The FTTH Council Europe used last week’s FTTH Conference 2023 in Madrid, Spain, as a platform to release five reports on the current and future state of fiber to the home (FTTH) in Europe. Among the many findings, the council suggests that as of September 22, 2022, 62% of homes in the EU39 bloc had access to FTTH infrastructure.
The reports released last week include the latest editions of the FTTH/B Market Panorama 2023, the FTTH/B Global Ranking 2023, the FTTH/B Forecasts for 2023-2028, and FTTH/B in Rural Areas, all prepared by IDATE. The FTTH Council Europe also published for the first time an FTTH/B Investments Tracker report, an initiative from the council’s Investors Committee “powered by Macquarie Group Limited.”
The FTTH/B Market Panorama 2023 report showed that FTTH now passes 219 million homes in the EU39 as of last September, up from nearly 198.4 million homes in September 2021. (The EU39 includes the 27 European Union Member States plus the United Kingdom, four CIS countries, Andorra, Iceland, Israel, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, and Turkey.) Countries that made significant jumps over the previous 12 months in terms of homes passed include the UK (up 4.2 million year-on-year), France (3.5 million), Turkey (2.9 million), and Italy (2.1 million). On a percentage basis, growth leaders included Belgium (60%), the UK (51%), Serbia (40%), The Netherlands (34.7%), and Greece (34.5%).
The number of FTTH and fiber to the building (FTTB) subscribers in the EU39 reached 108 million. The markets with the fastest subscriber growth over the past year were France (up 3.3 million), the UK (1.5 million), Spain (1.1 million), Turkey (898,000), and Italy (822,000). The take-up rate among the EU39 grew 1% versus 2021 to 49.5%.
“The most recent market figures show that we are on the right track to achieve the ambitious connectivity targets set by the European Commission for 2030. However, the data demonstrate that efforts are still required to convince subscribers to choose fiber. Take-up rates are too low in many countries and demand drivers are multiple and complex, and require attention from policymakers as well as service providers,” commented Eric Festraets, president of the FTTH Council Europe. “We rely on policymakers to support the rollout in areas where there is no viable commercial business case and encourage governments and regulators to keep on creating an environment which is favorable to healthy competition and attractive for private investors.”
Looking ahead, the FTTH/B Forecasts for 2023-2028 foresees approximately 211 million homes will be passed with FTTH/B in 2028 in the EU27+UK and 308 million homes passed in the EU39. IDATE and the FTTH Council Europe believe the top three countries in terms of homes passed will be Germany (33.5 million), France (33.2 million), and the UK (30.7 million).
Meanwhile, the report predicts the number of subscribers will reach 137 million in the EU27+UK and 196 million in the EU39 region, with take-up rates seeing “steady growth” in both regions.
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