Number of European FTTH Subscribers Grows Rapidly

BRUSSELS – The number of fiber-to-the-home and fiber-to-the-building subscribers in Europe grew by 24 percent in the first half of 2011, according to the latest figures published by the FTTH Council Europe and based on research by IDATE.

Excluding Russia, Europe had 5 million FTTH/B subscribers by the end of June 2011, out of a total of 28 million homes passed. Russia added 964,000 new FTTH/B subscribers during the first half of 2011, giving the country a total of 5.15 million subscribers. Including Russia, Europe now has 10.2 million FTTH/B subscribers out of 39.8 million homes passed - a 22 percent rise from year-end 2010.

Growth Driven by Eastern Europe
Baltic countries and Europe's new member states have played an important role in driving FTTH/B growth; Hungary and the Ukraine are the latest to enter the Council's European FTTH Ranking, at 11th and 16th places respectively.

The Hungarian market, with 235,055 FTTH/B subscribers and a 6 percent subscriber penetration rate, is very fragmented, with many small, local FTTH/B providers. Magyar Telekom is the largest player, with 290,000 FTTH homes passed by mid-2011 and an ambitious plan to provide up to 100 Mbps to 30 percent of the country's households by 2013. The Ukraine has 450,000 FTTH/B subscribers and a 2.2 percent subscriber penetration rate. Vimpelcom is the main private FTTB player in the country.

Lithuania still leads the European FTTH Ranking with 26.6 percent of households subscribing to FTTH/B, followed by Norway, Sweden, Slovenia, Russia, Slovakia, Latvia, Bulgaria, Estonia and Denmark. Each of the top 10 FTTH nations has a penetration rate of at least 6 percent.

By contrast, many of Western Europe's largest economies continue to fall behind. Neither the U.K., Germany nor Spain features in the ranking.