Research |
Europe : Nearly 183m homes passed by fibre
The FTTH Council Europe has
revealed the 2021 Market
Panorama and the latest figures
outlining fibre deployment
trends in Europe prepared by
research institute IDATE which
show the total number of
homes passed with Fibre to the
Home ( FTTH ) and Fibre to the
Building ( FTTB ) in the EU391
reached nearly 182.6m homes
in September 2020 , compared
to 172m in September 2019 .
The main movers in terms of
homes passed in absolute
numbers are France (+ 4.6m ),
Italy (+ 2.8m ), Germany
(+ 2.7m ) and the UK (+ 1.7m ).
The top 5 of the annual
growth rates in terms of
homes passed is headed
by Belgium (+ 155 %), Serbia
(+ 110 %), Germany (+ 66 %),
United Kingdom (+ 65 %) and
Ireland (+ 49 %).
For 2021 , a key
milestone has been reached ,
as FTTH / B Coverage in
EU39 now amounts to
more than half of total
homes . By September
2020 , EU39 reached a 52.5 %
coverage of FTTH / B networks
while EU27 + UK3 sits at 43.8 %,
compared to respectively 49.9 %
and 39.4 % in 2019 . This shows
a clear upward trend from the
September 2015 figures when
the coverage was at 39.8 % in
EU39 and 27.2 % in EU27 + UK .
The number of FTTH and
FTTB subscribers in Europe
increased by 16.6 % in EU39
in the year since September
2019 with 81.9 million FTTH / B
subscribers in September 2020 .
Russia still plays a major role
in this increase , however , it
is interesting to note that the
EU27 + UK experienced a 20.4 %
increase on its own .
France added 2,78 ,. 000
new FTTH / B subscriptions ,
whereas Russia came second
adding 1,681,000 new FTTH / B
subscribers . Spain rounds out
the top 3 with 1,436,000 new
FTTH / B subscribers . Other
countries also experienced an
outstanding increase in their
number of subscribers such
as Turkey (+ 718.000 ) and
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Germany (+ 694.000 ).
By September 2020 , the EU39 FTTH / B take-up rate rose to 44.9 % in comparison to the 43 % 5 rate registered by September 2019 . For the third consecutive year , the take-up rate for EU27 + UK surpasses the EU39 ’ s by reaching 46.9 % ( 43.3 % in September 2019 ).
Fibre technologies have been continuously evolving in recent years with a predominance of FTTH architecture over FTTB ( 63 % vs 37 %). Alternative Internet Service Providers are
still constituting the largest part of FTTH / B players , with around 57 % of the total fibre expansion .
Many countries where legacy infrastructure still dominates have modified their strategy deploying more FTTH solutions , migrating from existing copperbased and cable-based networks towards fibre and are even intensifying copper switch-off . Nevertheless , three historically copper-strong countries ( UK , Germany and Italy ) are accounting for almost 60 % of homes left to be passed with fibre in the EU27 + UK region .
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic , in turn , has demonstrated the necessity of both FTTH deployments and adoption . The governments and local authorities are increasingly involved in the digital transformation , introducing revised national programmes , subsidies and relevant policy framework to promote fibre expansion .
“ The telecoms sector can play a critical role in Europe ’ s
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ability to meet its sustainability commitments by reshaping how Europeans work , live and do business . As the most sustainable telecommunication infrastructure technology , full fibre is a prerequisite to achieve the European Green Deal and make the European Union ’ s economy more sustainable ,” declared Vincent Garnier , director general of the FTTH Council Europe . “ Competitive investments in this technology should , therefore , remain a high political priority and we
look forward to working with the EU institutions , national governments and NRAs towards removing barriers in a way to full-fibre Europe .”
Iceland remains a leader in FTTH / B penetration , championing the ranking with 70.7 % followed closely by Belarus ( 70,4 %). Spain ( 62.6 %) reclaims the third position from Sweden ( 61.8 %) and assumes the last spot on the podium of fibre leaders .
The fibre market in Belgium is still nascent but it has been growing rapidly ; the FTTH / B subscriptions grew by 42 % and FTTH / B Homes Passed by 155 % ( compared to September 2019 ). Belgium currently ranks last among European countries but given the ambitious initiatives towards full-fibre , the country is on track to experience a significant upturn of FTTH connections in the coming years .
The evolution towards fibre in Israel has been substantial ; FTTH / B subscriptions grew by
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64 % and FTTH / B Homes Passed
by 25 %, compared to September
2019 . By September 2020 ,
7.7 % of Israeli households were
subscribed to FTTH , surpassing
Italy ( 5.9 %) and the United
Kingdom ( 3.7 %).
Malta ’ s fibre market has
experienced significant growth :
FTTH / B subscriptions grew by
27 % and FTTH / B Homes Passed
by 35 % ( compared to Sept .
2019 ). Furthermore , 18.3 % of
Maltese households were FTTH
customers by September 2020 ,
above United Kingdom ( 3.7 %)
but far below Sweden
( 61.8 %) or Spain ( 62.2 %).
By September 2020 ,
5.2 % of Cypriot households
were FTTH customers , a
percentage that places
Cyprus above United
Kingdom ( 3.7 %) and
Germany ( 4.9 %) but far
below Malta ( 18.3 %) or
Iceland ( 70.7 %).
“ The data of this new
edition of our Market
Panorama confirms that
fibre roll-outs are taking
place at an increasingly
faster pace in Europe ,
and the EU is making a very
significant - though uneven
- progress in meeting its
connectivity targets ,” noted
Eric Festraets , president of the
FTTH Council Europe . “ This
year ’ s report demonstrates
that three European economies
that have recently intensified
their fibre rollout – Germany ,
Italy , and the UK – still account
for almost 60 per cent of the
entire remaining homes to be
passed in the EU27 + UK region .
This further demonstrates
that the implementation of
the new European Electronic
Communications Code and
in particular of its Very High
Capacity Networks provision
will be essential to meet the
ambitions of ‘ Europe ’ s Digital
Decade ’ and a greater digital
empowerment by 2030 .”
Broadband outranks pay-TV in W . Europe
The number of Western
European pay-TV subscribers
will fall by 4m between 2020
and 2026 to 103m , according
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EUROMEDIA 17 |