ip coverstory.qxp
11/3/13
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Strong dynamism in FTTH markets
Europe reported a solid 15% increase in the number of FTTH/B subscribers during second half 2012, according to research institute IDATE. FTTH/B coverage continues to progress fast in Europe with a growth of 12% in the period. There were nearly 7.3m FTTH/B subscribers in the EU-35 at mid-2012, and 33.8m homes passed. During 2012, several countries showed a real dynamism both in terms of coverage and take up rates. Turkey is leading the Top 5 dynamic countries in terms of percentage of new subscribers in the total FTTH/B subscriber basis, along with Ukraine, Spain, Bulgaria and Russia. The positioning of Spain – the only Western European country present in the list should be noted as the country has entered the European ranking only a few months ago and is facing an economic downturn. The success of FTTH/B is reinforced in such a difficult context, says IDATE. Elsewhere in Europe, pioneering Scandinavian countries, sometimes already considered as mature, are still leading the European market In Denmark, FTTH/B market growth is now higher than the mobile market growth. In Finland, FTTH/B connections are more and more considered as a utility and therefore often included in the apartment monthly rental.s In Sweden, new services are benefiting from a large FTTH/B coverage and an important take up rate: customers used to subscribe to a FTTH/B connection to be able
to reach e-governance services provided by national entities and they are now turning to other services such as Video On Demand… finally, FTTH/B is a driver for video entertainment! On the other hand, Italy, which was also a pioneer in FTTH/B roll-outs, is beginning to lag behind. Some projects involving several players have been announced but none of them has entered into operation. The strategy unveiled by the incumbent doesn't put a strong accent on FTTH/B. The
Europe from those players, such as in the UK where rural cooperatives have succeeded in motivating citizens to be financially and/or 'physically' involved in roll-outs (e.g. the B4RN / Broadband For the Rural North project). Then, of course, incumbents are main players in all European countries now; they represent 38.4% of homes passed in EU35 at end 2012. The quite recent involvement of Turk Telekom in Turkey driven the dynamism of the country which was clearly
increase in terms of subscribers during 2012 is one of the lowest in Europe (10%), but the potential is still large (12.7% take up rate at end 2012, far from the EU35 average of 21.6%). In terms of players involved in FTTH/B projects, there was no upheaval in 2012. Alternative carriers are still leading the way, representing half of the total homes passed in EU35 at end 2012 (nearly 71% considering EU39). The number of local authorities launching FTTH/B roll-out projects on their territory is increasing a little bit more rapidly than other kinds of players but they still represent only some 11.6% of homes passed in EU35. However, we have noted some interesting projects in
dominated by the competitor Turckell/Superonline until then. The competition between those telcos will probably enhance the take up rate which is still lower than the European average at end 2012 (18.7% vs. 25.8%). In the UK, the situation is totally different. The incumbent BT has decided to deploy FTTC on a national scale. FTTH (mostly referred as FTTP in the UK) will now only be deployed 'on demand'. BT has been really aggressive in the past year and has now reached the same level of coverage as its main competitor, the cableco Virgin Media (13m homes passed with FTTC+VDSL). Apart from local projects, we do not see a very bright future for FTTH/B in UK. IDATE is now catching up
with important changes in the leading East European countries. Russia and Ukraine are the main markets, both in terms of subscribers and homes passed. This is mostly due to the demographic context in those countries. In Russia, several players are present on the national scale (Beeline, MTS, ERTelecom, Rostelecom), enhancing competition and driving tariffs down. Moreover, end users are migrating more rapidly because previous access solutions (copper networks) were not efficient enough. Sweden is still a leading FTTH/B market. E-gove &??6R?2&V?7V66W72F?W&R?B6?F??V?2&R??rfW'?6??f?FV?B??F?V?"eED??"6???V7F???2F??f?"?Wr???B?b6W'f?6W27V6?2f?FV???FV??B??F?W"Eb6W'f?6W2???V"Eb?&R??7B?bF?RF??R??6?VFVB??F?R'F?V?B???F??&V?F?'WB7W7F??W'2&R??r&VG?F?7V'67&?&RF??Wr???B?b6W'f?6W2???7vVFV??F?RF?RW&FR&V6?W2C??BRBV?B#"??V6???v?W"F??WW&?V?fW&vR?&Vv&F??rF?RFV6?????w??WF?W&?WB?27F????W&F?"f?'7B6???6R7&?72F?RUR?B&W&W6V?FVBs?R?b??eED??"&?????WG2BV?B#"?2f?"?WGv?&?&6??FV7GW&R?F?Rv&WGvVV?eED??BeED"?2??7&V6VBGW&??r?7BV'FW"#"?B??reED"&6??FV7GW&R&W&W6V?G2sR?b&?????WG2BV?B#"?6??&VBF?c"R6?????F?2V&?W"????W'2&Rff?W&??r?eED"6??f?wW&F???2?B???w2F?V?F?f??BF?R?77VW2F?B6??Rv?F???7F???rf?'&R??&?fFR&?W'G???BW7V6????EW2( 2??R??f??rF??Vv?F?FRv?F?V6?&?W'G??v?W"???FV?Wf?6????