International Telecom

China stayed ahead of the pack in broadband line numbers at the end of 2009, analyst Point Topic said. The other top 10 broadband countries were the U.S., Japan, Germany, France, U.K., South Korea, Italy, Brazil and Russia, it said. There were nearly 467 million broadband subscribers by the end of the last quarter 2009, it said. Only China and South Korea grew more quickly last year than they did in 2008, but other markets appear to be reviving after their relative slowdown in 2008, it said. DSL and cable lost market share to other access technologies, with wireless taking the lead, it said. As demand for broadband outstrips the fixed infrastructure, the gaps are being filled by mobile access technologies, it said.