China to Top U.S. in Broadband Subscribers

An anonymous reader writes "China already is rapidly approaching the United States as the country with the largest number of broadband subscribers, according to the El Segundo, Calif.-based firm, and by the end of the year, China is expected to have 34 million subscribers, compared to 39 million in the United States. By the end of 2007, China is expected to have 57 million broadband subscribers, compared to 54 million in the United States, with an even wider lead in the years to follow."

Comments

i would hope so

[hsmith]

considering they have 4x as many people than us in an are that is a bit more densely populated

1.1 Billion vs 280 Million

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a lot easier to have more subscribers/anything when you have almost 4 times the population.

This isn't very interesting news at all.

Next on slashdot: China Tops US in rice consumption.

Re:1.1 Billion vs 280 Million

[jmv]

Next: China tops US in fuel consumption. That's when it's going to get really scary (I guess it's already scary that 4% of the world population consumes 25% of the energy).

Re:1.1 Billion vs 280 Million

[TheKidWho]

and also produces 25% of all goods.

Makes sense doesn't it now? Turn off your selective memory.

Great!

[Anonymous Coward]

High speed access to everything the government wants them to see.

But most of the content is unavailable...

[binaryspiral]

So what if more people in China have broadband... most of the content of the Internet is monitored and filtered by the Chinese government.

Score one for the rest of the free world.

Yes, but who'd got MORE access?

[joetheappleguy]

A big chunk of the Internet is denied to people behind the Great Firewall of China.

Good or bad our 54 million broadband subscribers get the WHOLE Internet, even the crazy North Korean bits

Now when is China going to beat that?

Just another symptom.

[stealth.c]

Within a decade, China's going to be "it." Not the USA. I know it's blasphemy to most Americans to say so, but it's a plain and simple fact.

At least when that happens, maybe we can get our manufacturing jobs back. Maybe we won't have to live in this stagnant consumer culture and it'll be fashionable to NOT be up to your earlobes in debt. Maybe sunshine will burst out of our asses.

I, for one, welcome our new Sino-Overlords.

Re:Just another symptom.

[Pros_n_Cons]

I know its "in" to hate the USA (certainly on this site) but this story shows the desperation of people to show how the "USA is losing it" and this is the best they can come up with? That is testement to just how darned strong the USA still is. While the rest of the world is trying so hard to show up the americans, the US is busy working on the next technology that will leave half of the world in the dust. Cars were suppose to be the end of the US, but little did they know about this TCP/computers thingy being worked on. Now the rest of the world fights over broadband while we're up on mars studying the water we just found. Think about it.

Head in the sand

[travellerjohn]

More broadband, more people, booming economy, bigger army.

When the US going to wake up and realise that China is big and powerful and growing?

A quick trip around some of the major Chinese cities and and you can see a booming economy, new cars, lots of construction, retail and manufacturing. The Chinese are catching up quick. And I dont think most Chinese are too worried about censorship so long as they can make money.

Meanwhile the US is mucking about in Iraq, and lecturing other people on how to run their own countries. (Something that doesnt go down too well.)

It is only a matter of time before the Chinese economy catches up with the US, and I dont think they will be too well inclined towards the US. Then perhaps we will be wishing we paid a little more attention and were a little less arrogant.

Broadband is only one of many indicators that the USA's economic dominance might be shortlived.