FTTH Council Issues First Official European Ranking Of FTTH Market Penetration

BRUSSELS — The first official European Fibre”to”the”Home (FTTH) ranking shows smaller countries leading the way in FTTH connections. Mid”term projections show, however, that bigger economies are closing the gap.

Sweden, Norway and Slovenia are the leaders in the first official European ranking of FTTH penetration published by the FTTH Council Europe today. The ranking shows the percentage of homes that receive broadband communications services over direct fibre optic connections. More than 80 percent of the total homes connected to FTTH across Europe can be found in just six countries.

The ranking makes clear that in the largest countries, FTTH has still a long way to go. Joeri Van Bogaert, President of the FTTH Council Europe comments, “We see evidence that the larger economies are clearing the gap quickly. This trend is very clear in France for instance. A documented overview of this uptake will be unveiled by the Council in February 2009 during our annual conference in Copenhagen.”

According to the new market research conducted between June 2007 and June 2008, France demonstrated the highest growth of any European nation with over 118,000 new subscribers during this time period. Norway took second place with over 69,000 new subscribers, whilst Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Slovenia all followed with over 30,000 new FTTH subscribers.

The official FTTH”ranking is designed to provide the telecommunications industry, governments and regulators with a unique snapshot of fibre access penetration across the continent. According to Joeri Van Bogaert, FTTH is a crucial enabler of economic wellbeing, “That’s why the FTTH Council Europe wanted to chart its ongoing progress as more and more connections are made across Europe. I am confident we’ll see penetration further increase, when a growing number of subscribers in Europe start to experience the superior capabilities of FTTH.”

The European FTTH”ranking is the first in a series of in”depth market studies conducted by the FTTH Council Europe. At the annual conference of the Council, taking place on 11th and 12th February 2009 in Copenhagen, several presentations will focus on the market development in Europe and worldwide.

European FTTH”Ranking:

Country      Households connected (%)
-------      ------------------------
Sweden                           8.28
Norway                           7.22
Slovenia                         4.72
Iceland                          3.90
Denmark                          3.11
Finland                          1.73
Netherland                       1.43
Italy                            1.34
Estonia                          0.99
Latvia                           0.99