Skip to main content

Rise of Next Generation Internet Access Across Europe

The number of European households within a reach of high-speed broadband of at least 30 Mbps download speeds reached 62 percent of EU homes at the end of 2013, according to a new market study by IHS.

The study, sponsored by the European Commission (EC), also shows that 4G LTE wireless coverage across Europe recorded a dramatic 32 percent increase in 2013.

One of the main goals of the "Digital Agenda for Europe" is a universal high-speed (at least 30 Mbps download) broadband coverage across the EU by 2020.

"According to our research, challenges remain in passing this target, with rural Next Generation Access (NGA) coverage continuing to be especially problematic," said Alzbeta Fellenbaum, senior analyst at IHS.

Only 18.1 percent of EU rural homes had access to NGA broadband at the end of 2013. While this represents a considerable improvement by nearly six percentage points compared to 2012, a lot remains to be done if universal NGA coverage is to be achieved.

Key findings from the market study include:

  • In 2013, 20.5 million new households gained access to next generation broadband.
  • By the end of 2013, 62 percent of households across EU Member States had access to high-speed broadband (at least 30 Mbps download speed), against 53.7 percent in 2012.
  • NGA coverage growth was particularly supported by Very-High-Speed DSL (VDSL) deployments. In 2013, VDSL became the fastest growing fixed broadband technology for the second year in a row, growing six percentage points in the year to reach 31.2 percent of households.
  • LTE wireless coverage across Europe recorded a dramatic 32 percent increase in 2013.
  • Rural areas remain a challenge in terms of broadband coverage. Rural households continue to be under-serviced by fixed technologies (89.8 percent coverage at rural level, compared to 97.2 percent total EU coverage), and particularly by NGA technologies (18.1 percent coverage at rural level versus 62.0 percent of all EU households).

Among the other key findings from the study is a steady increase in the number of European households within a reach of high-speed NGA networks.

Out of the 31 study countries, 22 countries performed above the European average (62 percent) in regards to NGA availability, and only four countries reported NGA coverage below 50 percent (France, Croatia, Greece and Italy). Italy had the lowest coverage of NGA technologies, with a total availability of 20.8 percent of households.

Looking at the regional coverage maps, the UK is the most impressive with vast majority regions being 100 percent covered by fixed networks.

Popular posts from this blog

Digital Talent Demand Exceeds Supply in Asia-Pac

Even the savviest CEO's desire for a digital transformation advantage has to face the global market reality -- there simply isn't enough skilled and experienced talent available to meet demand. According to the latest market study by IDC, around 60-80 percent of Asia-Pacific (AP) organizations find it "difficult" or "extremely difficult" to fill many IT roles -- including cybersecurity, software development, and data insight professionals. Major consequences of the skills shortage are increased workload on remaining digital business and IT employees, increased security risks, and loss of "hard-to-replace" critical transformation knowledge. Digital Business Talent Market Development Although big tech companies' layoffs are making headlines, they are not representative of the overall global marketplace. Ongoing difficulty to fill key practitioner vacancies is still among the top issues faced by leaders across industries. "Skills are difficul
Read more

Mobile Device Market Still Awaiting Recovery

The mobile devices market has experienced three years of unpredictable demand. The global pandemic, geopolitical pressures, supply chain issues, and macroeconomic headwinds have hindered the sector's consistent growth potential. This extremely challenging environment has dramatically affected both demand and supply chains. It has led to subsequent inflationary pressures, leading to a worsening global cost of living crisis suppressing growth and confidence in the sector. In tandem, mobile device industry stakeholders have become more cautious triggering market uncertainties. Mobile Device Market Development Operating under such a backdrop, the development of mobile device ecosystems and vendor landscapes have been impacted severely. Many of these market pressures persisted throughout 2022 and now into 2023, borne chiefly by the smartphone market. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, worldwide smartphone shipments in 2022 declined 9.6 percent Year-over-Year
Read more

Global Digital Business and IT Consulting Outlook

Across the globe, CEOs and their leadership teams continue to seek information and guidance about planned Digital Transformation initiatives and the most effective enterprise organization change management practices. Worldwide IT and Business Services revenue will grow from $1.13 trillion in 2022 to $1.2 trillion in 2023 -- that's a 5.7 percent year-over-year growth, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). The mid-term to long-term outlook for the market has also increased -- the five-year CAGR is forecast at 5.2 percent, compared to the previous 4.9 percent. Digital Sevices & Consulting Market Development IDC has raised the growth projection despite a weak economic outlook, because of vendor performances across 2022, growth indicators from adjacent markets, increased government funding, and inflation impacts. The actual 2022 market growth was 6.7 percent (in constant currency), which was 87 basis points higher than forecast last year, alth
Read more