Fibre growth in Europe: FTTH Council Market Panorama

Fibre Growth in Europe exceeds 50%

On the 12th of May, the FTTH Council of Europe released their market panorama. This is a useful report for anyone in the FTTH ecosystem to get a view of the market in Europe.

As a region, Europe crossed the magic threshold of 50% rollout. FTTH/B Coverage in EU39 now amounts to more than half of total homes. The panorama shows where countries are ahead of the average of 50%, and which countries need to catch up.

Lots done: more to do.

Which country in the EU 39 has topped the homes passed chart in absolute number over the last year? France topped the chart by a long shot with 4.6m new homes passed last year. The next 3 fastest growing countries in the EU27+Uk  (in terms of volume) are Italy, Germany, and the UK.

And with the steady growth in the roll-out of FTTH across Europe, what is missing? Just three countries account for almost 60% of homes left to be passed with fibre in the EU27+UK region. They are Germany, UK and Italy. Particularly of note are the big economies of the UK and Germany as they are languishing at the lower end of the table at 3.7% and 4.9% respectively. The news is not bad as they are growing fast, largely driven by the AltNets in-country.

Indigo’s role in fibre growth

Altnets drive the race to full-fibre, and Indigo are here to help. Directly and through our subsidiary, 4site, we are working with some of the best AltNets in the Europe.  Siro, CityFibre and Community Fibre to name a few.

Even though the market panorama shows positive indicators of the growth in Europe, the market excitement for fibre must not gloss over its challenges. Our CRO, Ray O’Connor, spoke about fibre challenges in his recent blog.

With a huge number of homes still not passed, appointing people with the expertise to design and build fibre networks can be more difficult than you might think.

Indigo provides a comprehensive catalogue of design, build and support engineering services for leading-edge telecommunications infrastructure. We design fibre-to-the-home/premise installations, build and maintain high availability, business-critical fibre optic networks.

Summary of the Report

• Number of homes passed by fibre (FTTH/B) reaches nearly 183 million homes in EU39;
• France, Italy, Germany and the UK have the biggest increase in Europe in the number of homes passed;
• Three countries are accounting for almost 60% of homes left to be passed with fibre in the EU27+UK region;
• FTTH/B Coverage in Europe surpasses more than half of total homes;
• 16.6% growth in the number of fibre subscribers;
• Iceland leads the European FTTH/B league table second year in a row;
• Belgium, Israel, Malta and Cyprus enter the FTTH/B ranking for the first time.

Looking for Design, Build or Support Services?

There is no doubt that there is more of a focus on the demand for fibre as data usage and bandwidth has intensified. Do you need help to design, build or support a fibre network?

Take a look at our Fibre Solutions.