Point Topic just released world wide broadband data – 2004 was a block buster year with a record new 50 million new adds for the year bringing the total to 150.5 m as of 31 Dec 2004. The penetration rates in Europe and other established economies jumped to between 8 to 12 lines per 100 range. Some countries such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Canada are showing sings of broadband saturation, with relatively low growth rates. Canada in particular is slipping down the league. Once one of the broadband leaders, it has gone from sixth to eighth place in terms of number of broadband lines, overtaken by both France and the UK. “Summing up, I would say that broadband had a pretty good half year.” says Tim Johnson, Publisher of Point Topic. “I project that we will reach 140m DSL lines and 215m broadband lines in total by the end of 2005.”