The BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), which make up 42 percent of the world’s population, will have 139 million broadband connections at the end of 2009, according to a report recently published by Strategy Analytics. By 2013, the number will exceed 300 million.
DSL will continue to be the dominant technology in the BRIC region through 2013, though Fiber (FTTx) connections will take on an increasingly important role. FTTx will account for 21 percent of all broadband connections in the BRIC region in 2013, compared to just 10 percent in 2009. WiMAX, likewise, will remain an important platform, though its scope will likely be limited to rural areas otherwise unreachable by traditional wireline broadband.
The BRIC countries, while neither a formalized trading bloc nor a political alliance, are often grouped together for sharing certain demographic and economic characteristics, including high GDP growth, a burgeoning and educated middle class, and increasingly important consumer purchasing power.
“Just as the BRIC countries are poised to be a dominant force in the global economy in the next decade, so too will they become important leaders in broadband consumption,” noted Ben Piper, Director of the Strategy Analytics Multiplay Market Dynamics service. However, despite the commonalities shared by the four BRIC countries, it is unlikely that they will march in lockstep, according to the report.
“While the BRIC designation can be a useful lens through which to view the region, the four countries are more different than similar on many levels,” said Piper. “We see broadband adoption playing out differently in each.”
The report, “The Next Broadband Frontier: Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) Broadband Opportunities,” examines and forecasts broadband and revenue opportunities for the four BRIC countries through 2013, identifying drivers and inhibitors to broadband adoption in each market.