Europe (Western) - Telecoms, Mobile & Broadband Overview and Analysis 2004

Synopsis

The telecommunications market in Western Europe began to recover in 2003 after a steep decline, and near collapse of some major operators, in 2001-2002. 2003 also saw the arrival of the European Union’s New Regulatory Framework, designed to further standardise and liberalise the regulatory environment for electronic communications among the member states of the EU. Countries which had not formally acceded to the EU, such as Switzerland, Norway and Iceland, passed new telecommunications legislation to remain in step with the general flow of regulation. 2003 also saw the beginning of a real acceleration in the pace of broadband adoption, with ADSL providing the bulk of growth as incumbents began to seriously push the service. Cable broadband continued to be significant, in particular as networks were slowly digitised. Other broadband options – particularly Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) – also achieved commercial prominence in some states in 2003 and 2004, looking set for further growth in 2005. Mobile growth continued to be the other main driver of the market, with subscriber numbers expanding and the deployment of the first commercial 3G services in 2003 and 2004.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
• 2. Key highlights – 2004 – 2005
  • 2.1 Telecom market overview
  • 2.2 Regulatory environment
  • 2.3 Overview
  • 2.4 The New Regulatory Framework (NRF)
  • 2.5 Mixed implementation of the NRF
  • 2.6 Status of transposition in the member states
    • 2.6.1 Framework Directive – issues and concerns
    • 2.6.2 Authorisation Directive – issues and concerns
    • 2.6.3 Access and Interconnection Directive – issues and concerns
    • 2.6.4 Universal Service Directive – issues and concerns
    • 2.6.5 E-Privacy Directive – issues and concerns
    • 2.6.6 Competition Directive – issues and concerns
  • 2.7 New accession countries
  • 2.8 Infrastructure
    • 2.8.1 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
    • 2.8.2 Satellite
• 3. Major telecom players in Western Europe
  • 3.1 Overview
  • 3.2 Incumbents
    • 3.2.1 Debt levels
    • 3.2.2 The Nordic merger
• 4. Data market
• 5. Internet
  • 5.1.1 Internet access locations
  • 6. Broadband
  • 6.1.2 ADSL
  • 6.1.3 Cable broadband
  • 7. Mobile communications
  • 7.2 Leading Western European nations by subscribers
    • 7.2.1 Third Generation Networks
• 8. Broadcasting
  • 8.1 Overview
• 9. Related reports
• 10. 2005 Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Europe reports

• Table 1 – Telecommunications market – 2001 - 2003
• Table 2 – European telecommunications overview, main lines – 2002 - 2004
• Table 3 – Top 5 European telcos by revenue - 2003*
• Table 4 – Sample debt levels of major Western European telcos – 2002 - 2003
• Table 5 – Transatlantic IP traffic statistics bandwidth – 2003 - 2006
• Table 6 – Internet users and penetration - June 2004
• Table 7 – Retail broadband Internet access lines and growth – 2003
• Table 8 – DSL subscriber lines – 2001 - 2003
• Table 9 – Cable modem subscribers – 2002 - 2003
• Table 10 – Western Europe mobile subscribers – 1997 - 2003
• Table 11 – Top 10 Western European nations by subscribers – 2001 - 2003
• Table 12 – Top 20 Western European nations by subscribers – June 2004
• Table 13 – UMTS subscribers – 2003
• Table 14 – UMTS subscribers – June 2004
• Table 15 – Number of TV households – 2003
• Table 16 – All TV platforms as share of all households – 2003