Rise in broadband subscribers

Broadband subscriptions rose by 6 per cent during the first quarter despite the economic downturn.

According to ComReg’s quarterly report, at the end of March there were 1.27 million broadband subscribers in Ireland.

The latest figures show that the number of subscribers has risen by 28.2 per cent since the first quarter of 2008, mainly as a result of an increased take-up in mobile broadband services.

Mobile broadband grew by 45,765 customers in the first three months of 2009, a 13.8 per cent increase on the number of mobile broadband additions since the last quarter.

Despite this, DSL remains the most popular subscription type, accounting for 46 per cent of all broadband subscriptions.

While the number of broadband subscribers continues to rise, the data shows the first decline in mobile subscriptions in four years.

At the end of March 2009 there were 4,928,003 mobile subscriptions in Ireland, (excluding HSDPA subscriptions), down by 74,000 or 2.4 per cent since the last quarter.

In addition, mobile revenues decreased by over 10 per cent during the first quarter and have fallen by 9.4 per cent over the year.

Nonetheless, mobile penetration remains high at 119.4 per cent.