The update, prepared by IDATE for the FTTH Council Europe, ranks the 22 FTTH economies where more than 1% of households are FTTH/B subscribers.
Europe (EU27+9[1]) saw a robust 16.4% increase in FTTH/B subscribers during the first half of 2012, and FTTH/B coverage across Europe continued to grow rapidly (16%). By mid-2012, the EU27+9 had approximately 5.95 million FTTH/B subscribers and fiber installed in 32 million homes.
Furthermore, Russia offers enormous market potential, with 5.2 million FTTH/B subscribers and over 15.8 million homes connected. Ukraine has over one million FTTH/B subscribers – an increase of more than 85% during the first half of 2012. New players are expected to deploy FTTH/B in the CIS countries soon.
Within the rankings, the top three remain unchanged. Leader Lithuania has reached a penetration rate of 30%, followed by Norway (18%) and Sweden (14.5%). However, some major EU economies, including the UK and Germany, are still notably absent.
Spain entered the rankings in 20th place (1.42% penetration), following a 44% increase in subscribers in the first half of 2012. Despite the country's challenging economic situation, announcements made by operators (Telefónica, Orange Spain, and Jazztel, among others) suggest that fiber is still considered a safe investment. Telefónica's FTTH deployments and competition from cable operator Ono have created considerable competitive dynamism in the Spanish market. In a relatively novel deployment for Southern Europe, the local government of Asturias adopted an open-access network model typically found in Scandinavia, pre-launching FTTH rather than waiting for private investors.
Luxembourg (1.46% subscribed penetration) also makes its debut in the ranking. P&T Luxembourg appears poised to implement the government's ambitious targets: 80% of households with 100Mbps installations by the end of 2013, and 100% by the end of 2015. Other FTTH users utilized P&T's wholesale fiber access infrastructure.
"Key countries not included in the ranking may be missing their opportunity to build a sustainable future for their citizens," says Hartwig Tauber, Director General of the FTTH Council Europe. "Further efforts are needed to ensure that Europe meets the broadband targets set out in the Digital Agenda for Europe 2020. The decision to invest in FTTH – the only solution for the future – needs to be made now."
1. EU27+9 = EU27+ Andorra, Croatia, Iceland, Israel, Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey.
