Point Topic says fibre broadband hitting 'sweet spot'

Fibre optic broadband is currently "hitting the sweet spot" in terms of market share in the technology sector, according to Point Topic and the Broadband Forum.

Robin Mersh, chief executive of the Broadband Forum, claimed fibre broadband is doing "exceptionally well" at attracting new subscribers.

During the first quarter of 2012, a total of 16,118,210 broadband lines were added, up from just over 14 million in the previous three-month period and 11.48 per cent higher than the figure recorded 12 months ago.

Point Topic chief executive Oliver Johnson said DSL is still the most popular access technology, although its market share declined by 0.5 per cent in Q1.

"For fibre, the cost-effectiveness from the operators' point of view and the significant increase in bandwidth over DSL in particular is hitting the sweet spot at the moment," he added.

In March, Point Topic and the Broadband Forum announced that the 12.3 per cent annual growth in broadband lines during 2011 was the largest increase for five years.