2008 Western European Internet, Broadband and Convergence Statistics (tables only)

Statistics show that the European telecom market started to show a vibrancy in 2007 that was lacking in previous years, stimulated by continuing investments in the broadband sectors.

The European broadband market saw slower growth in 2008, particularly in highly penetrated markets such as the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Growth is still driven by competition and regulatory measures to improve access to local loops. Technological developments in both the cable and DSL platforms have extended broadband from its limited PC-based function to a fundamental component of many households requiring entertainment through services such as Video-on-Demand and IPTV. The main growth driver remains DSL, followed by cable, though fibre has enjoyed an improving footprint in certain markets, notably Scandinavia, The Netherlands and Italy. Satellite Internet and wireless broadband retain a niche presence. Regulatory efforts during 2009 will concentrate on competitor access to fibre networks. This report presents statistics and analysis on Europe’s broadband market in 2008, including developments in ADSL, cable and fibre technologies, and noting the status of EU and government policies to encourage broadband take-up to the end of the decade.

Several European countries now head international league tables for broadband penetration. European Commission (EC) financial assistance coupled with intervention from National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) has gone some way to evening out regional disparities, though broadband take-up is generally highest in countries where infrastructure-based competition exists via cable and other alternative networks, and where Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) is well regulated. Penetration remains highest in Iceland, Denmark, and The Netherlands, while second tier countries such as Italy and Spain are catching up quickly as considerable investments in infrastructure upgrades have helped boost the popularity if Internet-Protocol (IP) delivered content delivered as bundled triple play packages. The worst performing countries in the EU remain Ireland and Greece.

ADSL is the most common form of broadband access, though considerable consolidation among cablecos in a number of markets has enabled the principal operators to challenge incumbent DSL providers effectively. A variety of technical alternative solutions are available, including satellite, Broadband over Powerline (BPL), fibre, dedicated lines and Wireless Local Loop (WLL), which together accounted about 20% of new lines in 2007 (principally fibre).

Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year.

Notes On Forecasting Scenario

The following notes provide some background to our scenario forecasting methodology:

·         This report includes what we term scenario forecasts. By describing long-range scenarios we identify a band within which we expect market growth to occur. The associated text describes what we see as the most likely growth trend within this band.

·         The projections shown in the tables in this report are based on our own historical information, as well as on telecommunication sector statistics from official and non-official, national and international sources. We assume a possible deviation of 15-20% around this data.

·         All statistics for GDP, revenue, etc are shown in US$, in order to maintain consistency within and between markets. At the same time we acknowledge that this can introduce some irregularities.