecting to the Internet via a broadband DSL (digital subscriber line) connection jumped by almost 40 million in the twelve months to the end of September 2005, according to a survey conducted by the DSL Forum.
That increase took the total number of DSL subscribers worldwide to an estimated 125 million at the end of September, the group said. The DSL Forum promotes DSL technologies.
The survey ranked the Middle East and Africa as the fastest growing region during the 12 months with a 140 per cent increase in subscribers. Turkey, which the survey counts as part of the region, led growth with an additional 850,000 subscribers and passed the 1 million subscriber mark.
Nineteen countries had more than 1 million DSL subscribers by the end of September with Australia, Belgium, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland joining Turkey as new members on the list.
Brazil added 1.1 million subscribers, the U.K. and France each added more than 3 million subscribers and China added almost 10 million subscribers, according to the report.