broadband coverage in europe - wired · 2016. 3. 14. · idate 8 2. executive summary there were...

IDATE 1

Broadband Coverage in Europe Final Report 2011 Survey Data as of 31 December 2010

DG INFSO

80106 C

December 2011

Development of Broadband Access in Europe

IDATE 3

Table of contents 1. Methodological notes ............................... ........................................................................................6

2. Executive summary.................................. .........................................................................................8

3. European benchmark................................. .....................................................................................12

3.1. EU-27 + Norway & Iceland at the end of 2010 ...................................................................... 12

3.1.1. Fixed broadband subscriber bases and penetration ................................................... 12

3.1.2. DSL coverage and penetration .................................................................................... 14

3.1.3. Cable modem coverage and penetration .................................................................... 21

3.1.4. FTTH/B coverage and penetration .............................................................................. 27

3.1.5. WiMAX solutions.......................................................................................................... 29

3.1.6. Satellite solutions......................................................................................................... 30

3.1.7. 3G coverage and take-up ............................................................................................ 31

3.2. EU-27 + Norway & Iceland, from year-end 2008 to year-end 2010....................................... 35

3.2.1. Coverage ..................................................................................................................... 35

3.2.2. Penetration................................................................................................................... 39

3.2.3. Download speeds ........................................................................................................ 42

3.2.4. Origin of DSL connections ........................................................................................... 50

4. Country profiles................................... ............................................................................................53

4.1. Austria .................................................................................................................................... 53

4.2. Belgium .................................................................................................................................. 60

4.3. Bulgaria .................................................................................................................................. 67

4.4. Cyprus .................................................................................................................................... 74

4.5. The Czech Republic............................................................................................................... 80

4.6. Denmark................................................................................................................................. 87

4.7. Estonia ................................................................................................................................... 94

4.8. Finland.................................................................................................................................. 101

4.9. France .................................................................................................................................. 108

4.10. Germany .............................................................................................................................. 115

4.11. Greece.................................................................................................................................. 122

4.12. Hungary................................................................................................................................ 129

4.13. Iceland.................................................................................................................................. 137

4.14. Ireland .................................................................................................................................. 144

4.15. Italy....................................................................................................................................... 152

4.16. Latvia.................................................................................................................................... 160

4.17. Lithuania............................................................................................................................... 167

4.18. Luxembourg ......................................................................................................................... 175


IDATE 4

4.19. Malta..................................................................................................................................... 182

4.20. The Netherlands................................................................................................................... 189

4.21. Norway ................................................................................................................................. 196

4.22. Poland .................................................................................................................................. 203

4.23. Portugal ................................................................................................................................ 212

4.24. Romania............................................................................................................................... 219

4.25. Slovakia................................................................................................................................ 226

4.26. Slovenia ............................................................................................................................... 235

4.27. Spain .................................................................................................................................... 242

4.28. Sweden ................................................................................................................................ 249

4.29. The United Kingdom ............................................................................................................ 256

5. Glossary ........................................... ..............................................................................................264


IDATE 5

Figures

Figure 1: Gaps between DSL coverage in rural areas and national DSL coverage ............................... 8 Figure 2: Gaps of 0% to 17% between DSL penetration in rural areas and national DSL penetration .. 9 Figure 3: Proportion of fixed broadband connections* with download speeds over 2/8 Mbps ............. 10 Figure 4: Population coverage of 3G/3G+ networks ............................................................................. 11 Figure 5: Fixed broadband subscriber base at the end of 2010 (in million subscribers) ...................... 12 Figure 6: Fixed broadband penetration at the end of 2010 ................................................................... 13 Figure 7: National DSL coverage at the end of 2010 ............................................................................ 14 Figure 8: DSL coverage in rural areas at the end of 2010 .................................................................... 15 Figure 9: National DSL subscriber base at the end of 2010 (in million subscribers) ............................ 16 Figure 10: National DSL penetration at the end of 2010....................................................................... 17 Figure 11: DSL penetration in rural areas at the end of 20010............................................................. 18 Figure 12: DSL subscriber bases broken down by download rates, at the end of 2010....................... 19 Figure 13: Breakdown of rural DSL subscriber bases by download rate, at the end of 2010............... 19 Figure 14: DSL subscriber bases broken down by access origin, at the end of 2010 .......................... 20 Figure 15: Breakdown of rural DSL subscriber bases by access origin, at the end of 2010 ................ 20 Figure 16: National cable modem coverage at the end of 2010 ........................................................... 21 Figure 17: Cable modem coverage in rural areas at the end of 2010................................................... 22 Figure 18: National cable modem subscriber bases at the end of 2010 (in million subscribers).......... 23 Figure 19: National cable modem penetration at the end of 2010 ........................................................ 24 Figure 20: Cable modem penetration in rural areas at the end of 2010 ............................................... 25 Figure 21: Breakdown of cable modem subscriber bases by download rates, at the end of 2010....... 26 Figure 22: Breakdown of rural cable modem subscriber bases by download rates, end 2010 ............ 26 Figure 23: Number of FTTH/FTTB homes passed, at the end of 2010 ................................................ 27 Figure 24: Number of FTTH/FTTB subscribers, at the end of 2010...................................................... 28 Figure 25: WiMAX subscriber base, at the end of 2010 (in thousands)................................................ 29 Figure 26: National 3G (UMTS) population coverage at the end of 2010............................................. 31 Figure 27: National 3G+ (HSDPA) population coverage at the end of 2010......................................... 32 Figure 28: National territorial 3G (UMTS) coverage at the end of 2010 ............................................... 33 Figure 29: National 3G (UMTS) penetration at the end of 2009 ........................................................... 34 Figure 30: National DSL coverage ........................................................................................................ 35 Figure 31: Rural DSL coverage............................................................................................................. 36 Figure 32: National cable modem coverage.......................................................................................... 37 Figure 33: Rural cable modem coverage .............................................................................................. 38 Figure 34: Broadband penetration by technology, 2008 and 2010 ....................................................... 39 Figure 35: National broadband penetration, 2008 to 2010.................................................................... 40 Figure 36: Rural broadband penetration (DSL + cable modem), 2008 to 2010.................................... 41 Figure 37: National DSL download rate segmentation (Dec. 2008-Dec. 2010) .................................... 42 Figure 38: National DSL download rate segmentation (Dec. 2010)...................................................... 43 Figure 39: Rural DSL download rate segmentation (Dec. 2008-Dec. 2010)......................................... 44 Figure 40: Rural DSL download rate segmentation (Dec. 2010) .......................................................... 45 Figure 41: National cable modem download rate segmentation (Dec. 2008-Dec. 2010) ..................... 46 Figure 42: National cable modem download rate segmentation (Dec. 2010) ....................................... 47 Figure 43: Cable modem download rate segmentation for rural areas (Dec. 2008-Dec. 2010) ........... 48 Figure 44: Cable modem download rate segmentation for rural areas (Dec. 2010) ............................. 49 Figure 45: National DSL market share (31 Dec. 2008-31 Dec. 2010) .................................................. 50 Figure 46: National DSL market share as of 31 December 2010 ......................................................... 51 Figure 47: Incumbent carriers’ national DSL market share................................................................... 52

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Methodological notes

IDATE 6

1. Methodological notes

The goal of this report is to deliver the final results of the survey on Broadband coverage and take-up across Europe (29 countries, i.e. EU-27 Member States + Norway and Iceland) at the end of 2010. Averages have been calculated for 6 different country groups:

• EU-15, which covers the 15 Member States of the European Union as it was organised just before 1st April 2004;

• EU-15 + 2, which covers the EU-15, plus Norway and Iceland; • EU-25, which covers the 25 Member States of the European Union until December 2006; • EU-25 + 2, which covers the EU-25, plus Norway and Iceland; • EU-27, which covers the 27 Member States of the European Union at present; • EU-27 + 2, which covers the EU-27, plus Norway and Iceland.

The data contained in this document was collected by IDATE and its partners, from broadband networks operators, regulators and various sources in each country examined.

All of the principal broadband platforms were taken into consideration: primarily ADSL, cable and FTTx (including VDSL), but also other platforms such as WLL/WLAN, satellite and PLC. 3G coverage and take-up (measured by the number of 3G SIM cards and 3G PC cards sold) were also examined, but separately from fixed broadband access.

Data refers to the situation as of 31 December 2010

The survey distinguishes Urban, Suburban and Rural areas , with the following definitions: • Urban area: a population density superior to 500 people/km²; • Suburban area: a population density between 100 people/km² and 500 people/km²; • Rural area: a population density below 100 people/km².

In some countries, such as Malta or Iceland, this breakdown does not apply because of their small size.

Segmentation by download rate (for ADSL and cable modem) is as follows: • less than 256 kbps (bottom limit for being classified as broadband), • from 256 kbps (included) to 512 Kbps included, • from 512 Kbps excluded to 1 Mbps included, • from 1 Mbps excluded to 2 Mbps included, • from 2 Mbps excluded to 8 Mbps included, • from 8 Mbps excluded to 30 Mbps included, • more than 30 Mbps.

Download rate classes for FTTx are limited to the upper 4 categories, the first one covering up to 2 Mbps connections.

We have split the provenance of DSL connections into 3 categories:

• DSL access sold directly by incumbent carriers through retail offers; • DSL access sold by third-party ISPs through wholesale offers marketed by the incumbent carrier

(simple resale or bitstream); • DSL access through unbundling offers (shared access or full unbundling).

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Methodological notes

IDATE 7

Throughout the report, “DSL Coverage ” figures refer to the percentage of the population that depends on a Local Exchange equipped with a DSLAM. In other words, coverage measurement includes those people (Households or Businesses Units) who reside too far from these switches to be able to purchase a DSL connection even if they wanted to do so.

The term “Eligibility ” refers to "the percentage of the population that depends on Local Exchanges equipped with a DSLAM and excluding those people (Households or Businesses Units) who reside too far from these switches to be able to purchase a DSL connection even if they wanted to do so”. Furthermore, these eligibility percentages will differ for the available download rates. For instance, eligibility for a downstream rate of 2 Mbps will be lower than eligibility for access running at 512 Kbps.

No eligibility data exist for all countries as operators cannot measure precisely how many local loops are too long to support DSL, added to which new technical developments can increase eligibility levels (e.g. the introduction of REACH DSL).

In some countries (e.g. Poland and the Czech Republic), where fixed telephone lines are not available to all households, DSL coverage was recalculated to obtain the actual percentage of the population that can be physically equipped with DSL (see detailed calculations in the country monographs).

Throughout the report, “Cable modem coverage ” figures refer to the percentage of the population living in households actually passed for cable. In other words, unlike DSL coverage figures, cable modem coverage also corresponds to eligibility figures.

In respect to 3G customers , measurement is based on the number of broadband mobile customers. Figures refer to subscribers using 3G-based services and paying specifically for broadband data packages in a few cases only (e.g. the UK, Spain). More often, they refer to active 3G subscribers (i.e. mobile users with a 3G-capable handset and at least one connection to a 3G-based service over the past 3 months, regardless of the duration or the amount of data transmitted).

3G coverage is measured as a % of population (according to locations of residence) and as a % of territory. Wherever possible we distinguish between 3G and enhanced networks (more specifically HSDPA). Figures on 3G coverage refer to the mobile network with the highest rate of coverage in each national market.

Country-specific data were also used to establish European benchmarks and averages. Averages have been calculated on a weighted basis.

NB: In the tables and graphs, “n.a.” or no indication means that data is not available (while "0" indicates that there are no subscribers) and "n.r." is used when categories are not relevant.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Executive summary

IDATE 8

2. Executive summary There were 134.7 million fixed broadband subscribers in the 29 European countries surveyed1 at the end of 2010, a 7% increase over the previous year. This translates into a 26.5% penetration rate (26.5 subscribers per 100 inhabitants, 1.7 percentage points higher than at the end of 2009) on average, and 28.8% when looking only at Western European countries (the EU-15 + Norway and Iceland). Country by country, take-up figures range from 14% in Romania to 39% in Denmark.

DSL and cable modem remain by far the most prominent technologies. They still account for 90% of total fixed broadband connections in the region. However, their share has been declining over recent years (down by 2.7% compared to the end of 2009). With 100.9 million subscribers (+3.8% in 2010), ADSL accounted for 74.9% of total fixed broadband connections at the end of 2010 (-2.1 percentage points) while cable modem accounted for 14.5% of the subscriber base (19.5 million subscribers, +5.2% in 2010). The remaining 10.6% are connected chiefly via fixed wireless access and FTTx technologies (including not only FTTH/B but also VDSL and DOCSIS 3.0) – with the latter enjoying the highest rates of increase (see below).

DSL coverage over 95%

One of the reasons why DSL is the dominant access mode is that the POTS network on which DSL technologies operate is very widely available. At the end of 2010, average DSL coverage was over 95% (95.2% in the EU-27 + 2), and even above 98% in Western European countries (98.1% in the EU-15 + 2). This is 0.8 points higher than at the end of 2009, but progress has been slowing down when compared with previous years. At the national level, DSL coverage is now close to or over 95% in 19 countries. The 10 countries lagging behind are Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, Greece, the Czech Republic and Estonia, with the first four countries listed reporting below 83% coverage despite significant progress in some of them in recent years (not least a +14% increase in Romania in the past two years).

Furthermore, these national figures still reveal discrepancies between urban/suburban and rural areas. On average in the EU-27+2, DSL coverage in rural areas stood at 83.1% at the end of 2010, compared to 99.1% in urban areas: the gap between coverage in urban and rural areas has narrowed from 21 points at the end of 2008 to 19 points at the end of 2009, and to 16 points at the end of 2010.

Figure 1: Gaps ranging from 0% to 63% between DSL co verage in rural areas and national DSL coverage

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

BE DK FR LU UK NL ES PT SE AT HU CY DE NO IT FI IE IC EE CZ EL SI LV LT SK RO BG PL

DSL coverage in rural areas gap with national DSL coverage

Nota: Definition of rural areas not applicable in Malta

Source: IDATE survey

1 EU-27 plus Norway and Iceland


IDATE 9

The gap between coverage in rural areas and in urban areas remains very significant in Bulgaria (82 points with no change in 2010), Cyprus (65 points), Romania and Slovakia (45 points each), Poland (36 points) and Greece (38 points) but it is zero in the Benelux countries, Denmark, France, the UK and Spain.

As to ADSL penetration, national figures range from 3.9% in Romania to 30.5% in France, with a weighted average of 19.9% for the 29 countries at the end of 2010 (+0.7 percentage points compared to the end of 2009) and 23.1% for Western countries (+0.8 pp). At the end of 2010, DSL penetration was above the regional average in only eight countries, but these include the four largest in terms of population (France, Germany, the UK and Italy). In Nordic countries, ADSL penetration rates have decreased in recent years due to competition from FTTx (Sweden) and from 3G (Finland, Norway).

There are disparities between penetration levels in rural areas and national averages, as well as general differences in the penetration/coverage ratio. This means that in rural areas, not only does deficient coverage limit penetration, but the fact that broadband came later to those areas has created further delays in take-up. Some countries are nevertheless reporting higher ADSL penetration in rural areas due to a lack of or limited coverage for competing access technologies which are largely available in the rest of the country (cable, fibre…): starting with Belgium where cable modem was not available in some parts of Wallonia and, to a lesser extent, in the UK, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg, Norway and Slovenia.

Figure 2: Gaps of 0% to 17% between DSL penetration in rural areas and national DSL penetration

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

FR IC LU DE UK CY DK IT EL NL FI NO ES SE IE SI AT EE BE PT PL CZ HU LV SK LT BG RO

DSL penetration in rural areas gap with DSL national penetration

Nota: Definition of rural areas not applicable in Malta Source: IDATE survey

On the matter of download speed, 80% of DSL users subscribe to offers running at over 2 Mbps (up 9% compared to the end of 2009) and 35% to a service running at over 8 Mbps (+7 points). Connections delivering speeds of over 2 Mbps account for 90% or more of all DSL in 12 countries, with close to 100% in six of them (Belgium, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, and Slovakia) while they accounted for less than 35% in Slovenia (34.1%), Poland (26%), and Cyprus (30%). Disparities between connection rates subscribed to nationally and in rural areas are narrowing only slowly, with the average share of DSL connections with download speeds over 2 Mbps still 12 points lower in rural areas than at national level at the end of 2010 – compared to 13 points at the end of 2009. As average speeds increase it may be more difficult for rural areas to close the gap due notably to technical limitations (the longer local loops, the lower DSL connection speeds)..

Regarding the origin of DSL access, 54% of DSL connections are supplied directly by incumbent carriers to end-users at the end of 2010 (1% lower than at the end of 2009), with competing offers being now based chiefly on unbundled lines (36%; + 2.4 points), while the share of resale/bitstream offers decreased to 10% of all DSL connections. Unbundling remains less common in rural areas but it is gaining ground over time (+3 percentage points in 2010) and it is now far more popular than connections supplied through resale/bitstream offers (24% of DSL connections via unbundled lines, compared to 13.3% via resale/bitstream solutions).


IDATE 10

Cable modem ahead of other fixed broadband access t echnologies

Cable modem availability is low compared to DSL: the average national coverage rate was only 45.1% at the end of 2010, and new deployments have been few and far between (+0.3 percentage points compared to the end of 2009). There are in fact some countries where cable is not or no longer available: Italy, Greece and Iceland while, in some large countries (France, the UK), cable is available primarily in big cities, with an average of only 14% coverage in rural areas.

Basic cable modem penetration stood at 3.8% at the end of 2010 – 19.5 million subscribers in the 29 countries, which is up 5.2% compared to the end of 2009 – and at only 1.4% in rural areas.

Download speeds are generally higher than for DSL: in particular, connections with download speeds over 8 Mbps account for nearly 69% of total basic cable modem subscriptions, which is double the figure for DSL. It is also more than 54% in rural areas (compared to 23% for DSL) – which may explain why cable modem is more successful in those areas with a penetration/coverage ratio of 10%, versus less than 9% at national levels.

Other fixed access technologies are making progress, notably FTTx which accounted for 11.3 million subscribers at the end of 2010, or 54.5% more than the year before, with connection speeds generally higher than 30 Mbps (more than half of total FTTx subscriber base or 5.7 million connections). FTTH/B still accounts only for one out of 3 FTTx customers (3.7 million FTTH/B subscribers at the end of 2010 in the 29 countries surveyed). Meanwhile, VDSL – which is largely available in Germany, in Belgium and in a few other countries — and DOCSIS 3.0 standard cable systems have developed more rapidly as some operators have invested primarily in the least costly network upgrades. The European average for FTTH/B coverage is less than 10%, compared to more than 30% for FTTx as a whole.

Fixed wireless access networks (notably WiMAX and two-way satellite) have also attracted 3.3 million subscribers altogether – which accounts for 2.5% of total fixed broadband connections. These technologies are mainly (but not only) used in areas where wireline connections are not available, and especially in rural areas.

83% of fixed broadband connections with download sp eeds over 2 Mbps

In total, (advertised) connection speeds exceed 2 Mbps for 83% of fixed broadband connections and 38% run at over 8 Mbps. The lowest speeds can be seen in Cyprus, Slovenia and Poland while the share of "over 2 Mbps" connections is close to 100% in nine countries (Bulgaria, Malta, Belgium, Slovakia, Latvia, Denmark, Portugal, the UK and Romania).

Figure 3: Proportion of fixed broadband connections* with download speeds over 2/8 Mbps

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

BG MT BE SK LV DK PT UK RO LU SE IC LT ES CZ IE NL 29 FR IT HU AT FI DE NO EE EL PL SI CY

>2 Mbps >8 Mbps

* DSL + cable modem + FTTx Source: IDATE survey


IDATE 11

Strong dynamics of mobile broadband access

In the mobile segment, 90% of the population, on average, was covered for 3G at the end of 2010, with six countries – Denmark, Malta, Finland, Sweden, Ireland and Latvia – at or very close to 100%, and four – the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia and Belgium – reporting 98% 3G coverage. A large portion of 3G networks have been upgraded to HSDPA and/or HSUPA – with 85% of the population having access to 3G+ services. Geographical coverage remains lower than that, however, as rural areas in particular are still underserved in numerous countries. In most European countries, geographical coverage for UMTS has reached 90-100% in urban areas but stands at less than 70% in rural areas in half of those countries.

Figure 4: Population coverage of 3G/3G+ networks

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

DK MT SE FI IE LV NL NO SI BE PT UK IT CY AT ES EL FR 29 EE LU RO DE HU SK IC BG LT PL CZ

3G+ 3G

Nota: 3G+ coverage data not available for the Czech Republic Source: IDATE survey

The number of active 3G users stood at 142.4 million at the end of 2010, i.e. nearly 22% of total mobile customers in the region.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe EU-27 + Norway & Iceland at the end of 2010

IDATE 12

3. European benchmark

3.1. EU-27 + Norway & Iceland at the end of 2010

3.1.1. Fixed broadband subscriber bases and penetra tion

Subscriber base

Figure 5: Fixed broadband subscriber base at the en d of 2010 (in million subscribers)

0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.5 0.7 0.9 1.0 1.4 1.6 1.7 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.33.0 3.0 3.4

6.2 6.4

10.6

13.3

21.3

26.2

19.5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

IC M T LU CY EE LV SI LT SK IE BG FI NO HU AT PT DK EL CZ RO SE BE NL PL ES IT UK FR DE

There were 134.7 million fixed broadband subscribers at the end of 2010 in the 29 European countries covered by the survey, representing a 7% increase over the previous year (125.8 million subscribers at the end of 2009). Germany (26.2 million), France (21.3 million) and the UK (19.5 million) remain the largest contributors to this base; the three countries together accounting for nearly half of the broadband subscriber base in the region. In the rest of Europe, on the one hand, growth was still very high in Bulgaria (+27.4% in 2010) and in Greece (+17.5%) and was over 10% in five other countries –Cyprus +13.3%, Poland +12.8%, the Czech Republic and Slovakia with +11.5% each, and Portugal +10.6%. On the other hand, growth is now low in some advanced countries (e.g. Netherlands, +2.8%), and has even decreased in Finland (-0.5%) for the second year in a row.

Table 1: Fixed broadband subscriber bases at the en d of 2010 (in million subscribers)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

114.763 116.601 128.481 130.319 132.852 134.690


IDATE 13

Fixed broadband penetration

Figure 6: Fixed broadband penetration at the end of 2010

39%

38%

35%

34%

33%

33%

32%

32%

32%

31%

29%

29%

26%

25%

24%

24%

23%

22%

22%

22%

21%

21%

20%

19%

19%

19%

17%

16%

14%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

DK

NL

NO

IC

LU

FR

SE

DE

UK

BE

FI

MT

EE

CY

AT

SI

IE

ES

IT

CZ

LT

LV

EL

PT

HU

BG

PL

SK

RO

average 29

26.5%

In terms of penetration, figures range from 14% in Romania to 39% in Denmark, with a weighted average for the 29 countries of 26.5%. Scandinavian and Benelux countries, plus France, Germany and the UK, all report penetration rates over or close to 30%, which are the highest in the world (only South Korea also appears in this range). The other two largest European countries, Spain and Italy, are still lagging behind at 22%. Take-up is generally lower in Eastern European countries, with Greece and Portugal also remaining home to relatively low penetration levels.

Table 2: Fixed broadband penetration at the end of 2010 (broadband connections as a % of the populatio n)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

28.7% 28.8% 27.1% 27.2% 26.4% 26.5%


IDATE 14

3.1.2. DSL coverage and penetration DSL coverage

Figure 7: National DSL coverage at the end of 2010

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

99%

99%

99%

99%

98%

98%

98%

97%

97%

97%

96%

96%

96%

95%

94%

92%

92%

92%

89%

89%

83%

82%

81%

77%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

BE

DK

FR

LU

UK

MT

NL

ES

PT

SE

AT

HU

CY

DE

NO

IT

FI

IE

IC

EE

CZ

EL

SI

LV

LT

SK

RO

BG

PL

average 29

95.2%

DSL coverage at the national level ranged from 77% (Poland) to 100% or very close to 100% in five countries (Denmark, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the UK) at the end of 2010, with a regional weighted average of 95.2% (+0.8 percentage points compared to DSL coverage at the end of 2009). DSL coverage at national levels is now higher than 90% in 23 out of the 29 countries surveyed and above 95% in 19 countries.

Table 3: DSL coverage at the end of 2010 (as a % of the population)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

98.2% 98.1% 96.0% 96.0% 95.1% 95.2%


IDATE 15

Figure 8: DSL coverage in rural areas at the end of 2010

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

99%

99%

96%

94%

94%

93%

92%

91%

90%

89%

86%

86%

85%

84%

80%

69%

67%

62%

60%

58%

55%

45%

18%

na

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

LU

FR

DK

BE

UK

NL

ES

NO

AT

PT

HU

SE

DE

FI

IE

IT

IC

CZ

SI

EE

LT

LV

EL

RO

PL

SK

CY

BG

MT

average 29

83.1%

nr

Coverage in rural areas is now 83% on average in the 29 countries surveyed, which is still 12 points below the national average. The gap between rural and national coverage is narrowing but mainly thanks to significant progress in Romania (from 47% coverage in rural areas at the end of 2009 to 60% at the end of 2010). DSL coverage in rural areas is similar or very close to national average in seven countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain and the UK). On the flipside, there is still an over 50% gap in two countries: Bulgaria with 63% and Cyprus with 52%.

Table 4: DSL coverage in rural areas at the end of 2 010 (as a % of the population)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

93.8% 93.9% 85.9% 86.2% 82.8% 83.1%


IDATE 16

DSL penetration

Figure 9: National DSL subscriber base at the end of 2010 (in million subscribers)

0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.21.6

2.23.2 3.3

8.4

13.0

15.4

19.9

22.1

0

5

10

15

20

25

MT IC LU EE LV CY LT SI BG SK IE HU RO CZ NO FI PT AT BE DK SE EL PL NL ES IT UK FR DE

There were 100.9 million DSL subscribers at the end of 2010 in the 29 countries covered, representing a 3.8% increase in a year (97.2 million at the end of 2009). Germany (22.1 million), France (19.9 million), the UK (15.4 million) and Italy (13.0 million) are by far the largest contributors, and together account for 70% of the regional DSL subscriber base.

Table 5: National DSL subscriber bases at the end of 2010 (in million subscribers)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

92.352 93.390 98.690 99.728 99.854 100.892


IDATE 17

Figure 10: National DSL penetration at the end of 20 10

30.5%

30.0%

27.8%

26.8%

25.2%

22.6%

22.3%

21.4%

19.8%

19.7%

19.3%

19.1%

17.9%

17.3%

16.4%

15.3%

13.9%

12.9%

11.0%

10.4%

10.1%

8.4%

8.3%

7.9%

7.8%

7.3%

6.6%

4.5%

3.9%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

FR

IC

LU

DE

UK

CY

DK

IT

EL

NL

FI

NO

ES

SE

IE

MT

SI

AT

EE

BE

PT

PL

CZ

HU

LV

SK

LT

BG

RO

average 29

19.9%

In terms of penetration, figures range from 3.9% in Romania to 30.5% in France, with a weighted average for the 29 countries of 19.9% (compared to 19.2% at the end of 2009). DSL remains by far the leading broadband access technology in Europe (74.9% of all fixed broadband connections) and DSL take-up depends on the general level of broadband development in each country. It does, however, also depend on the level of competition from other technologies – which has been mainly cable modem up until recently, but now more and more FTTx as well.

Table 6: National DSL penetration at the end of 2010 (as a % of the population)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

23.1% 23.1% 20.8% 20.8% 19.9% 19.9%


IDATE 18

Figure 11: DSL penetration in rural areas at the end of 2010

28.2%

25.7%

24.7%

23.1%

21.6%

20.2%

19.9%

19.4%

19.3%

18.5%

18.1%

15.8%

15.6%

15.2%

13.2%

11.7%

11.5%

10.7%

10.4%

9.6%

8.7%

6.7%

6.0%

5.9%

3.8%

3.3%

2.7%

1.8%

0.0%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

FR

LU

UK

IC

BE

DE

NO

IT

NL

IE

FI

SI

ES

SE

EL

AT

EE

DK

LV

PT

CZ

HU

SK

CY

PL

RO

LT

BG

MT

average 29

14.7%

nr

DSL penetration in rural areas is still below national levels (14.7% on average vs. 19.9%) but it continued to increase in 2010, with significant contributions to growth from the largest countries (France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain) except the UK and, to a lesser extent, from Ireland and Portugal.

Table 7: DSL penetration in rural areas at the end o f 2010 (as a % of the population)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

20.2% 20.2% 15.9% 16.0% 14.6% 14.7%


IDATE 19

DSL download rate segmentation

Figure 12: DSL subscriber bases broken down by downl oad rates, at the end of 2010

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

AT BE BG CY CZ DK EE FI FR DE EL HU IC IE IT LV LT LU MT NL NO PL PT RO SK SI ES SE UK 29

<256k 256-512k 512k-1M 1M-2M 2M-8M 8M-30M >30M

On average, 80% of DSL customers subscribe to offers with download rates over 2 Mbps, including more than 35% subscribing to download rates over 8 Mbps (ADSL2+). France, Germany (not including VDSL), the UK and Spain concentrate the largest bases of high-speed DSL subscribers: nearly 11 million for France, 6.5 million for the UK, 6.2 for Germany and 5.3 million for Spain. In relative terms, the share of connections with headline speeds over 8 Mbps exceeds 50% in 6 countries (Bulgaria, France, Greece, Iceland, Portugal, Spain) and it is very close to 50% in Denmark. In rural areas, 68% of DSL customers subscribe to offers with download speeds over 2 Mbps, which still is 12 percentage points below national levels.

Figure 13: Breakdown of rural DSL subscriber bases by download rate, at the end of 2010

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


<256k 256-512k 512k-1M 1M-2M 2M-8M 8M-30M >30M

nr nana na

* Average calculation excludes countries where figures are not available.


IDATE 20

DSL access origin

Figure 14: DSL subscriber bases broken down by acces s origin, at the end of 2010

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

AT

BE

BG

CY

CZ

DK

EE FI

FR

DE

EL

HU IC IE IT LV LT

LU

MT

NL

NO PL

PT

RO

SK SI

ES

SE

UK

Avg. 29

retail incumbent resale/bitstram ULL

On average, 54% of DSL connections are supplied directly by incumbent carriers (again one percentage point less when compared with previous year), while 10% are sold through resale and bitstream offers (vs. 11.5% one year before): with 36%, the share of DSL connections provided through unbundling has gained 2.4 percentage points within a year and nearly 9 points since the end of 2007 (27.3%). LLU is particularly well-entrenched and continue to gain market share in the recent period in the UK (48.6% of DSL connections at the end of 2010, + 4% compared to the end of 2009), France (44.7%, +3%) and Germany (40.8%, +1%) – all three of which lag just behind Greece (49.2%, +7%). Not surprisingly, unbundling remains less developed in rural areas (only 24% on average) due to the smaller size of local exchanges which makes it less economical for a competitive supplier to install its own DSLAMs; it has nevertheless become more popular than resale offers in those areas as well.

Figure 15: Breakdown of rural DSL subscriber bases by access origin, at the end of 2010

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

AT

BE

BG

CY

CZ

DK

EE FI

FR

DE

EL

HU IC IE IT LV LT

LU

MT

NL

NO PL

PT

RO

SK SI

ES

SE

UK

Avg. 29


na nrna na



IDATE 21

3.1.3. Cable modem coverage and penetration

Cable modem coverage

Figure 16: National cable modem coverage at the end of 2010

95%

95%

92%

85%

84%

76%

69%

68%

60%

60%

60%

57%

55%

50%

50%

45%

43%

43%

42%

41%

38%

35%

35%

31%

29%

28%

0%

0%

0%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

MT

NL

BE

PT

HU

LU

EE

RO

BG

DK

DE

LV

ES

NO

UK

SI

AT

CZ

IE

FI

SE

PL

SK

LT

FR

CY

EL

IC

IT

average 29

45.1%

Cable modem coverage at national levels ranged between 0% (Greece, Italy, where it is not at all available, and Iceland where the service was abandoned three years ago) and 95% (Netherlands and Malta) at the end of 2010, with a regional weighted average of 45.1%, which marks a very slight increase compared to the end of 2009. Cable modem is generally more ubiquitous in Benelux, Portugal and in Eastern European countries, especially in Hungary, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria and Latvia (all five countries with national cable modem coverage levels between 57% and 84%).

Table 8: Cable modem coverage at the end of 2010 (a s a % of the population)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

43.7% 43.7% 43.8% 43.8% 45.0% 45.1%


IDATE 22

Figure 17: Cable modem coverage in rural areas at t he end of 2010

63%

60%

52%

51%

51%

45%

40%

34%

25%

23%

21%

19%

18%

14%

12%

5%

3%

1%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

1%

1%

1%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

HU

BE

LU

NL

PT

BG

RO

DK

NO

IE

SI

AT

UK

DE

ES

LV

SE

LT

FR

SK

PL

FI

CY

CZ

EE

EL

IC

IT

MT

average 29

14.0%

n

In rural areas, cable modem coverage has reached 14% on average: progress was minimal when compared with 2009 figures (13.5%) and coverage in rural areas remains far below the national levels due to the fact that, in some large countries (France, the UK notably), cable is available primarily in big cities only.

Table 9: Cable modem coverage in rural areas at the end of 2010 (a s a % of the population)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

11.4% 11.8% 10.6% 11.0% 13.8% 14.0%

.


IDATE 23

Cable modem penetration

Figure 18: National cable modem subscriber bases at the end of 2010 (in million subscribers)

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.10.2 0.2

0.40.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6

0.70.8 0.9

1.51.6

1.92.1

2.3

3.8

0.00.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

EL IC IT CY LU LV LT MT EE SK BG SI IE FI RO CZ NO SE AT DK PT HU FR BE PL NL ES DE UK

There were 19.5 million cable subscribers at the end of 2010 in the 29 countries covered, which represents a 5.2% increase over the year before (18.6 million cable modem subscribers at the end of 2009). The UK still leads the way with 3.8 million subscribers and a share of close to 20% of the total for the EU-29 + 2. The six largest cable modem markets in Europe (the UK, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Poland and Belgium) together account for more than two thirds of the regional subscriber base.

Table 10: National cable modem subscriber bases at the end of 2010 (in million subscribers)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

15.231 15.711 18.560 19.040 19.058 19.538


IDATE 24

Figure 19: National cable modem penetration at the end of 2010

13.4%

12.4%

11.6%

9.9%

9.8%

8.4%

6.6%

6.6%

6.2%

6.1%

5.8%

5.6%

4.7%

4.6%

4.5%

4.4%

4.2%

4.1%

2.7%

1.8%

2.2%

1.6%

1.5%

1.5%

1.4%

1.1%

0%

0%

0%

0% 3% 6% 9% 12% 15%

BE

MT

NL

DK

NO

HU

PT

AT

UK

SI

SE

EE

LU

CZ

IE

ES

FI

PL

DE

CY

RO

SK

LT

BG

FR

LV

EL

IC

IT

average 29

3.8%

In terms of penetration, figures ranged from 0% in Greece, Italy and Iceland, where cable is not or no longer (Iceland) available, to 13.4% in Belgium at the end of 2010 with a weighted average for the region of 3.8%, i.e. five times lower than DSL penetration rates.

Table 11: National cable modem penetration at the e nd of 2010 (as a % of the population)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

3.8% 3.9% 3.9% 4.0% 3.8% 3.8%


IDATE 25

Figure 20: Cable modem penetration in rural areas a t the end of 2010

16.3%

11.3%

5.1%

4.8%

4.7%

4.5%

4.4%

3.9%

3.3%

1.1%

1.1%

1.1%

1.0%

1.0%

1.9%

0.9%

0.5%

0.2%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.01%

0.04%

0.04%

0.1%

0% 3% 6% 9% 12% 15% 18%

NL

BE

SI

HU

NO

BG

ES

DK

AT

UK

CZ

IE

PT

LU

RO

DE

SE

LV

FR

LT

SK

PL

CY

EE

FI

EL

IC

IT

average 29

1.4%

Cable modem penetration in rural areas is very low, with a European average of only 1.4% – with only Belgium and the Netherlands reporting penetration above 10% in rural areas.

Table 12: Cable modem penetration in rural areas at the end of 2009 (as a % of the population)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

1.5% 1.6% 1.3% 1.4% 1.3% 1.4%


IDATE 26

Cable modem download rate segmentation

Figure 21: Breakdown of cable modem subscriber base s by download rates, at the end of 2010

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


<256k 256-512k 512k-1M 1M-2M 2M-8M 8M-30M >30M

0 0 0

On average, 91.9% of cable modem customers subscribed to offers with download rates of over 2 Mbps, which marks an increase over the 86.5% at the end of 2009. In addition, 68.8% subscribe to download rates of over 8 Mbps, which is nearly 13 percentage points more compared to figure at the end of 2009. In four countries (Belgium, Portugal, Spain and the UK), connections with download speeds over 8 Mbps account for 75% or more of total cable modem connections, with three more countries – the Czech Republic, 73.7%, Germany, 74.3% and the Netherlands, 74.7% – nearing this level. On average, cable modem connections offer higher download rates than DSL, including in rural areas.

Figure 22: Breakdown of rural cable modem subscribe r bases by download rates, at the end of 2010

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%


<256k 256-512k 512k-1M 1M-2M 2M-8M 8M-30M >30M

nr na0 0 0 0 nanana0 0na


IDATE 27

3.1.4. FTTH/B coverage and penetration

FTTH/B coverage

Figure 23: FTTH/FTTB coverage*, at the end of 2010

81.8%

38.6%

37.7%

36.1%

35.2%

32.7%

32.3%

30.8%

25.4%

23.2%

21.6%

20.9%

20.5%

18.0%

10.1%

9.9%

5.9%

5.1%

0.0%

0.1%

0.1%

0.2%

0.7%

1.1%

1.2%

2.5%

1.5%

3.5%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

LT

PT

SI

LV

BG

IC

SE

DK

EE

FI

SK

FR

LU

NO

IT

NL

HU

CZ

AT

ES

DE

IE

UK

PL

RO

BE

CY

EL

MT

average 29

9.1%

na

* homes passed per 100 households

There were 19.7 million FTTH/B homes passed in the 29 countries surveyed at the end of 2010 (9.1 homes passed per 100 households in average, +1.1 percentage points when compared to the end of 2009), with France accounting for nearly 30% of this total due to the upgrade plan of cable company, Numericable (4.5 million homes passed for FTTB). Developments were particularly significant in Portugal (+409,000 homes passed in 2010), Italy (+350,000) and Lithuania (+333,000), the latter with the highest coverage ratio by far in the EU-27 + 2..

Table 13: National FTTH/B homes passed at the end o f 2010 (in millions)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

8.8% 8.9% 9.0% 9.1% 9.0% 9.1%


IDATE 28

FTTH/B penetration

Figure 24: FTTH/FTTB peneration, at the end of 2010

9.5%

6.4%

5.5%

4.0%

3.7%

3.7%

3.2%

2.8%

2.7%

2.3%

1.5%

1.5%

1.4%

0.7%

0.6%

0.6%

0.6%

0.2%

0.2%

0.2%

0.2%

0.2%

0.1%

0.1%

0.03%

0.03%

0.02%

0.0%

0.0%

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10%

LT

SE

NO

SI

SK

IC

DK

LV

EE

BG

FI

PT

NL

FR

CZ

RO

IT

IE

AT

LU

DE

HU

ES

PL

BE

EL

CY

UK

MT

average 29

0.7%

The number of FTTH/FTTB subscribers stood at nearly 3.7 million at the end of 2010 (0.7 subscribers per 100 inhabitants in average) in the 29 countries covered – up from 2.7 million at the end of 2009 (+35%). Almost half of the installed base is concentrated in four countries (Sweden, France, Italy and Lithuania, the latter with the highest penetration rate in the EU-27 + 2). Developments were particularly significant in France (+160,500 subscribers in 2010), Bulgaria (+138,000) and Portugal (+118,500).

Table 14: National FTTH/B subscriber bases at the e nd of 2009 (in millions)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

0.5% 0.6% 0.6% 0.7% 0.7% 0.7%


IDATE 29

3.1.5. WiMAX solutions

WiMAX subscribers

Figure 25: WiMAX subscriber base, at the end of 2010 (in thousands)

0 1 2 3 4 5 13 17 17 20 22 22 23 27 27 28 36 40 49 61

98 100

720

0.1nanana na na0

150

300

450

600

750

IC CY NL RO SI SE LU EL UK IE LV MT SK BE IT BG PT LT FR FI PL AT EE NO DK ES HU DE CZ

There were 1.3 million WiMAX subscribers in the 29 European countries surveyed at the end of 2010: half of them were concentrated in only one country, the Czech Republic (see section 4.5). The number of WiMAX subscribers is slightly declining (-3% compared to the subscriber base at the end of 2009) as new broadband access technologies, notably 3G, become increasingly available and offer competitive alternatives to WiMAX.

Table 15: WiMAX subscriber bases at the end of 2010 (in thousands)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

348.5 388.0 1,273.5 1,313.5 1,293.5 1,333.5


IDATE 30

3.1.6. Satellite solutions

Satellite can prove to be a competitive solution for reducing the digital divide:

• Covering broadband dead zones requires considerable investments from telcos who have neither an obligation nor necessarily a financial incentive to undertake them. As a result, it often falls to public authorities, and usually local ones, to provide coverage in these areas.

• While satellite-based broadband solutions were cost prohibitive at the start of the century, recent technological developments have made it possible to deliver access up to 10 Mbps downlink/2 Mbps uplink for a reasonable price (e.g. 35 EUR a month, terminal included, for the basic offering in France).

• Despite certain technical restrictions, the introduction of the Ka band is helping to drive a “revival” of high-speed satellite access thanks to a much more appealing business model than the one tied to the introduction of the Ku band several years back.

• Satellite players are currently investigating the possibility of offering 50 Mbps downlink from 2015.


IDATE 31

3.1.7. 3G coverage and take-up

3G population coverage

Figure 26: National 3G (UMTS) population coverage at the end of 2010

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

99%

99%

98%

98%

98%

98%

97%

96%

96%

95%

95%

92%

92%

62%

45%

76%

80%

81%

83%

85%

86%

90%

90%

90%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

DK

MT

SE

FI

IE

LV

NL

NO

SI

BE

PT

UK

IT

CY

AT

ES

EL

FR

EE

LU

RO

DE

HU

SK

IC

BG

LT

PL

CZ

average 29

90%

At the end of 2010, 3G deployments were underway in all countries, with an average population coverage of 90% – only eight countries were below the 90%-mark, in fact. The above figure refers to UMTS coverage with speeds of 384 Kbps and upwards. In numerous countries, operators have also upgraded their networks to 3.5G (HSDPA notably) to deliver higher speeds (1.5 Mbps+). See below for details.

Table 16: 3G coverage at the end of 2010 (as a % of the population)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

94% 94% 90% 90% 90% 90%


IDATE 32

3G+ population coverage

Figure 27: National 3G+ (HSDPA) population coverage at the end of 2010

100%

100%

100%

100%

99%

98%

97%

96%

96%

95%

95%

94%

92%

92%

90%

90%

87%

85%

49%

na

59%

68%

74%

74.89%

76%

81%

85%

85%

85%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

DK

MT

FI

SE

NL

BE

UK

IT

CY

ES

AT

IE

EL

FR

EE

LU

NO

LV

DE

HU

PT

SI

LT

IC

BG

SK

RO

PL

CZ

average 29

85%

On the whole, 3G+ coverage is by now close to 3G coverage levels, especially in Western European countries (93% on average compared to 94% for 3G coverage). But there are still significant gaps between 3G and 3G+ coverage, notably in Ireland, Portugal and in Eastern Europe in general.

Table 17: 3G+ coverage at the end of 2010 (as a % o f the population)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

93% 93% 87% 87% 85% 85%



IDATE 33

Territorial 3G coverage

Figure 28: National territorial 3G (UMTS) coverage at the end of 2010

100%

100%

98%

98%

95%

95%

92%

84%

83%

81%

80%

75%

75%

67%

65%

65%

60%

59%

57%

55%

56%

55%

52%

45%

37%

32%

5%

na

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

DK

MT

LV

NL

IE

SE

BE

FI

BG

SI

IT

LU

NO

PT

CY

EE

UK

AT

DE

SK

PL

EL

FR

RO

HU

LT

IC

CZ

ES

average 29

58%

na

na

Territorial coverage for 3G (UMTS) is lower than population coverage due to the fact that the first rollouts were performed in densely populated areas (large towns, dense suburban areas) and, except in a few countries, rural areas are still underserved. On average, national UMTS coverage stood at 58% at the end of 2010. 3G networks have been largely upgraded to HSDPA, but there are still significant gaps in some countries between UMTS and HSDPA coverage levels, notably in a few Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden), in Ireland and in many Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia). The average for HSDPA territorial coverage is 46% (+9 percentage points compared to the end of 2009).

Table 18: 3G coverage at the end of 2010 (as a % of the countries’ land mass)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

60% 60% 58% 58% 58% 58%


IDATE 34

3G penetration

Figure 29: National 3G (UMTS) penetration at the end of 2009*

57%

53%

46%

41%

39%

35%

32%

32%

30%

30%

28%

27%

26%

26%

25%

24%

23%

21%

3%

3%

5%

7%

8%

9%

10%

17%

19%

18%

21%

0% 15% 30% 45% 60% 75%

IT

CY

IC

IE

UK

FR

LU

SE

FI

SI

RO

EL

NL

DE

DK

PT

LT

SK

AT

NO

BG

MT

BE

PL

HU

ES

EE

CZ

LV

average 29

28%

There were 142.4 million active 3G users* at the end of 2010 in the 29 countries covered (+30% compared to the end of 2009 on a comparable basis), which represents a 28% penetration rate. Take-up is slightly more advanced in Western countries (EU-15 + 2).

Table 19: 3G penetration at the end of 2009 (as a % of the population)

EU-15 EU-15 + 2 EU-25 EU-25 + 2 EU-27 EU-27 + 2

31.6% 31.5% 28.3% 28.2% 28.1% 28.0%

* Definitions can vary from one country to another (different periods for measuring active use, voice calls over 3G networks taken into account or not)

Development of Broadband Access in Europe EU-27 + Norway & Iceland, from year-end 2008 to yea r-end 2010

IDATE 35

3.2. EU-27 + Norway & Iceland, from year-end 2008 t o year-end 2010

3.2.1. Coverage

Figure 30: National DSL coverage

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

BE

DK

FR

LU

UK

ES

MT

NL

PT

SE

AT

HU

CY

DE

NO

IT

FI

IE

29

IC

EE

CZ

EL

SI

LV

LT

SK

RO

BG

PL 31/12/2008

31/12/2009

31/12/2010

Average DSL coverage in the EU-27 + 2 reached 95.2% at the end of 2010, gaining 2.4 percentage points over the past two years. DSL coverage now exceeds 97% in half of the countries surveyed (14 out of 29); among the largest five European countries, Italy is the only one lagging behind. In 2010, significant progress was seen in Hungary and Romania and, to a lesser extent, in Portugal, Austria, Cyprus, Ireland, Greece, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Poland (which remained the only country with coverage level below the 80% mark).


IDATE 36

Figure 31: Rural DSL coverage

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

BE

DK

FR

LU

UK

ES

NL

NO

AT

PT

HU

SE

DE

FI

IE

IC

IT

CZ

SI

29

EE

LT

LV

EL

RO

PL

SK

CY

BG

MT31/12/2008

31/12/2009

31/12/2010

nr

Average DSL coverage in rural areas was just over 83% (EU-27 + 2) at the end of 2010 with the gap with national coverage narrowing from 15.4% at the end of 2008 to 12.1% two years later (significant strides were made in 2010). Coverage levels in rural areas increased substantially in Cyprus, Romania and Poland, three countries where DSL availability has been traditionally low and progress is still needed (coverage in rural areas ranged between 45% and 60% at the end of 2010) but also in Ireland, Hungary, Portugal and Austria. Bulgaria continues to trail well behind with 18% coverage in rural areas.


IDATE 37

Figure 32: National cable modem coverage

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

NL

MT

BE

PT

HU

LU

EE

RO

DK

DE

BG

LV

ES

UK

NO

29

SI

AT

CZ

IE

FI

SE

PL

SK

LT

FR

CY

IC

IT

EL31/12/2008

31/12/2009

31/12/2010

0

0

na

na

0

na

na

Average cable modem coverage in the EU-25 + 7 was just above 45% at the end of 2010, up from 43.4% at the end of 2008 (very little progress was made in 2010 except in Ireland and more substantially in Norway). The situation still differs widely from country to country: from Greece, Italy and Iceland where cable is not or no longer available, to Belgium, Malta and the Netherlands where cable modem is now available to over 90% of the population.


IDATE 38

Figure 33: Rural cable modem coverage

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

HU

BE

LU

PT

NL

BG

RO

DK

NO

IE

SI

AT

UK

DE

29

ES

LV

SE

LT

FR

SK

PL

FI

IT

IC

EL

EE

CZ

CY

MT31/12/2008

31/12/2009

31/12/2010

nr

0

0

0

0

0

0

na

0

na

Average cable modem coverage in rural areas is still low compared to national coverage levels: only 14% (EU-27 + 2) which is 31 percentage points below national coverage. Progress was seen in Bulgaria, in Norway and to a lesser extent in Hungary and Belgium, although the difference with national coverage levels remains significant even in those countries.


IDATE 39

3.2.2. Penetration

Figure 34: Broadband penetration by technology, 200 8 and 2010

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

DK

NL

NO

ICLU

FR

SE

DE

UK

BE

FI

MT

29

EE

CY

AT

SI

IEES

ITCZ

LT

LV

EL

PT

HU

BG

PL

SK

RO DSL

Cable modem

Other

DSL remains by far the dominant fixed broadband technology, accounting for 75% of broadband connections, on average, in the EU-27 + 2. It leads the way in all Western European countries, is facing stiffer competition in Eastern and Central European nations, first in Romania and Bulgaria (with DSL accounting for less than 30% of broadband connections in both countries) but also in Slovakia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Estonia. In some of these countries, cable modem is well entrenched (notably in Hungary) but competition is also coming from other alternative technologies such as WiMAX (e.g. in the Czech Republic) and fibre (Baltic countries).

In Finland, fixed broadband penetration has been decreasing as customers switch to mobile broadband. Progress was very slow in Sweden for the same reason.


IDATE 40

Figure 35: National broadband penetration, 2008 to 2010

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

DK

NL

NO

IC

LU

FR

SE

DE

UK

BE

FI

MT

29

EE

CY

AT

SI

IE

ES

IT

CZ

LT

LV

EL

PT

HU

BG

PL

SK

RO 31/12/2008

31/12/2009

31/12/2010

Denmark and the Netherlands still rank number one overall in terms of broadband penetration, with a penetration rate just close to or over 38% at the end of 2010. Growth has been very strong over the last two years in Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus (broadband take-up rose by 6.5% to 7.7% in all three countries) but progress was also significant in a number of places, including large and already well advanced markets (France, +5.2%; Germany, +4.3%; UK, +3.6%).


IDATE 41

Figure 36: Rural broadband penetration (DSL + cable modem), 2008 to 2010

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

NL

BE

FR

LU

UK

NO

IC

SI

DE

ES

IE

FI

IT

29

SE

AT

DK

EL

HU

EE

PT

LV

CZ

BG

SK

CY

RO

PL

LT

MT31/12/2008

31/12/2009

31/12/2010

nr

na

* Average calculation is weighted based on the rural population in the different countries

Fixed broadband penetration in rural areas is generally far below the national average (just over 16% on average in rural areas, compared to 26.5% at the national level*), due primarily to lower coverage rates in those areas (3G coverage is now higher in some countries).

* figures do not refer to exactly the same base, as penetration in rural areas is calculated on the basis of DSL and cable modem connections


IDATE 42

3.2.3. Download speeds

Figure 37: National DSL download rate segmentation ( Dec. 2008-Dec. 2010)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2009

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

AT

BE

BG

CY

CZ

DK

EE

FI

FR

DE

EL

HU

ICIE

ITLV

LT

LU

MT

NLNO

PL

PT

RO

SK

SI

ES

SE

UK

29

up to 512k 512k-1M 1M-2M 2M-8M >8M

Nota : only 2009-2010 figures for Belgium as breakdown for 2008 is not comparable; as for Lithuania, decrease in the share of highest DSL speed connections (> 8 Mbps) is due to the shift to FTTx

On average, the proportion of DSL customers subscribing to a service with a download speed of over 2 Mbps increased by 18 points between the end of 2008 and the end of 2010: going from 62% to 80%.

This trend can be observed, albeit to varying degrees, in all countries. Progress was very significant in Malta (+69 percentage points: from 31% to nearly 100%), Bulgaria (+65 percentage points to 100%), Estonia (+63 points: from 0% to 63%), Lithuania (+60 percentage points: from 22% to 82%), Hungary (+58 percentage points to 80%) and Luxembourg (+50 points: from 50% to 100%).


IDATE 43

Figure 38: National DSL download rate segmentation ( Dec. 2010)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%


up to 512k 512k-1M 1M-2M 2M-8M >8M


IDATE 44

Figure 39: Rural DSL download rate segmentation (Dec . 2008-Dec. 2010)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

AT

BE

BG

CY

CZ

DK

EE

FI

FR

DE

EL

HU

ICIE

ITLV

LT

LU

MT

NL

NO

PL

PT

RO

SK

SI

ES

SE

UK

29

up to 512k 512k-1M 1M-2M 2M-8M >8M

na

nr

na

na

On average, the proportion of DSL subscribers in rural areas with download speeds over 2 Mbps increased by more than 19 points between the end of 2008 and the end of 2010, from 49% to just over 68%.

Progress has been especially strong in Bulgaria (from 0% in the "over 2 Mbps" range at the end of 2008 to 100% at the end of 2010), Slovakia (+94 percentage points, to 98% at the end of 2010), Luxembourg (+67 percentage points to 100% at the end of 2010) and Estonia (+63 percentage points, from 0% at the end of 2008 to 63% at the end of 2010).


IDATE 45

Figure 40: Rural DSL download rate segmentation (Dec . 2010)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%


up to 512k 512k-1M 1M-2M 2M-8M >8M

na nrna na


IDATE 46

Figure 41: National cable modem download rate segme ntation (Dec. 2008-Dec. 2010)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

AT

BE

BG

CY

CZ

DK

EE

FI

FR

DE

EL

HU

ICIE

ITLV

LT

LU

MT

NL

NO

PL

PT

RO

SK

SI

ES

SE

UK

29

up to 512k 512k-1M 1M-2M 2M-8M >8M

nr

nr

On average, the proportion of cable modem subscribers with download speeds over 2 Mbps increased by 26 percentage points between the end of 2008 and the end of 2010: from 66% to 92%.

Very strong growth occurred during that time in the Czech Republic (from 0% in the "over 2 Mbps" range at the end of 2008 to 95% at the end of 2010), Malta (+86 percentage points to 98% at the end of 2010), the UK (+68 points to 100% at the end of 2010), Ireland (+68 points to 100% at the end of 2010) and Poland (+66 percentage points to 86% at the end of 2010).

na

na

na


IDATE 47

Figure 42: National cable modem download rate segme ntation (Dec. 2010)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%


up to 512k 512k-1M 1M-2M 2M-8M >8M

0 0 0


IDATE 48

Figure 43: Cable modem download rate segmentation f or rural areas (Dec. 2008-Dec. 2010)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

AT

BE

BG

CY

CZ

DK

EE

FI

FR

DE

EL

HU

ICIE

ITLV

LT

LU

MT

NL

NO

PL

PT

RO

SK

SI

ES

SE

UK

29

up to 512k 512k-1M 1M-2M 2M-8M >8M

na

na

na

na

nr

0

On average, the proportion of cable modem subscribers in rural areas with download speeds over 2 Mbps increased by 26 percentage points between the end of 2008 and the end of 2010: from less than 58% to over 83%, which is far higher than with DSL.

Significant progress was made in Slovakia (from 0% to 79%), the UK (+70 percentage points, from 30% in the "over 2 Mbps" range at the end of 2008 to 100% at the end of 2010), Ireland (+70 points to 100% at the end of 2010) and Denmark (+55 percentage points, to 96% at the end of 2010).

0

na

0

0

na

nr

0


IDATE 49

Figure 44: Cable modem download rate segmentation f or rural areas (Dec. 2010)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%


up to 512k 512k-1M 1M-2M 2M-8M >8M

0 0 00 na 0 na0 nr na na nana


IDATE 50

3.2.4. Origin of DSL connections

Figure 45: National DSL market share (31 Dec. 2008-3 1 Dec. 2010)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

31/12/201031/12/2008

AT

BE

BG

CY

CZ

DK

EE

FI

FR

DE

EL

HU

ICIE

ITLV

LT

LU

MT

NL

NO

PL

PT

RO

SK

SI

ES

SE

UK

29


Overall, the percentage of retail DSL supplied by incumbent carriers has decreased slightly over the past two years in the EU-27 + 2: from 55.9% to 54.1%. There has been a more than 6 percentage points drop over a five-year period (2005-2010) – down from 60.4% at the end of 2005.

The share of LLU (local loop unbundling) lines increased by nearly five points between 2008 and 2010 to close to 36%, while connections supplied through resale/bitstream offers accounted for 10% of all lines at the end of 2010 (compared to just over 13% et the end of 2008).


IDATE 51

Figure 46: National DSL market share as of 31 Decemb er 2010

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

AT

BE

BG

CY

CZ

DK

EE FI

FR

DE

EL

HU IC IE IT LV LT

LU

MT

NL

NO PL

PT

RO

SK SI

ES

SE

UK

Avg. 29



IDATE 52

Figure 47: Incumbent carriers’ national DSL market s hare

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

AT

BE

BG

CY

CZ

DK

EE

FI

FR

DE

EL

HU

IC

IE

IT

LV

LT

LU

MT

NL

NO

PL

PT

RO

SK

SI

ES

SE

UK

29 31/12/2008

31/12/2009

31/12/2010

In some countries, the incumbent carrier won back market share in the recent period: in Austria (from 71% to 74% within two years), Belgium (from 77% to 84%), Hungary (from 72% to 80%) Malta (from 82% to 99%), the Netherlands (from 71% to 76%), Portugal (from 66% to 76%) and, to a lesser extent, in Sweden and in the UK.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Austria

IDATE 53

4. Country profiles

4.1. Austria

4.1.1. Population Urban area Suburban area Rural area National

Inhabitants 3,342,104 2,339,473 2,673,683 8,355,260

Share of total population 40.0% 28.0% 32.0% 100.0%

4.1.2. General broadband data 12/06 12/07 12/08 12/09 12/10

DSL coverage (% population) 91% 92% 92% 94% 98%

DSL subscribers 874,000 1,040,000 1,149,800 1,289,200 1,077,600

DSL penetration (% population) 10.6% 12.9% 13.8% 15.4% 12.9%

Cable modem coverage (% population) 36% 39% 40% 43% 43%

Cable modem subscribers 565,000 605,000 610,000 562,000 548,500

Cable modem penetration (% population) 6.8% 7.5% 7.3%1 6.7%1 6.6%1

FTTx subscribers 3,000 5,000 5,900 26,800 380,900

PLC subscribers 5,300 5,800 4,800 4,500 4,200

WLL subscribers 20,100 45,000 37,100 34,100 28,000

Satellite subscribers 3,000 1,000 1,000 800 800

Total 1,470,400 1,701,800 1,808,600 1,917,400 2,040,000

Total fixed broadband penetration (% population) 17.8% 21.2% 21.7% 22.9% 24.4%

Mobile broadband subscribers 969,500 1,252,000 1,713,200

Mobile broadband penetration

(% population) 11.6% 15.0% 20.5% 1 population base revised in 2008

At the end of 2010, almost every Austrian household had access to at least one broadband technology. Austria’s fixed broadband subscriber base increased by about 100,000 to more than two million in 2010, bringing fixed broadband penetration to 24.4%. In contrast to earlier periods, growth is not caused by additional DSL subscribers but a leap in the FTTx subscriber base to more than 300,000. Nevertheless, DSL remains the leading broadband technology.

While PLC, WLL and satellite remained relatively insignificant, cable modem had about 550,000 subscribers in 2010.


IDATE 54

4.1.3. DSL coverage and take-up

Coverage and penetration

100% 99%94%

98%

13% 12%14% 13%14% 13%13% 12%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Urban area Suburban area Rural area Total

DSL coverage penetration (% area population) penetration/coverage

In Austria, DSL coverage has almost reached its limit with a total of 98%. Access in rural areas increased again in 2010 and now stands at 94%. DSL subscriber rates decreased overall, due in part to many customers upgrading to Telekom Austria’s VDSL (FTTx) network.

Number of DSL connections by download rate

0

100 000

200 000

300 000

400 000

500 000

600 000


Less than 256 kbps From 256 kbps to 512 kbps From 512 kbps to 1 MbpsFrom 1 to 2 Mbps From 2 to 8 Mbps From 8 to 30 Mbps

The number of DSL connections at less than 1 Mbps continues to decline due to increasing access to faster connections at lower prices. In contrast to 2009 when a download rate of 2 to 8 Mbps was only common in urban areas, these speeds have also become more widely available in many other areas.

As a matter of fact 62.2% of DSL subscribers have an Internet connection of more than 2 Mbps.


IDATE 55

Percentage of DSL connections by type of provider

69% 73%81%

74%

4%

6%

3%4%

28% 22%23%13%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


Incumbent retail (%) Bitstream/Resale (%) ULL (%)

In 2010 the distribution of incumbent retail, bitstream/resale and unbundled lines remained almost the same as in 2009. Telekom Austria still has a 73.5% share of all DSL lines. Bitstream/resale connections have a 4.3% share of the market and LLU connections account for 22.2% of the Austrian DSL subscribers.


IDATE 56

4.1.4. Cable modem coverage and take-up


64%

42%

19%

43%

6%3%

9%7%

15% 15%15% 17%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


coverage penetration (% area population) penetration/coverage

While cable modem coverage remained at 43% in Austria – standing at 64%, 42% and 19% in urban, suburban and rural areas, respectively – the subscriber base was back on the rise after having shrunk in 2009. Actual figures declined, however, as approximately 41,000 cable subscribers with a fibre to the last amplifier (FTTLA) connection are counted as FTTx subscribers. There were 548,500 cable modem subscribers at the end of 2010, which corresponds to a 6.6% penetration rate.

Number of cable modem connections by download rate

0

100 000

200 000

300 000

400 000



Most cable modem subscribers (92.5%) access the Web with a bandwidth of more than 2 Mbps. There are even 242,000 subscribers (41% of all cable modem users) that have a connection of more than 8 Mbps.


IDATE 57

4.1.5. FTTx coverage and take-up


47%

40%

29%

39%

4% 3% 5%6%11%10% 12%13%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Fibre technology made a huge step towards becoming a serious competitor to cable modem and DSL broadband. While FTTx coverage stood at only 1% at the end of 2009 it had risen to 42% at the end of 2010, due mainly to the expansion of Telekom Austria’s VDSL (FTTx network).Additionally, Austrian cable operators are currently upgrading their networks to DOCSIS 3.0 and offer speeds of up to 100 Mbps.

Further FTTC/B/H rollouts by various competitors are expected in 2011. A1 has a target of 2.1 million households and business enterprises connected to its GigaNetz high speed network by the end of 2011. According to the RTR, however, a large-scale FTTH network infrastructure is not expected within the next few years as mobile broadband is more of a priority.

FTTx connections by download rate

0

100 000

200 000

300 000

400 000


Less than 2 Mbps From 2 to 8 Mbps From 8 to 30 Mbps More than 30 Mbps

Most FTTx subscribers (84.8%) browse have an Internet connection of 8 to 30 Mbps as Telekom Austria's FTTEx delivers significantly lower speeds than other FTTx technologies. Only 15.2% of customers – most of which are FTTLA subscribers – have a connection of more than 30 Mbps.


IDATE 58

4.1.6. Other fixed broadband access technologies

PLC

In Austria, PLC is represented by Linz AG, a regional electricity supplier serving the Linz region. Other operators have ceased marketing their PLC services. The subscriber base is slowly dying off, as has dwindled to 4,200 customers. In the future, however, built-in residential powerline communication systems could help revive the market.

WLL/WiMAX

The intense competition with UMTS and HSDPA, and its expected inferiority to LTE lost WiMAX an additional 6,000 users in 2010, shrinking the base to 28,000 customers. FWA (fixed wireless access) technologies are available in a few rural areas in Austria, due to a lack of DSL and cable infrastructure.

Satellite

Several players market Internet via satellite of which SES Astra is the largest provider in Austria. The total number of the satellite subscribers is stagnating at around 800, most of which are located in rural areas.


IDATE 59

4.1.7. Mobile broadband coverage and take-up

Coverage by technology

97%

89%95%97%

89%94%

54%59%

100%95%

100%

54%

94%

59%

100%100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


3G coverage as a % of population 3G+ coverage as a % of population 3G coverage as a % of territory 3G+ coverage as a % of territory

In 2010, mobile broadband made a giant leap – exceeding the DSL subscriber base by 636,000, with a total of more than 1.7 million subscribers, which marks a 36.8% increase compared to 2009. The distribution of customers in urban, suburban and rural areas is almost identical to DSL with 43.2%, 26.5% and 30.4%, respectively. Technological developments have moved on into 3.5G (HSPA+) coverage, enabling speeds of up to 42 Mbps. In March 2010, Orange launched its first 42 Mbps network in Vienna Neustadt. is the carrier plans to make a 42 Mbps HSPA+ service available to the whole of Austria by autumn 2011. The initial rollout was first realized by Austrian MNO Mobilkom in March 2009.

Mobile broadband is widely available, with 95% of the population able to get 3G (UMTS) or 3G+ (HSPA). Some operators, such as Telekom Austria in Vienna and St. Pölten, have also started to test 4G (LTE).

Penetration

100% 97%

89%95%

19%19%22% 21%22% 22%20% 22%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


3G coverage as a % of population penetration (% area population) penetration/coverage

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Belgium

IDATE 60

4.2. Belgium


Inhabitants 5,404,262 4,976,648 505,123 10,886,032




DSL subscribers 1,516,885 1,620,222 1,542,544 1,449,500 1,134,205



Cable modem subscribers 900,000 1,071,107 1,160,000 1,321,000 1,510,679

Cable modem penetration (% population) 8.6% 10.2% 10.9% 12.2% 13.9%

FTTx subscribers 0 56 203,000 405,700 753,100

PLC subscribers 0 0 0 0 0

WLL subscribers 5,500 14,313 8,600 5,167 16,544

Satellite subscribers 0 0 0 0 0

Total 2,422,385 2,705,698 2,914,144 3,180,367 3,364,528


Mobile broadband subscribers 414,038 614,831 1,088,208

Mobile broadband penetration (% population) 3.9% 5.7% 10.0%

Broadband coverage is well advanced in Belgium both for ADSL (complete) and for cable modem. The number of ADSL subscribers is now below that of cable modem subscribers as a substantial part of Belgacom's broadband customers have switched to VDSL. Cable operators also introduced HFC (DOCSIS 3.0): Numericable began network upgrades in December 2008 and Telenet introduced "Fibernet" offers in 2010 but first dedicated to heavy users and the number of basic cable modem subscribers continued to increase.

As with fixed broadband coverage, mobile broadband coverage (3G) is now stagnating at 98.1% of the population. Mobile broadband take-up is making real strides however, with the Belgian customer base nearly doubling during the year.


IDATE 61



100% 100% 100% 100%

11%

22%

9% 10%9% 10%11%

22%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



While virtually the entire Belgian population is covered by DSL technology, DSL penetration stands at only 10.4% at the end of 2010, partly due to strong competition from cable modem but also due to customers' switch to VDSL (see FTTx section).


0

200 000

400 000

600 000

800 000

1 000 000


Less than 256 kbps 256 to 512 kbps From 512 kbps to 1 MbpsFrom 1 to 2 Mbps From 2 to 8 Mbps From 8 to 30 Mbps

DSL speeds continue to increase and gradually spread from highly populated areas to less populated ones. Furthermore, a substantial part of the subscribers in the upper categories, especially in the "8-30 Mbps" class, have now switched to VDSL.


IDATE 62


83% 85% 85% 84%

13% 14%8% 10%9% 6%2%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Unbundling is still marginal in Belgium, accounting for only 5.8% of the country’s DSL connections (including VDSL). This has not changed since 2009, which can be attributed to the fact that cable is the massively dominant access technology in Belgium. LLU is, quite logically, used chiefly by competing ISPs in urban areas who have a 9.1% share of all DSL connections. In 2010, Belgacom was able to increase its share of all three markets, namely urban, suburban and rural areas.


IDATE 63



94% 92%

60%

92%

12% 11%16%

14%17%

15%13%

19%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



As in 2009, cable operators continue to deploy their infrastructure in rural areas, which resulted in a five-point increase in coverage there – going from 55% to 60%. Meanwhile penetration in rural areas increased by one point. In urban areas, where cable operators deliver their fastest solutions, penetration levels posted their highest rate of increase – rising by 3.1 points to 16.2% of the population.


0

300 000

600 000

900 000

1 200 000

1 500 000


Less than 256 kbps 256 to 512 kbps From 512 kbps to 1 MbpsFrom 1 to 2 Mbps From 2 to 8 Mbps From 8 to 30 Mbps

Connection speeds for cable modem are concentrated in the 8 to 30 Mbps range, accounting for 90% of all broadband cable connections.


IDATE 64



80%

3% 2%7%

11%9%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



More than 90% of FTTx connections are based on VDSL as the incumbent operator Belgacom has opted for this technology to further leverage its wide copper network infrastructures. HFC connections based on DOCSIS 3.0 have been introduced more recently (at the beginning of 2010 for Telenet) and were first dedicated to heavy users. FTTH/B is only at experimental stage with 3,950 homes passed and 3,100 subscribers at the end of 2010.


0

150 000

300 000

450 000

600 000



VDSL connections did not offer headline speeds higher than 30 Mbps at the end of 2010; the "over 30 Mbps" range is made of the DOCSIS 3.0 and the major part of FTTH/B connections.


IDATE 65

4.2.6. Other broadband access technologies

Wi-Fi

Belgacom and Telenet have been supplying Wi-Fi services since 2003.

Belgacom provides Wi-Fi services via several hundred hotspots in airports, train stations, hotels, restaurants, museums and parks. Telenet, which took over Sinfilo, signed a deal with Belgian railways and with Mobistar to allow their customers to use its Wi-Fi network. It operates more than 1,000 hotspots across the country.

WLL/WiMAX

Thanks to new sources, we were able to obtain up-to-date figures on the number of WLL/WiMAX subscribers, which reached 16,544 at the end of 2010 according to the IBPT – Clearwire being the main provider in Belgium. If we compare this to recalculated 2009 figures, we see that this technology is on the decline as the subscriber base decreased by 13%, losing out to more powerful solutions such as cable, DSL and mobile broadband. We estimate that 100% of these remaining subscribers are located in urban areas.

Satellite

While the entire country is covered by satellite, because DSL coverage is so widespread, there is very little call for satellite access solutions.


IDATE 66



96% 95%98%96% 95%

92%88%

92%

100% 98%100%

88%92% 92%

96% 96%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Compared to the end of 2009, progress has been especially significant in rural areas – with population coverage increasing from 61.5% to 95%. Improvements in other areas are less significant, although there was a noticeable uptick in coverage in suburban areas.

Penetration

100%96% 95% 98%

10% 10%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



As 3G is now available to a growing percentage of the Belgian population, mobile broadband subscription rates are rising steadily. In 2010, the mobile broadband customer base (i.e. using dongles or data cards) increased by 77% to 1,088,208. 3G connections are available to 28.2% of Belgians who use high-speed mobile access for voice calls, texting and accessing the mobile Internet.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Bulgaria

IDATE 67

4.3. Bulgaria


Inhabitants 4,271,067 1,977,482 1,102,685 7,351,234



DSL coverage (% population) na na 78% 80% 81%

DSL subscribers 93,000 163,756 230,000 280,000 331,020


Cable modem coverage (% population) na na na na 60%



FTTx subscribers na 384,000 420,000 625,000 908,230

PLC subscribers na 500 na na na

WLL subscribers na 1,584 4,500 10,000 20,000


Total 256,000 700,040 794,600 1,075,500 1,370,000


Mobile broadband subscribers 120,000 720,000 1,323,000


The Bulgarian broadband subscriber base continued to grow in 2010. Fixed broadband subscribers grew by 27% compared to 2009, while mobile broadband subscribers grew by 84%. While new broadband subscribers were typically new Internet subscribers, the new mobile subscribers tend to be people signing up for a second broadband connection to either an existing or a new device (typically a tablet or mobile phone). According to the latest census data (as of February 2011), 51.4% of urban/suburban households and 16.4% of rural households, or 41.3% of all the country’s homes have an Internet connection, virtually all of which are broadband connections. According to a study by ARC Fund (e-Bulgaria 2020, ARC Fund, 2011) 91.5% of the population is covered by at least one ISP providing broadband at speeds of over 1 Mbps, and costing less than €15 a month. In remote villages, however, ISPs may require customers to cover a portion of the cost of bringing them service and/or to commit to longer contracts. The most popular fixed broadband technology is FTTx/LAN, followed by DSL and cable modem. There was a significant increase in the number of FTTx/LAN subscribers in 2010, growing by 45% compared to 2009. Investments in rural areas have been delayed. DSL is no longer considered at a viable strategy to reach unconnected homes, yet there is still a debate over the best way to ensure higher broadband penetration.


IDATE 68



100%

74%

18%

81%

4% 2%6% 5%6% 6%5%

10%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Urban areas are fully covered by DSL, while coverage of rural population stands at only 18%. There is even a slight decrease in rural areas due to the switch to wireless for the last-mile instead of digitalizing existing copper lines. The incumbent operator is slowly phasing out DSL in major urban centres by upgrading its clients to FTTH at prices below DSL. This did not affect overall urban data for 2010 as new subscribers came to replace some of those who upgraded to a superfast service, so the decrease was only marginal (5.6% in 2009 to 5.5% in 2010) but could be significant in 2011/2012. The distance between customer homes and the exchange that affects mostly rural areas is addressed by small ISPs who buy DSL solutions from the incumbent carrier then redistribute the signal over LANs (local area networks). In urban areas, where distance from the DSLAM is much less of an issue, there are still a few alternative ISPs offering LAN broadband.


0

100 000

200 000

300 000

400 000




IDATE 69

In Bulgaria there are no DSL offers below 6 Mbps, and all lines today provide speeds ranging from 8 to 30 Mbps. DSL is better positioned in suburban areas, and the incumbent tends to upgrade customers almost automatically (even without signing a new contract) to higher capacity routers. This migration from DSL to FTTH has freed up some capacity for the remaining DSL clients. Nevertheless there were significant failures in quality (or even absence of service for more than a week) of DSL connections in several urban locations, so actual speeds are hard to estimate. Further more, speed quality varies according to days and time (peak hours being the evenings and weekends).


100% 100% 100% 100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Although unbundling of DSL is formally in place it actually never happened. Alternative operators provided less than 4% of connections and since the main alternative player, Orbitel, was acquired by Spectrum Net, the alternative offer has ceased. The trials and errors of using DSL as an intermediary connection for small ISPs in 2009 materialized in a trend in 2010. Typically small ISP in a rural village would connect to the incumbent operator via DSL (at maximum speeds) and then re-distribute to end-users via LAN technology.


IDATE 70



60%

70%

45%

60%

2%5%

0% 1%1% 2%3%

10%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



In 2010 basic cable modem penetration dropped from 2.2% at the beginning of the year to 1.5% at the end due to competition from FTTx solutions, notably based on FTTx/LAN and, to a lesser extent, on more recently deployed DOCSIS 3.0.


0

20 000

40 000

60 000

80 000



There are no offers below 2 Mbps. More than half of lines operate at over 8Mbps. In rural areas half of subscribers use download rates from 8 to 30 Mbps, while it is 75% in suburban areas. In urban areas there are no offers for speeds below 8 Mbps.


IDATE 71

4.3.5. FTTx coverage and take-up Coverage and penetration

100%

92%

45%

90%

6% 5%12%

17%12%

6%

14%17%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


coverage penetration (% area population) penetration/coverage In 2010, Ethernet/LAN is the leading technology on the Bulgarian broadband market, as it was in 2009. Ethernet/LAN networks were the first to bring broadband Internet at homes and they sustained their leadership in both coverage and penetration. It has 45% coverage in rural areas, which is better than DSL (18%).

FTTx/LAN subscribers grew almost by 50% countrywide, the fastest growth being of 100% in suburban areas. This hybrid access technology is on the rise in urban areas as both traditional LAN ISPs and the incumbent operator are upgrading their networks with fibre to the building combined with indoor Ethernet. Cable operators began to upgrade their networks with DOCSIS 3.0 technology but take up at the end of 2010 was very limited.


The speeds vary from 2 Mbps to 100 Mbps, however 76% of FTTx subscribers are in the category “more than 30 Mbps”.

In rural areas the speeds are lower, whereas in urban areas 84.5% are above 30 Mbps.


IDATE 72


Wi-Fi

There is no commercial WI-FI in Bulgaria. The provision of free Wi-Fi funded by advertisement has disappeared in 2010. Still, in each town there are plenty of restaurants and cafes providing free Wi-Fi. In 2010 municipalities continued to invest and expanding their free Wi-Fi access in public places. All universities will provide free Wi-Fi to students (through a government programme). An estimated 10-20% of ADSL subscribers that have not encrypted their connection are therefore also providing connectivity as their ADSL modem can be used as a public WiFi hotspot. Yet, Wi-Fi connection is only second or third option to users who access the Internet at different locations (home, office, mobile).

WLL/WiMAX

WiIMAX technology is still not widely used in Bulgaria. The number of subscribers is around 20,000 and the coverage is 92% in urban, 14% in suburban and only 4% in rural areas – a total of 29 towns and their neighbourhoods plus several resorts in rural areas. The penetration rate is only 0.3%. In the last quarter of 2010 it announced an upgrade of its network to 32 Mbps capacity for end-users and a gradual transition to WiMAX 2 technology.

Satellite

The coverage is 100% in urban, suburban and rural levels. Altogether 750 subscribers are estimated to use this technology.

VSAT access is provided by Transat and by ViSAT in Bulgaria. Despite the possibility to provide access everywhere in Bulgaria, the 250 ms delay (single loop) deters its usage of satellite for Internet access. This technology is mostly used in remote villages, where even telephone connections are lacking. The price is too high for end-users and it is mostly used by small ISPs that re-distribute Internet via LAN, to business (and especially hotels in remote areas) or government.


IDATE 73

4.3.7. Mobile broadband coverage and take up


69%

25%

80%

60%

15%

50%

12%

70%

100%

74%

95%

20%

60%

75%

100%95%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Mobile Internet is provided by all three mobile operators in Bulgaria – Mobiltel (M-Tel), Cosmo Bulgaria Mobile (Globul) and Vivacom (the incumbent). In total 80% of the population is covered by 3G and 74% by 3G+. The coverage for both 3G and 3G+ is significantly lower for suburban and rural areas compared to the urban areas.

Penetration

100%

69%

25%

80%

4%

15%

23%18%

23% 22%22%15%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The number of subscribers reached 1,323,000 in 2010, and the penetration 18%. The mobile Internet consumption is predominately an urban phenomenon (23% in urban areas compared to 15.2% in suburban areas and only 3.6% in rural areas) for reasons such as lower UMTS/HSDPA coverage in suburban and rural areas as well as higher purchase power of urban people who use mobile broadband as a second access.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Cyprus

IDATE 74

4.4. Cyprus


Inhabitants 557,900 205,000 34,000 796,900




DSL subscribers 60,934 96,335 136,300 165,895 180,000


Cable modem coverage (% population) - 28% 28% 28% 28%

Cable modem subscribers 314 718 2,757 8,337 17,640


FTTx subscribers - 100 100 100 460

PLC subscribers - - - - -

WLL subscribers - - - - -

Satellite subscribers 0 50 300 561 -

Total 63,702 97,153 139,260 174,893 198,100


Mobile broadband subscribers 57,000 94,537 420,000


The broadband market in Cyprus has been very dynamic in recent years: fixed broadband penetration is now close to the European average and mobile broadband take-up is very high.


IDATE 75



100% 98%

45%

97%

18%

6%

25%23%

25% 23%18%

13%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



DSL coverage expanded again in 2010 in rural areas (from 30% at the end of 2009). After two years of rapid development, DSL penetration is now quite high in Cyprus – ranking sixth in the EU-29.


0

15 000

30 000

45 000

60 000

75 000


Less than 256 kbps Up to 512 kbps From 512 kbps to 1 MbpsFrom 1 to 2 Mbps From 2 to 8 Mbps From 8 to 30 Mbps

DSL download speeds remain slow, however, with most connections running at 2 Mbps or less.


IDATE 76


60%

83%

100%

65%

40%

17%

35%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Unbundling is available mainly in urban areas and to a lesser extent in suburban areas, its main purveyor being Cyta's chief competitor, Primetel.


IDATE 77



40%

0% 0%

28%

0% 0%3% 2%

8% 8%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



After a slow start, the cable modem subscriber base began to increase significantly in 2008 (x3 in 2009, x2 in 2010): cable now accounts for nearly 10% of total broadband connections.


0

2 000

4 000

6 000

8 000

10 000



Cable modem connection speeds are significantly higher than DSL speeds, with 75% being over 2 Mbps.


IDATE 78


In 2007, Cyta initiated a pilot project based on both GPON and E-P2P technologies, covering 100 homes at the beginning, extended to 120 in 2010.


Wi-Fi

Hotspots have been deployed in only a few public spaces such as cafes and airports, providing time restricted services to users who can subscribe through their mobile phones, using a texting-based registration procedure. There are no plans for nationwide development. At least five ISPs provide Wi-Fi services: Ayza.net, NetHouse, Rflex, Cytanet and Thunderworx.

Satellite

In addition to Wi-Fi, there are also satellite-based broadband access services in Cyprus. There were 561 broadband satellite connections at the end of 2009 (updated figures for 2010 were not available as of this writing).

In March 2009, the Ministry of Communications and Works for the Republic of Cyprus launched a plan with the aim of covering all villages currently without broadband Internet access with satellite Internet access in combination with Wi-Fi. MegaSAT is one major provider, delivering speeds up to 3.6 Mbps.


IDATE 79



92%

50%

96%92%

50%

60%

20%

65%

100%96%

100%

20%

60%65%

100%100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Following the launch of 3G services by its competitor, MTN, at the end of 2004, Cytamobile stepped up its rollout programme: its 3G network now covers 96% of the population and was entirely upgraded to HSDPA.

Penetration

92%

50%

96%100%

53% 55%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



There were 420,000 3G subscribers in Cyprus at the end of 2010.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe The Czech Republic

IDATE 80

4.5. The Czech Republic


Inhabitants 2,414,842 5,356,781 2,735,190 10,506,813




DSL subscribers 494,570 613,200 680,600 785,500 866,900






PLC subscribers 50 200 200 - -

WLL subscribers 350,000 520,000 650,000 670,000 720,000


Total 1,088,620 1,501,400 1,794,800 2,032,700 2,265,832


Mobile broadband subscribers 199,200 272,000

Mobile broadband penetration (% population) 1.9% 2.6%

At the end of 2010, there were 2,265,832 fixed broadband subscribers in the Czech Republic, which marks an 11.5% increase year-on-year (compared to 13.5% in 2009).

The most popular type of broadband connection was DSL, with a 38.3% share of fixed broadband lines. The second most popular technology was WLL/WiMAX, accounting for 720,000 connections, or 32% of the fixed broadband base. WLL/WiMAX technology is especially popular in the Moravian region, in eastern Czech Republic. Ranking third, cable modem has a 21% share of the market. The main player in the cable broadband market is UPC, accounting for more than 80% of the cable modem connections. Nearly 200,000 subscribers use FTTx technology, most of them are business customers. Satellite technology is only used by about 500 users in the Czech Republic.


IDATE 81



99%93%

85%92%

8% 9%7% 8%8% 9%9% 10%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



At the end of 2010, there were 866,900 DSL subscribers, or 10% more than in 2009.

The DSL coverage in urban areas stands at 99%, at 93% in suburban areas and at 85% in rural areas in the Czech Republic – which puts the national total at 92%. The penetration rate for DSL technology is 8.3% and the penetration/coverage ratio is 9%.


0

150 000

300 000

450 000

600 000

750 000



Most DSL subscribers’ connection speed ranges between 2 and 8 Mbps (73%); 8.5% of subscribers have a connection of 1 to 2 Mbps, 6.3% 512 kbps to 1 Mbps and 4.4% a connection running at 256 to 512 kbps. More than 6.5% have a broadband connection that supplies a connection speed of 8 to 30 Mbps.


IDATE 82

Number of DSL connections by type of provider

85%

9%

6%

2%0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Incumbent carrier O2 Telefónica supplies around 85% of the country’s DSL lines directly.


IDATE 83



43%

3% 1%

12%

5%11%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



At the end of 2010, there were 478,210 basic cable modem subscribers, a 14% increase over the previous year. The penetration rate is 4.6% and the penetration/coverage ratio is 10.6%.


0

100 000

200 000

300 000

400 000



The main player in the Czech market is UPC, the European branch of the international conglomerate Liberty Global which has operations in Europe, Australia and the Americas. UPC’s share of the Czech market stands at more than 80%. The rest of the market is divided between small local players that are members of the Association of Cable and Telecommunication Operators.

Seventy percent of cable modem subscribers (353,102) have a connection running at 8 to 30 Mbps while 20% (100,886) have a connection speed of 2 to 8 Mbps.


IDATE 84



There are nearly 200,000 FTTx subscribers in the Czech Republic, of which 174,000 over dedicated networks mostly for business users (other FTTx connections are based on cable/DOCSIS 3.0).


IDATE 85

4.5.6. Other broadband access technologies WLL/WiMAX

There were 720,000 WLL/WiMAX subscribers in the Czech Republic at the end of 2010. Most of them are located in suburban areas (64%), followed by rural areas (23.2%) and urban areas (12.8%). It follows that the highest penetration rate is also in suburban areas where it stands at 8.6%.

Satellite

Subscription to two-way satellite technology is very rare in the Czech Republic, serving only several hundreds of users today.


IDATE 86



There are four operators in the Czech Republic providing 3G data services: cellular operators O2, T-mobile and Vodafone and a fourth operator, U:fon. The 3G network operated by O2 has the largest coverage, reaching 45% of population at the end of 2010.

Penetration

45%

3%6%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



There were 272,000 subscribers at the end 6f 2/1/, which translates into a penetration rate of 2.6% and a penetration/coverage rate of 5.75%.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Denmark

IDATE 87

4.6. Denmark


Inhabitants 1,685,172 2,190,284 1,685,172 5,560,628




DSL subscribers 1,063,227 1,207,200 1,246,737 1,251,000 1,237,476





FTTx subscribers 131,230 205,678 232,437 251,000 313,687*


WLL subscribers 20,124 23,016 22,487 26,000 48,675**


Total 1,711,056 1,978,276 2,040,522 2,085,000 2,150,220


Mobile broadband subscribers 1,034,000 1,636,000 3,441,387


* including 126,543 LAN subscribers (mainly FTTB + Ethernet) ** including 8,734 Wi-Fi subscribers and 41,258 WiMAX subscribers (+ 655 WLL) With over 2 million fixed broadband and about 1.6 million mobile broadband subscribers at the end of 2010, the Danish broadband market remains one of the most advanced markets in the world. DSL accounts for more than half of the fixed broadband connections and the incumbent carrier, TDC, still has a majority share of this segment. All local exchanges are DSL-equipped, but eligibility is still slightly lower due to technical constraints (distance, quality of the copper pair, etc.). The number of cable TV subscribers, over 0.5 million, is also substantial and also here TDC plays a major role through its subsidiary, YouSee (former TDC Kabel TV). The main competitors to TDC are Telia Denmark and Telenor (DSL), Telia Stofa (cable TV) and Dansk Kabel TV (cable TV). There are about 3.5 million mobile broadband subscribers, of which 800,000 have a dedicated data subscription and about 600,000 have add-ons to their ordinary mobile subscription. The rest have ordinary mobile subscriptions and use IP services from time to time. TDC’s mobile broadband market competitors in Denmark are Telia, Telenor and 3 and several MVNOs. FTTx accounts for over 300,000 subscribers, or 14% of the fixed broadband market. The FTTx market is dominated by the energy companies. The FTTx operators in Denmark are: Altibox, Bredbånd Nord, ComX Networks, Dansk Bredbånd, Dansk KabelTV, EnergiMidt, FastTV, NRGi, Syd Energi, Sydfyns Intranet, TRE-FOR Bredbånd, Verdo Tele, Waoo, YouSee, Østjysk Energi There are about 50,000 Internet subscribers using Wireless networks (FWA, WiMAX and WiFi), where WiMAX accounts for the majority of subscribers. The WiMAX market is dominated by Elro Erhverv with about 40,000 subscribers.


IDATE 88



100% 100% 100% 100%

26%

11%

29%22%

29%22%

26%

11%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



DSL coverage is now deemed complete in all parts of Denmark. All exchanges have been equipped with DSL capability for several years, and almost all subscribers (more than 99% of the population) are covered with DSL services. Still take-up remains far higher in urban and suburban areas than in rural areas.


0

150 000

300 000

450 000

600 000



Download speeds in the 2-8 Mbps and 8-30 Mbps range are the most widely deployed, with around 50% of DSL subscribers having a high-speed connection of more than 8 Mbps.


IDATE 89


69% 75% 70% 72%

7%8%9% 8%

22% 20%18% 22%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The incumbent (TDC) remains strong, having more than 70% of the DSL subscriptions.


IDATE 90



65%

77%

34%

60%

12%

4%

13%10%

20%17%16%

12%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Broadband cable is still the second largest fixed broadband platform in Denmark. After analogue shut down and DTT was introduced, there was an assumption that some cable TV subscribers would switch to DTT and that it would affect the cable modem customer base but year-end data for 2010 gives no indication that this has been the case.


0

100 000

200 000

300 000

400 000



Compared to end 2009 there has been no significant changes in the number of cable TV subscribers, but the number of people with access to high-speed connections has increased overall. The percentage of the population with access to a download rate of over 8 Mbps stands at more than 30%.


IDATE 91



60%

34%

23%

38%

4% 3% 5%9%

15%12% 14%15%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



FTTx continues to grow in Denmark, with FTTH accounting for more than half of FTTx lines – the remaining being mainly LAN subscribers (40%) and, to a lesser extent, VDSL and cable/DOCSIS 3.0.


0

30 000

60 000

90 000

120 000


Less than 2 Mbos From 2 to 8 Mbps From 8 to 30 Mbps More than 30 Mbps

FTTx accounts for about 300,000 subscribers, i.e. 14% of fixed broadband connections, and there has been a tremendous growth in mobile broadband connections.


IDATE 92


Wi-Fi

The number of Wi-Fi subscribers is about 8,700 at the end of 2010.

WLL/WiMAX

WLL is almost non-existent and WiMAX had about 41,000 subscribers in Denmark at the end of 2010.

The WiMAX market in Denmark is dominated by Elro Erhverv which serves about 40,000 subscribers.

Satellite

There are no satellite subscribers in Denmark.


IDATE 93



100% 100% 100%100% 100%100%93%

98%100% 100%100% 99%100% 100%100%100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



All four mobile operators, TDC, 3, Telia and Telenor and a number of MVNOs and SPS offer mobile broadband services, both via standalone dongles but also via add-ons to ordinary mobile subscription.

Penetration

100% 100% 100% 100%

62%67%

72%

44% 44%

72%

62%67%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



At the end of 2010 there are about 3.4 million subscribers with the possibility of accessing mobile broadband services in Denmark.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Estonia

IDATE 94

4.7. Estonia


Inhabitants 930,614 0 409,589 1,340,127


4.7.2. General broadband data 2 12/06 12/07 12/08 12/09 12/09

DSL coverage (% of population) - 85% 94% 94% 94%

DSL subscribers 102,000 117,000 125,000 135,000 147,000

DSL penetration (% of population) 7.6% 8.7% 9.3% 10.1% 11.0%




FTTx/LAN subscribers 58,000 67,000 81,000 88,000 90,000


WLL subscribers 9,000 25,000 35,000 38,000 36,000


Total 228,000 280,000 315,000 338,000 348,000


Mobile broadband subscribers 22,000 70,000

Mobile broadband penetration (% population) 1.6% 5.2%

The number of fixed Internet broadband users increased by 3.5% in 2010 (7% in 2009, 14% in 2008), while the combined growth rate for fixed and mobile Internet broadband customers came to 16.6% in 2010. Mobile broadband customers account for 17% of Estonia’s broadband user base.

Competition in the country’s fixed broadband market has developed mainly between undertakings owning network infrastructure. Among major service providers, Elion provides primarily ADSL services, while Starman and STV provide mainly high-speed access over the cable modem and fibre solutions. Eighty one percent of fixed broadband customers subscribe to either Elion, Starman or STV.

At the end of 2010, 72% (64% in 2009) of end users are using bundled solutions that include broadband access, (mobile) telephony and/or cable TV.

2 This overview is based on materials of the Estonian Competition Authority and especially on their report on the Estonian telecommunications market in 2010 prepared for the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (2011). Other public materials, including annual reports of the telecommunication companies (for 2010) are used as well. Population data was obtained from Statistics Estonia (2011). The author is grateful to Rivo Mets, Head of Electronic Communications Department of the Estonian Competition Authority, for the help in data gathering and analysis.


IDATE 95



100%

80%

94%

11%11% 11%11% 12%14%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Broadband data communication services are supplied mainly through DSL, cable and fibre solutions (70% of the total users).

It is estimated that 100% of urban areas and 80% of rural areas are covered by DSL technologies. Sixty eight percent of the country’s DSL subscribers are estimated to be in the urban and 32% in the rural areas.


0

20 000

40 000

60 000

80 000

100 000



Detailed data on DSL connections by download rate are not available from the providers, but it is estimated that some 37% of the connections deliver speeds less than 2 Mbps (25% in urban areas and 12% in rural areas), 62% fall into the category of 2-8 Mbps (42% and 20% respectively for urban and rural areas) and 1% are faster than 8 Mbps (1% and 0%).


IDATE 96


85%

100%90%

7%5%

8% 5%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



As of 2010, Elion was renting only 8,000 unbundled lines. The total number of DSL users is reported to be 147,000 – of which 139,000 are DSL supplied directly by the incumbent or its subsidiaries is, and 6,800 are delivered by other DSL providers via bitstream or resale. The remaining 1,200 are DSL owned and operated by different ISPs.


IDATE 97



100%

0%

69%

8%6%

8% 8%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Broadband data communication services are provided mainly through the DSL network, fibre solutions and cable distribution networks. The share of cable modem users has remained stable.

It is estimated that urban areas are covered with cable networks capable of broadband Internet access, while the networks in rural areas are not.


0

7 500

15 000

22 500

30 000



Detailed data on cable modem connections by download rate are not available from the providers, but it is estimated that 27% of the connections have speeds less than 2 Mbps, 37% fall into the category of 2-8 Mbps and 36% supply speeds of over 8 Mbps.


IDATE 98



4% 7%8%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%




0

15 000

30 000

45 000

60 000



Detailed data on FTTx connections by download rate is not available from the providers, but it is estimated that some 23% of the connections have speeds of less than 2 Mbps (18% in urban areas and 5% in rural areas), 64% fall into the category of 2-8 Mbps (51% and 13% respectively for urban and rural areas) and 13% run at more than 8 Mbps (all in urban areas).


IDATE 99


WLL/WiMAX

The number of end-users using WLL solutions dropped from 38,000 in 2009 to 36,000 in 2010, which gives the technology the smallest base of Internet customers.

Although a widescale CDMA 450 MHz network called “Kõu” has been running since mid-June 2007, operated by AS Televõrk (related to Eesti Energia AS), the speeds offered via this service are unstable and cannot be categorised as full broadband access.

Satellite

There are no companies in Estonia that own sattellite networks. Elisa does resell satellite-based services but no detailled data are available. Satellite is nonetheless thought to account for only a tiny fraction of the country’s broadband customers.


IDATE 100



80%

90%

80%

60%65%

100% 100%

90%

99%

65%60%

99%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



EMT, AS Tele2 and Elisa were awarded ten-year UMTS licences in summer 2003. EMT was the first to conduct a trial on the 3G network, back in September 2003, but waited until late October 2005 to launch commercial 3G services in the Tallinn area.

As of 2010, all of the network operators (Elisa, EMT, Tele2) were operating 3G+ networks and offering 3G+ broadband connections.

Data on the number of mobile broadband subscribers started to be collected in 2009, and their number at the end of 2010 is estimated to be 70,000.

Penetration

100%

80%

90%

5% 6%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Development of Broadband Access in Europe Finland

IDATE 101

4.8. Finland


Inhabitants 1,903,110 1,679,694 1,792,472 5,375,276




DSL subscribers 1,232,800 1,348,000 1,231,300 1,161,182 1,034,811





FTTx/LAN subscribers* 8,400 124,000 144,900 147,372 273,031

PLC subscribers 800 1,000 0 0 0

WLL subscribers 4,900 15,300 26,100 31,600 26,700


Total* 1,428,000 1,697,900 1,617,100 1,559,400 1,558,300


Mobile broadband subscribers 143,100 479,700 908,000 1636,300

Mobile broadband penetration (% population) 2.7% 9.0% 17.0% 30.4% * including real estate and housing company subscriptions from 2007

The Finnish market has seen a decline in the number of fixed broadband subscriptions for the second year running. The most prevalent fixed broadband technology is still ADSL, with close to two thirds of the subscriptions. It nevertheless experienced a 11% reduction in the number of subscriptions. There has also been a reduction in WLL subscriptions since 2009.

The number of cable subscriptions is still growing slightly. FTTx customer numbers have increased significantly and now accounts for 17.5% of fixed broadband connections.

There has been a remarkable growth in the number of mobile broadband subscriptions, which now accounts for almost 51% of the total.

Due to heavy competition, there was also tremendous development in download speeds in 2010. Close to 60% of fixed broadband subscriptions deliver speeds of 4 Mbps or higher, which marks a 20% increase from one year earlier. Thirty three percent run at 10 Mbps or higher, or 16% more than the previous year.

In terms of mobile broadband subscriptions, 33% have available connection speeds of 2 Mbps or higher, which is double the number from the year before.

Eighty six percent of all Finnish households had an Internet connection at the end of 2010.


IDATE 102



99% 98%

90%96%

20% 18%20% 19%20% 20%20% 20%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



DSL coverage in urban areas stands at close to 100%. Nationwide, the coverage is around 96%, virtually unchanged over the last three years. According to Ficora, this figure is not likely to increase in the foreseeable future.

The number of DSL connections fell between 2009 to 2010, continuing the trend that began in 2008. The number of real estate and housing company subscriptions increased to an all time high at 158,000, however. These subscriptions are based on various technologies, but most on DSL. These numbers are not included in the Ficora (National regulatory authority) DSL numbers but are counted in a separate category (grouped with FTTx in our tables). Even if we include the majority of these subscriptions the DSL base, the number of DSL subscriptions is still clearly in decline.


0

100 000

200 000

300 000

400 000

500 000




IDATE 103

No specific data on DSL download rates are available from operators, but since DSL dominates the fixed broadband market, Ficora’s overall numbers give a reasonably accurate description of the development trajectory for DSL.

There was a major shift towards higher download rates in 2010, with now only 26% of DSL (and cable) subscriptions having slower rates than 2 Mbps. Seven percent of DSL (and cable) subscriptions has a download rate of more than 25 Mbps.


69% 69% 69% 69%

5% 5%5% 5%

26% 26%26% 26%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



There are several “incumbents” in the Finnish market; dozens of local telcos, each of which can be classified as an incumbent in its own traditional service area. Distinguishing between the incumbent and alternative providers in the Finnish market is therefore very challenging.

For practical purposes, Elisa, Finnet and TeliaSonera Finland are considered Finland’s three incumbents. The split (see chart above) is supplied by Ficora.


IDATE 104



95%

25%

0%

41%

3%0%

9%4%

9% 10%14%

0%0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



According to Ficora, there has been a slight increase in cable modem coverage in Finland since 2009, estimated at 41%. Cable modem is available primarily in urban areas.

2010 saw a 2.5% increase in the number of basic cable modem subscribers, but penetration is still low compared to other countries, both in total numbers and when compared to availability/coverage.


0

30 000

60 000

90 000

120 000



No specific data on cable download rates are available from operators. Assuming that the download rates are similar to DSL (commercial offers and prices are in the same ranges), Ficora statistics give a good indication on the development of cable subscriptions


IDATE 105



No information on FTTx coverage has been made available from Ficora or the operators. The relative growth of FTTx connections has been high, however, increasing from 147,372 to 273,031 during the year (including connections from real estate and housing companies), accounting for 17.5% of all fixed broadband connections.


No information on FTTx download rates has been made available from Ficora or the operators.


IDATE 106


Wi-Fi

There are no official statistics on the number of hotspots in Finland.

WLL/WiMAX

Coverage and penetration is limited as the technology is steadily losing ground to regular mobile broadband.

Satellite and PLC

Satellite does not play a significant role in the Finnish market.


IDATE 107



100% 99% 100%100% 99%95%

80%84%

100% 100%100%

80%

95%

84%

100%100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



3G operators cover largely the same areas, and it is estimated that nearly the entire population and a significant part of the territory was covered by 3G at the end of 2010 – primarily by offering capacity through the 2100 MHz-band network in urban areas and coverage over the 900 MHz-band network in rural areas.

By end 2010 all major networks had been upgraded to 3G+.

There was an only small increase in aggregated coverage in 2010, since all major operators are focusing on building their new 4G networks. Two 4G networks were launched for commercial use in late 2010, based on mobile WiMAX and LTE.

Penetration

100% 100% 99% 100%

30% 31%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Ficora reports 1,636,300 mobile broadband subscriptions in 2010, up by more than 80% from last year. Mobile broadband now constitutes more than half of all broadband subscriptions in Finland, with a penetration rate that stands at more than 30% of the population.

Data traffic on the country’s mobile networks has more than doubled since the year before.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe France

IDATE 108

4.9. France


Inhabitants 33,488,905 17,232,155 14,305,940 64,667,000




DSL subscribers 11,877,557 14,800,000 16,804,000 18,500,000 19,858,000






PLC subscribers <800 <800 <800 <800 0

WLL subscribers 1,200 1,200 4,000 4,000 22,500

Satellite subscribers 1,000 2,000 15,000 35,000 50,000

Total 12,594,557 15,551,000 17,691,000 19,668,000 21,289,200


Mobile broadband subscribers 5,879,000 11,439,000 16,915,000 22,474,000

Mobile broadband penetration (% population) 9.1% 17.7% 26.2% 34.6%

The total number of fixed broadband subscribers in France increased by 8.2% in 2010 (1.6 million new broadband connections in one year) with penetration reaching 32.7% at year-end.

DSL, which is now available to nearly all people in France (all exchanges are DSL-equipped), is still by far the leading broadband access technology, accounting for 93.3% of total fixed connections. Competition is driven by LLU. ADSL2+ technology is widespread and most users have access to triple play bundles that include IPTV. After a period of consolidation, the DSL market is now concentrated in the hands of three operators: Orange (France Telecom), SFR (formerly neuf cegetel) and Iliad/Free.

The cable modem segment, which is still quite small, has gained market share over the past two years as a result of aggressively priced offers from the main cable operator, Numericable.

In the meantime, 4.5 million cable households have been upgraded to FTTB, which accounts for 75% of the FTTx subscriber base.

Mobile broadband subscribers continued to increase substantially: more than one out of every three mobile subscribers is now using 3G services3.

3 According to ARCEP, the number of active 3G users is defined as the number of clients who have accessed (in transmission or reception) a mobile service (voice, video telephony, mobile TV, data transfer ...) using the 3G radio access technology in the last three months.


IDATE 109

4.9.3. DSL coverage and take-up Coverage and penetration

100% 100% 100% 100%

30% 28%32% 31%32% 31%30% 28%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



All France Telecom local exchanges are DSL-equipped although FT indicates that, due to technical constraints, ADSL can be delivered only to 99% of units depending on those local exchanges, except in certain big cities (Paris, Lyon and Marseille).

There were 1.3 million new DSL subscribers in France in 2010 (+7.3%).


0

3 000 000

6 000 000

9 000 000

12 000 000



The French ADSL market is characterised by a high proportion of connections with download rates of over 8 Mbps, supported by ADSL2+ technology. We estimate that 10.9 million connections (or 55% of total DSL connections) were in this category at the end of 2010. FT's competitors, which market only a single connection speed, can generally supply these high speed-connections, in particular in unbundled areas. This also means that most DSL subscribers can receive IPTV. According to ARCEP, there were 10.7 million potential IPTV users at the end of 2010 (and 6.3 million actual customers according to IDATE estimates).


IDATE 110


41%53%

59%46%

14%15%

8%9%

51% 45%33%

26%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Although the DSL market is highly concentrated, with more than 93% of DSL connections provided by the country’s top three ISPs, it is a competitive market. SFR has a 24.2% market share and Free 22.7% while the remaining 7% are mostly in the hands of Bouygues Telecom which entered the DSL market at the end of 2008, and Darty Telecom.


IDATE 111



46%

17%

1%

29%

1% 0%2% 1%5% 5%4% 6%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The cable modem subscriber base increased in 2010 (+70,000 subscribers) although Numericable, which now owns close to 100% of country’s cable networks, was actively investing in FTTB technology as well and gained a sizeable number of fibre subscribers this past year.


0

150 000

300 000

450 000

600 000



It is estimated that 65% of broadband cable connections in France deliver download rates over 8 Mbps.


IDATE 112



29%

19%

0%

21%

1% 0% 1%1% 3% 3%4%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



All four of France’s major broadband providers (France Telecom, SFR, Free and Numericable) are now involved in FTTH/B access network deployments, with Numericable being the most advanced (4.5 million homes passed at the end of 2010). Numericable is also no. 1 in terms of users with 340,000 FTTB subscribers at the end of 2010, and still accounts for 75% of the total FTTH/B subscriber base in France.


0

100 000

200 000

300 000

400 000

500 000



All FTTH/B connections are advertised as supplying speeds of 100 Mbps: technical measurements showed that speeds are indeed above 30 Mbps, but generally between 30 and 50 Mbps on average, depending on the vendor.


IDATE 113


PLC

In April 2005, PLC access went beyond the experimental stage in France but, for now, its development as an alternative to ADSL is being hampered by EDF, owner of the country’s electricity network, which has not been authorised to market Internet access.

The development of indoor powerline carrier systems is allowed, provided they do not create any interference with existing systems.

Wi-Fi

Hotspots are widely deployed in public areas (hotels, airports, railway stations, conference centres, etc.), providing wireless access to the Net for a specific clientele, the bulk of which are travelling business people. With nearly 30,000 public hotspots, France ranks #3 in the world after the USA (76,000) and China (close to 40,000).

Wireless neighbourhood networks (SFR and Free) are also increasing as ISPs are working to expand their wireless coverage, turning their customers' IP boxes into Wi-Fi hotspots (for those customers who agree, with only part of the bandwidth made available to other subscribers).

WLL/WiMAX Regional WiMAX licences were awarded in 2006 (two operators in each region) – the main beneficiaries of being Bolloré Telecom, Altitude Wireless and HDRR (a TDF-led consortium).

Following the acquisition of eight of the 11 WiMAX licenses held by HDDR (a subsidiary of TDF), Bolloré can be considered a national operator, covering 20 out of 22 regions. The other national operator is Iliad/Free which took over Altitude Telecom's nationwide WiMAX licence in September 2005: the company operating the WiMAX network was later renamed IFW.

As operators were behind schedule in their deployments, the French regulator put pressure on them in mid-2008, asking for continuous reporting on the progress being made in coverage. At the end of 2008, a mere 675 base stations had been installed, which was less than 20% of the initial target (3,562). The impact of ARCEP's actions has been limited up until now: at the end of 2009, IFW was the sole player who had met its obligations. Other operators are still far from having reached their objectives, although a degree of progress has been made as more than 1,350 stations were deployed at the end of 2010. The number of WiMAX subscribers has remained very low, however: 22,500 at the end of 2010, of which 1,500 corporate users and 21,000 residential customers.

Satellite

Several two-way offers are now available in France, targeting SMEs in rural areas. At the beginning of 2009, three suppliers also announced they were launching broadband access via satellite to cover dead zones: Orange, through its subsidiary Nordnet (based on SES Astra), Numeo and Sat2Way (based on Eutelsat satellites). We estimate that there were around 50,000 two-way satellite subscribers in France at the end of 2010.


IDATE 114



96%

68%

92%96%

68%

92%

46%52%

100%

92%

100%

46%

92%

52%

100%100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



According to ARCEP, Orange's 3G coverage exceeded the target set for the end of 2010, i.e. 91% (the highest target among the country’s three MNOs). All French mobile operators have fully upgraded their 3G networks to HSPA.

Penetration

100% 96%

68%

92%

35%38%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



There were 22.5 million active 3G customers at the end of 2010, up 33% compared to the end of 2010.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Germany

IDATE 115

4.10. Germany


Inhabitants 40,411,451 29,395,511 12,507,944 82,314,906



DSL coverage (% of the population) 93% 96% 97% 97% 97%

DSL subscribers 14,300,000 18,500,000 20,720,000 22,070,000 22,100,000

DSL penetration (% of the population) 17.3% 22.5% 25.2% 26.8% 26.8%


Cable modem subscribers 600,000 985,000 1,600,000 2,300,000 2,263,000


FTTx subscribers 20,000 108,000 280,000 510,000 1,688,500

PLC subscribers 9,500 9,500 10,000 10,000 10,000

WLL subscribers 0 0 80,000 90,000 100,000


Total 14,985,500 19,639,000 22,721,000 25,022,000 26,211,500




In Germany, the fixed broadband subscriber base increased to 26.2 million from 25 million in 2009. Nevertheless, with 1.2 million new subscribers, absolute growth is lower than previous years. The total fixed broadband penetration rate stands at 31.8% in 2010 (compared to 30.4% in 2009). The dominant broadband technology, DSL, seems to be at a turning point. FTTx (including VDSL and FTTLA) and cable modem subscribers experienced constant growth, DSL market penetration remained at 26.8%.

There was a significant increase in FTTx, which more than tripled between 2009 and 2010. The demand for greater bandwidth got a push in 2010, and FTTH/B, VDSL and fast cable connections running at more than 30 Mbps are becoming increasingly available. Other technologies such as PLC, WiMAX and satellite remain insignificant in terms of market share.


IDATE 116



99%96%

91%97%

30%

20%27% 27%27% 28%

31%

22%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



While most local exchanges in urban areas are DSL equipped, there is still room for coverage improvement in rural areas where coverage stands at 91%. Total DSL coverage in December 2010 is estimated at 97%. The total subscriber base remained more or less unchanged from the year before. Despite weaker growth rates, DSL has more than 22 million subscribers, which means that 84.3% of the country’s fixed broadband subscribers still access the Web via DSL.


0

2 000 000

4 000 000

6 000 000

8 000 000

10 000 000



In 2010, the proportion of slow and fast broadband connections reversed. While in 2009 there were more DSL subscribers with bandwidth ranging from 1 to 2 Mbps than those with connections of 8 to 30 Mbps, in 2010 more than 6 million subscribers were accessing the internet with theoretical bitrates of more than 8 Mbps. Demand for connections from 1 to 2 Mbps dropped by approximately 2.5 million to 3.9 million subscribers. The most common speed range, however, is from 2 to 8 Mbps (9.8 million subscribers) as 6 Mbps has become a standard, and even a minimum connection speed (depending on the operator).

72.3% of Germany’s DSL subscribers access the internet at more than 2 Mbps, but there is still a clear gap between urban and rural areas in terms of speed.


IDATE 117


47% 52%59%

50%

10%

16%

6%9%

47% 41%38%

25%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Despite reporting losses in urban areas, German incumbent Deutsche Telekom could gain back market share in terms of DSL connections. The share of bitstream/resale connections decreased slightly while there was a slight increase of unbundled lines.


IDATE 118



84%

46%

14%

60%

1% 1%5%

3%5% 5%2%

7%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Despite huge growth in 2010, cable modem penetration figures decreased as all of Germany’s top cable operators have been upgrading their networks to DOCSIS 3.0 in many areas. As a result, more than 600,000 cable connections are counted as FTTx now. There was only a slight increase in coverage, which now stands at 60%, with a huge disparity between urban and suburban/rural areas (84%, 46% and 14%, respectively).


0

400 000

800 000

1 200 000

1 600 000

2 000 000



On average, German cable modem subscribers have faster connections than DSL subscribers: 74% have a service running at between 8 and 30 Mbps and 22% access the Internet at even greater speeds than that.


IDATE 119



63%

25%

6%

41%

1% 0% 2%3% 5%6% 5%5%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Deutsche Telekom (DTAG) has been upgrading its VDSL network since October 2006. Since mid 2009 an unbundled VDSL offer is available and competitors like Vodafone started offering VDSL, too. Furthermore, due to companies such as NetCologne, M-Net and EWE TEL, smaller FTTH networks from regional carriers are emerging and bandwidths up to 300 Mbps are available in certain areas. In addition, there are a couple of small FTTx networks in rural areas. On top of this, German cable operators started offering high speed connections with fibre to the last amplifier and up to 100 Mbps as an alternative to real FTTH/B.

The expansion of the FTTx network still focuses strongly on urban areas with 63% in contrast to only 6% in rural areas. The number of subscribers increased significantly to 1.7 million subscribers.


0

150 000

300 000

450 000

600 000

750 000



Deutsche Telekom offers VDSL subscriptions with bandwidths of 25 and 50 Mbps while 100 Mbps and more are common for FTTB/H networks. Cable operators often offer 32 Mbps and up to 100 Mbps in areas with upgraded networks. Altogether, 82% of FTTx subscribers surf with 30 Mbps or higher.


IDATE 120


PLC

In Germany the subscriber base remains 10,000 for the 3rd year in a row, hence in a growing market the market share decreases. There are still field tests with Mainnet and Ascom modems in different regions to overcome the technological problems because PLC is still considered technically immature.

WLL/WiMAX

WLL/WiMAX penetration is still low reaching 100,000 subscribers. Three quarters of the total WiMAX subscribers live in rural areas. Due to its technical properties and its relatively low installation costs, WiMAX is often the only possible access technology for rural areas that are not located in immediate proximity to a fibre backbone.

Satellite

Broadband via satellite remains a niche solution in areas not covered by DSL or cable. In certain rural areas, satellite is still the only available option to get broadband access. Nevertheless, bandwidths have increased in 2010 and prices have become more attractive from a customer’s point of view. Despite the further of fixed broadband coverage, satellite broadband increased in 2010 by 19% reaching 50,000 subscribers.


IDATE 121



84%

49%

86%81%

47%

73%

35%

55%

100%

85%

100%

37%

75%

57%

100%100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Mobile broadband usage has significantly increased within the last two years. In 2010 there were about 21.2 million mobile broadband users. About 86% of the German population now has access to 3G or 3G+ technology. While there is an almost complete coverage of urban areas, there are still gaps in suburban (84%) and especially in rural areas where 50% of the population does not have access to fast mobile Internet. There are also differences between the four providers – Vodafone, T-Mobile, O2 and E-Plus – in terms of 3G/3G+ coverage.

Mobile operators also started to deploy their 4G/LTE networks in 2010. The German regulator, Bundesnetzagentur, called for digital dividend bands to be used primarily for mobile broadband services in rural regions that are not covered with any other broadband technology. Here, LTE is meant to be treated as a substitute for fixed broadband connection. Only after these dead zones are covered, operators are allowed to launch LTE services in the profitable urban areas.

Penetration

100%

84%

49%

86%

14%22%

32%26%

32% 30%27% 29%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Development of Broadband Access in Europe Greece

IDATE 122

4.11. Greece


Inhabitants 6,911,093 1,926,025 2,492,500 11,329,618



DSL coverage (% population) 18%* 86% 88% 91% 92%

DSL subscribers 485,793 1,016,076 1,500,354 1,908,124 2,244,057



Cable modem subscribers 0 0 0 0 0




WLL subscribers 648 1,231 2,000 1,059 1,114

Satellite subscribers 350 520 386 565 1,129

Total 487,265 1,018,421 1,504,740 1,916,630 2,252,653


Mobile broadband subscribers** 221,738 225,325 289,316

Mobile broadband penetration** (% population) 2.0% 2.0% 2.6%

* installed capacity (ADSL ports) as a% of total fixed lines

** PC data cards/dongles only

Broadband penetration reached nearly 20% of the population and continued to rise significantly, albeit more slowly than in previous years. Due to the adverse macroeconomic and financial situation, broadband market growth was one of the lowest in the recent years, and broadband penetration in Greece still lags behind the EU average. Operators introduced new packages during the year in response to growing competition. More than 10% of the population have opted for double play offers (telephony and broadband internet). Due to the impact of the financial/economic crisis most players experienced difficulties during the year (Wind Hellas takeover was completed in October) and the market’s consolidation continues, with a series of mergers and acquisitions taking place between fixed and mobile operators. The incumbent carrier still enjoys the largest share of the market, but it dropped to below 50% for the first time ever in 2010. The adverse macroeconomic situation was the reason given for postponing of the optical fibre network development plan. The Greek incumbent initiated the deployment of its new optical access network (FTTC with the use of VDSL2 technology) in a limited number of urban areas. A public consultation was launched on December 2010 on draft legislation amending certain provisions contained in national Law No. 3431/2006 on Electronic Communications.


IDATE 123



100% 100%

62%

92%

15% 13%

24%20%

24% 22%15%

21%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%




0

250 000

500 000

750 000

1 000 000

1 250 000



The average download rate increased substantially. In 2010, more than half of broadband lines were delivering speeds of more than 10 Mbps for the first time, but no retail lines are faster than 30 Mbps.


IDATE 124


47%55% 57%

49%

3% 3%

1% 2%

52% 49%43%40%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%




IDATE 125


Cable modem is not available in Greece.


IDATE 126



10%

0% 0%6%

0% 0% 0%0% 1%1%0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The development and coverage of fibre access is still very limited.

The government-announced project for the creation of a nationwide fibre optic network infrastructure has been delayed. As a result, six of the largest players in Greece’s fixed line sector have begun negotiations on forming a shared fibre-to-the-building (FTTB) broadband network.


0

1 000

2 000

3 000

4 000




IDATE 127


Wi-Fi

Hotspots have not widely been deployed in Greece. Some hotels, cafes and restaurants offer Wi-Fi hotspots, supplying wireless 802.11b Internet access.

Some cities (Athens, Trikala…) also have free Wi-Fi hotspots in operation.

WLL/WiMAX

Cosmoline did not manage to implement its WIMAX project, and regulator EETT cancelled its 3.5 GHz WiMAX broadband fixed wireless access licence in early 2011.

OTE operates experimental networks in the Attica and Halkidiki regions.

Satellite

They were more than 1,100 satellite broadband customers in Greece at the end of 2010.


IDATE 128



94%

82%

92%94%

82%

60%

45%

55%

96%92%

96%

45%

60%55%

80% 80%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The EC Decision on removing technological constraints for the provision of mobile services was incorporated in the Greek legislation in 2010. first applying to 2G networks.

In addition, successful bidders for the renewal of 2G licenses, completed in November 2011 via auction procedures, were granted the right to continue using 2G, but were also authorized to deploy other mobile technologies such as UMTS (3G) and LTE and WiMax (4G) mobile broadband technology systems. On this occasion, all available blocks in the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands were granted to the country's three mobile operators, Cosmote, Vodafone-Panafon and Wind for a period of 15 years.

Penetration

96% 94%

82%

92%

1%3%3% 3%3% 3%3% 2%0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Due to the severe financial crisis, the overall mobile penetration rate decreased in 2010.

Actual 3G customers in 2010 can be split into two categories: - Mobile handsets: 2,786,540 (penetration rate of 24.6%) - PC cards: 289.316 (penetration rate of 2.6%)

The launch of commercial services by MVNOs and the spread of mobile broadband networks should help the subscriber base to grow in the coming years.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Hungary

IDATE 129

4.12. Hungary

4.12.1. Population Urban area Suburban a rea Rural area National

Inhabitants 3,559,106 3,216,112 3,239,106 10,014,324




DSL subscribers 597,331 739,028 800,404 800,013 793,807






PLC subscribers 0 1 1 206 -

WLL subscribers 59,058 71,446 83,676 93,810 98,332

Satellite subscribers - 8 710 0 0

Total 1,042,057 1,399,414 1,604,138 1,752,992 1,913,673


Mobile broadband subscribers 50,000 257,365 414,558 614,421 777,461

Mobile broadband penetration (% population) 0.5% 2.5% 4.1% 6.1% 7.8%

The number of fixed broadband subscribers increased to over 1.9 million by the end of 2010. The rate of growth was lower than in 2009, with around 160,000 new customers connecting to existing networks. The overall penetration rate grew from 17.5% (modified data, based on the Quarterly Review of Central Statistical Office of Hungary “Távközlés, internet”) to 19.1% in one year. The size of the mobile broadband segment increased in 2010, as it had in 2009. The number of active users in the mobile broadband market stood at over 777,000 by year-end, while the mobile broadband penetration rate rose to close to 7.8%, which marks close to 26.5% increase over the previous year.

DSL had been the largest segment of the fixed broadband market but it lost its lead to cable in 2010, with a market share that had shrunk to 41.5% by the end of the year. The number of users decreased by 6,200 (according to revised CSO data), which puts the penetration rate in December 2010 at 7.9%. The covered population increased by 5% last year (to 98%) with more than 100 additional settlements covered. Newly covered areas over the last three years have been predominantly small villages with fewer than 250 inhabitants.

The growth of cable modem market seemed more impressive in 2010. The number of new customers totalled almost 85,000, and the penetration rate increased from 7.6 to 8.5%. At the same time, rate of coverage grew slightly from 82% to 84% of the population. This growth in the number of cable modem broadband subscribers resulted in 44.2% of flats that are connected to cable TV networks having a high speed internet connection via cable modem.


IDATE 130

Cable’s share of the fixed broadband market increased from 41.7% to 44.2%. Despite the rapid growth of cable market, the two major fixed broadband segments had a combined market share of only 85.7% at the end of 2010 – compared to 89% in 2009 and 90.5% in 2008. Plus, cable modem overtook DSL as the most popular access technology.

The remaining 14.3% segment of the fixed broadband market represents 275,000 users. The most impressive development can be seen in the FTTx market: after covering the larger institutions, mid-size and large companies, ISPs have introduced residential services as well. There are now 186,500 FTTx subscribers in Hungary, which is almost double the number in 2009 (99,000), after having increased from 51,000 customers in 2008. So FTTx does indeed appear to be the broadband market’s emerging technology.

WLL user numbers increased only slightly in 2010, going from 93,800 to 98,300. These networks are used chiefly for broadband data transmission in rural areas with very small villages and scattered farming areas where the potential number of subscribers is small and the market development outlook minimal.

All former satellite broadband customers have been switched to other technologies – so there were zero customer at the end of 2010 (similar to the situation in 2009).


IDATE 131



100% 100%93%

98%

8% 7%9% 8%9% 8%8% 7%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Coverage increased during the year, with just over 100 additional municipalities covered, most of them in rural areas. DSL was thus available in over 2,700 of Hungary’s 3,152 municipalities at the end of 2010.

The DSL segment was challenged by other last-mile technologies, particularly cable modem, with combined offers such as double-play, triple-play, or quadruple-play bundles proving popular.

There were also changes in the territorial distribution of subscribers. The importance of urban areas has decreased to 326,000 customers, or 41.1% of the total DSL market, representing a loss of 37,000 users in 2010 due to users switching to mobile and cable modem technologies. The importance of DSL increased in suburban areas, however: rising to over 250,000 customers, or 31.5% of the total (51,000 new users).

The rapid growth of DSL coverage in rural areas did not generate an increase of subscribers, with a total that stands at 217,000 customers (or a 27.4% market share).


0

150 000

300 000

450 000

600 000




IDATE 132

The guaranteed download rates4 changed significantly compared to 2009. The most widely used speed categories are 2 to 8 Mbps (74% of all DSL connections) and 1 to 2 Mbps (17-22% according to the different settlement categories). The 8-30 Mbps (3.4-7%) range has increased its share, while the "up to 1 Mbps" category has decreased its share to just over 1% of the total base.

At the end of 2010, urban areas accounted for 41% of DSL subscribers, 80% of them with speeds over 2 Mbps, and 53% with connections ranging from 8 to 30 Mbps.


79% 81% 81% 80%

18% 19% 18%17%

0,4%1% 2%5%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The incumbent carrier had a massive 80% share of the market in 2010, up from 73% in 2009. The percentage of DSL lines delivered by other DSL providers via bitstream and resale solutions decreased to 17.5%, while LLU lines had an only 2.3% share of the DSL market. This segment had gained 3,600 customers in 2009, but the trend was reversed in 2010 and the service providers lost over 800 subscriptions.

There are very slight differences among urban, suburban and rural areas according to the type of service provider available. The share of bitstream and resale is relatively stronger in rural areas, accounting for 18.9% of lines. The number of unbundling lines increased in urban areas in 2010, in keeping with earlier trends, with the majority of users located in Budapest.

4 At least 80% of total traffic per user is supposed to be above the guaranteed rate. The legal framework of this rule is based on the No. 229/2008 (IX.12.) Decree of the Hungarian Government


IDATE 133



100%

88%

63%

84%

8%5%

12%7%

12%9%9% 8%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Cable modem coverage increased in 2010, and networks have been largely upgraded over the past four years. Upgraded networks give customers the ability to sign up for double and triple play bundles that include broadband, IP-telephone services and TV channels.

This is the major development in Hungary’s fixed broadband market in Hungary. Close to 85,000 new customers were connected to the internet via cable modem in 2010, which marks a 11.1% increase, and there is no longer a gap between DSL and cable modem’s market share.


0

100 000

200 000

300 000

400 000



The download speed profile for cable modems differs from DSL, with the 8-30 Mbps class being the largest category in terms of customers.


IDATE 134



91%

37%

5%

46%

1% 0% 2%4%

0%4% 4%4%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



One of the major challenges in the fixed broadband market is the new wave of investments being made by the country’s dominant fixed telecommunication service provider, T-Com. The three-year programme will bring coverage FTTH to approximately 780,000 households by the end of 2011. The swift growth of the FTTx market (almost 100% a year in 2008, 2009 and in 2010) is the first outcome of these investments.

FTTx coverage is concentrated in urban areas (91%), while suburban coverage is still at the same level as in 2009 (37%) and coverage in rural areas is minimal (5%). The number of subscribers is highly concentrated in urban areas (76.5%). The remaining share of FTTx users is located in the suburbs (23.1%), with a very small number of customers in rural areas using this technology (less than 1,000).


0

20 000

40 000

60 000

80 000

100 000



Over half of the subscribers are in the 10-20 Mbps category (52.5%) and 40.3% are in the over 20 Mbps category. In urban and suburban markets there are no differences in the share of users by download rate.


IDATE 135


Wi-Fi/WiMAX

There is no detailed information on this market segment.

WLL

WLL networks have been partly replaced by other fixed networks (mainly DSL), and are best suited to highly rural, sparsely populated areas. Its market share has changed only slightly over the past two years (5.21% in 2008, 5.26% in 2009, 5.14% in 2010). WLL coverage in urban areas stands at 97.9%, at 97% in suburban areas and at 64.9% in rural areas.

The number of users increased in 2010 by 5%, up to 4,500 customers, with the highest share of WLL users being in rural areas (54.3%)

WLL download rates are primarily in the 1-4 Mbps (49.6%) and 256-1024 Kbps (37.2%) categories. The trends in WLL download rates are the opposite of what we find in all other fixed broadband markets, with the 1-4 Mbps category decreasing (from 53.1% at the end of 2009) while the 256-1024 Kbps segment has grown (from 34.6% at the end of 2009).

In the three main download categories the share of subscriptions by geographic region differ. While subscribers in the 4-10 Mbps range are concentrated in suburbs (46%), slower services are more popular with rural subscribers, with 50% subscribing to a 1-4 Mbps service and 61% to a 256-1024 Kbps service.

Satellite

The broadband satellite market had no customers in Hungary at the end of 2010.


IDATE 136



95%

61%

85%

95%

61%

74%

29%

37%

100%

85%

100%

29%

74%

37%

99% 99%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Overall 3G and 3G+ coverage of the population stands at 85%, and territorial coverage for both segments was 37% at the end of 2010. All urban areas were covered (100% of the population, 98.5% of the territory) and most suburban areas were covered (94.5% of the population, 74% of the territory). 600 settlements were covered in rural areas, representing 61% of the population and 29% of the territory covered.

Penetration

100%95%

61%

85%

8% 9%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The number of actual users totalled 414,556 at 2008, 614,421 at 2009 and had risen to 777,461 by the end of 2010. There is no data on the distribution of mobile broadband internet users by geographical location.

T-Mobile has a market share of around 46%, Vodafone and Telenor (formerly PannonGSM) network have roughly equal shares of the market but larger shares of data transmission customers thanks to lower prices.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Iceland

IDATE 137

4.13. Iceland


Inhabitants 202,000 - 116,452 318,452




DSL subscribers 84,350 94,630 98,762 97,862 95,448





FTTx subscribers 500 1,218 2,615 6,908 11,563


WLL subscribers 1,500 2,017 2,252 2,238 2,151


Total 87,000 98,437 103,697 107,072 109,212




Mobile as well as fixed broadband penetration is high in Iceland. This is due partly to a relatively high DSL take-up, partly to an even stronger take-up of mobile broadband since 2008, and finally to an increasing penetration of FTTx. The cable modem service has been marginal and has been closed completely since 2008. DSL penetration stood at 30% in 2010, a slight decrease compared to 2009; while mobile broadband penetration stands at 45.6%. This represents a 50% increase within a year, and almost three times the number of mobile broadband users in 2008. The growth of FTTx subscriber numbers has continued, rising from 6,908 in 2009 to 11,563 in 2010.

Iceland’s incumbent carrier Siminn uses GPON in greenfield fibre operations, but most FTTx services in Iceland is FTTC use VDSL2 for the last 100 metres. Fibre is mostly present in the capital city of Reykjavik, with the FTTC network reaching more than 2/3 of households there.

The government of Iceland has as policy to increase coverage to 100%. This will be achieved primarily by using HSDPA for fixed installations at farms in the countryside, delivering approximately 2 Mbps to each rural site.


IDATE 138



100%

86%

95%

19%

34%30%

34%32%

23%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



DSL take-up has decreased slightly, which indicates that the technology has reached its saturation point and that future growth will be in mobile broadband and fibre.


0

15 000

30 000

45 000

60 000



The breakdown of DSL connections by download rate changed rapidly in both 2009 and 2010, and more than 60% of the connections now have a capacity above 8 Mbps. It should be noted, however, that different methodologies for measuring the capacity have been applied over time. One should therefore be cautious when comparing DSL capacity data with those from previous years.


IDATE 139


50%

66%55%

9%

10%10%

40% 36%25%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



There are four DSL providers in Iceland: Siminn, Vodafone, Tal, and Aðrir. The incumbent Siminn controls about 55% of subscribers and gained a couple of thousand customers in 2010, while Vodafone lost a couple of thousand subscribers during the year.


IDATE 140


Cable modem is no longer in use in Iceland since services were terminated in 2008.


IDATE 141



30%

5%

21%

1%5% 4%

17% 17%17%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



FTTx is available in Reykjavík and in some areas in Akureyri, Akranes and Sauðárkróki. More than two thirds of households in the Reykjavik area have access to a fibre-based solution.

Penetration increased by almost 50% during 2010. At the national scale, penetration is just above 3.5% of the population.


0

2 000

4 000

6 000

8 000

10 000



Download speeds are up to 50Mbps on GPON and on FTTC systems with VDSL2, but ISPs market more than one speed of service.


IDATE 142


Wi-Fi

Siminn, Vodafone and a few small operators offer Wi-Fi access at different hotspots.

WLL/WiMAX

The number of WLL users has continued to decrease slowly and now stands at 2,151, compared to 2,238 in 2009 and 2,252 in 2008.

Satellite

There are very few and even a decreasing number of satellite subscribers in Iceland. By the end of 2010, the figure was a mere 50 users.


IDATE 143



47%

81%

40%

2% 4%

100%

75%

95%

4% 5%

70%

60%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



One hundred percent of the population in the capital area of Reykjavik have mobile broadband coverage, while coverage in the rest of Iceland is only half as high. Because of the low population density and the fact that it is largely concentrated in Reykjavik, actual territorial coverage (land mass) is low.

Penetration

100%

47%

81%

12%

65%

46%

65%

57%

27%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Mobile broadband penetration of is now higher than fixed broadband penetration. By end of 2010, there were 145,113 mobile broadband subscribers in Iceland, of which 34,353 are data only subscriptions.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Ireland

IDATE 144

4.14. Ireland


Inhabitants 1,951,628 821,632 1,699,740 4,473,000




DSL subscribers 389,245 555,727 660,025 714,200 733,756





FTTx subscribers na 3,967 6,780 8,610 9,000


WLL subscribers 75,000 118,400 118,497 102,478 64,933


Total 528,165 764,841 891,346 976,565 1,010,654


Mobile broadband subscribers 903,521 1,662,666 1,828,399


Fixed broadband subscribers increased by 3.5% in Ireland to reach 22.6% of the population in 2010. The biggest increase is by far amongst cable modem subscribers: +34% to exceed 200,000. Cable modem represents a fifth of the total fixed broadband market in 2010.

DSL subscriptions grew by only 2.7% and the impact of the Irish economic climate is probably reflected in this. Nevertheless DSL remains the first platform for broadband and accounts for over 72% of the fixed broadband customer base.

FTTx remained in the early stages of development in 2010, and despite the harsh economic climate the incumbent continues its pilot schemes.

Mobile broadband continued its progression with the completion of the National broadband scheme in October 2010, a government initiative aimed at delivering broadband in areas where services were deemed to be insufficient. The tender was won by “3”. The technologies deployed as part of the scheme combined 3G and satellite for the most remote areas.


IDATE 145



100% 99%

89%96%

17% 18%14% 16%14% 17%17%

21%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Coverage in rural areas has grown to 89%, compared to 82% in 2009 and 77% in 2008. The number of DSL subscribers increased by a marginal 2.7% to reach 733,756 at the end of 2010. Penetration relative to coverage has increased in rural areas thanks to the National broadband scheme.


0

150 000

300 000

450 000

600 000



The most widely used services are still in the “2 to 8 Mbps” category, following last year’s service tiers upgrades, and account for over 80% of all subscriptions. Surprisingly, the proportion of urban subscribers with a 2 to 8 Mbps service is fairly close to those in rural areas with the same speed – 43% vs. 38% respectively – which marks a substantial change from the huge imbalances that existed in 2009. Although no longer available for purchase, slower services in the “up to 1 Mbps” still account for a sizeable number of customers in rural areas, whereas the speed bracket above that has nearly disappeared.


IDATE 146


74%66% 65% 68%

27% 28%20%

25%

7% 7%7% 7%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The incumbent’s market share decreased by a mere point to 68%, as it had in 2009. LLU has more than doubled its share of lines compared to 2009 to reach 7% of DSL subscriptions – as it was expected last year, following the withdrawal of BT from the Irish market and the transfer of its customers to Vodafone.


IDATE 147



58%

43%

23%

42%

5%1%

8%5%

13%11%11%

5%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Cable company UPC continued its investments in network deployments, and now covers 42% of households (compared to 38% the previous year) – concentrating in particular on urban areas where it covers 58% of households. The most noticeable development is the additional 50,000 subscribers in its base, which totalled over 200,000 at the end of 2010. Cable broadband now represents over 20% of the fixed broadband market. As in 2009, broadband cable customers’ market share grew more quickly than the market as a whole in 2010.


0

30 000

60 000

90 000

120 000



Cable technology saw a substantial upgrade of its service tiers, with 49% of subscribers accessing speeds of “2 to 8 Mbps” while, even more surprisingly, 51% are concentrating in the higher speed bracket of 8 to 30 Mbps. As UPC invested in upgrading its network it also upgraded its customers to higher speeds; which contributed to the increase of its installed based.


IDATE 148



15%

4%0%

7%

0% 0% 0%0% 3% 3%3%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Optical fibre grew only moderately in 2010 compared to 2009. This is most likely due to the impact of the economic crisis that has delayed investment, in particular from the incumbent which had announced an FTTN program the previous year. Most of the growth is in urban areas.


0

2 000

4 000

6 000

8 000

10 000



The population density of Ireland is not very conducive to FTTx deployments outside urban or sub-urban areas. In June 2010 Eircom has announced an FTTH pilot scheme in Sandyford, Dublin and Wexford town to reach 10,000 homes and businesses. It is too soon to measure the impact of this as the first customers were to be connected in spring 2011, with speeds of up to 150 Mbps. This is in addition to previous pilots started last year independently of the incumbent, targeted at businesses in the West Country. It is also too soon to measure the impact of DOCSIS 3.0 deployment which only started at the end of 2010 with offers available in 2011.


IDATE 149


Wi-Fi

There are a handful of Wi-Fi hotspot providers in Ireland, including the incumbent operator with over 1,000 hotspots, BT Ireland and Bitbuzz. The latter is targeting businesses and hospitality enterprises with hotspots owned and managed directly or with hotspot managed on behalf of their owners in places such as cafes, bars etc.

Eircom has upgraded many of its public payphones with Wi-Fi to provide a wide network of outdoor public hotspots, the majority being located in Dublin. The operator is considering quadrupling its Wi-Fi hotspot base to reach 4,000 by 2013, with a focus on high density areas.

WLL/WiMAX

WiMAX broadband is particularly dynamic in Ireland with Imagine! and Clearwire being the main two providers. In mid-year Imagine! acquired Clearwire and in the process secured further spectrum in the 3.4/3.6 GHz band. Imagine! is reporting a base of 15,000 businesses. The company positioned itself as the first alternative operator to Eircom for business broadband services with symmetrical services from 4 to 6 Mbps and a very low contention ratio.

Satellite

Satellite connectivity is very slow and used as a complementary technology to other means of connection. It addresses the gap the 3G and 3G+ technologies cannot viably cover as part of the National Broadband Scheme, and concerns only 5% of the most remote locations. Independently of the NBS, satellite services are available from a range of small companies such as “Satellite Broadband”, Digiweb and Satellite Business Broadband. Services supply up to 10 Mbps although, from a consumer perspective, it remains a second choice – i.e. adopted only when other alternatives are not available.


IDATE 150



100% 99% 100%99%

88%85%

60%

70%

100%94%

100%

88%

95% 95%100%100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Mobile broadband is a significant enabler of broadband availability in Ireland, and mobile data broadband represents a third of the total broadband subscriber base in the country. Mobile broadband uptake benefits from the issues that DSL has in providing full coverage, and further favoured by the National Broadband Scheme (NBS), especially in the rural areas.

The NBS deployment scheme is now completed following the award of a contract to Hutchinson 3G Ireland. The service costs €20 for 25 Gb of data traffic, which is comparable to alternative offerings in urban areas, although there is €49 one-off charge for hardware.

The NBS aims to help finance mobile broadband coverage for the 10% of the population living in remote areas that cannot be covered cost-effectively with fixed broadband. The scheme subsidised by the government was subject to a call to tender in 2008.

Not all connections are covered by 3G and 3G+ technologies since “Satellite Broadband” –H3G Ireland’s chosen partner for this venture – provides 5% of the connections – all to remote areas and at slight different prices: €20 for 11 Gb of traffic and the same fees for hardware.


IDATE 151

Penetration

100% 100% 99% 100%

41% 41%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The NBS scheme has obviously contributed substantially to the coverage of the rural areas, since it is its raison d’être.

The National Regulator ComReg reports that mobile broadband subscription has grown by 27% overall. Mobile data subscriptions account for 571,839 of total broadband subscriptions.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Italy

IDATE 152

4.15. Italy


Inhabitants 31,133,360 22,190,258 7;302,824 60,626,442




DSL subscribers* 8,200,000 9,700,000 10,900,000 12,020,000 12,975,000





FTTx subscribers* 220,000 241,000 250,000 260,000 284,000


WLL subscribers 1,400 2,000 3,000 3,500 2,500


Total 8,527,400 10,032,000 11,234,000 12,337,500 13,276,500


Mobile broadband subscribers 23,300,000 29,000,000 32,920,000 34,510,000

Mobile broadband penetration (% population) 39.4% 48.6%% 54.8% 56.9% * Estimates

At the end of 2010, total fixed broadband Internet connections climbed to over 13 million lines, an 8% increase over the previous year. Due to the lack of cable networks and the limited coverage of FTTH, DSL is still by far the main broadband access technology.

The broadband access market is experiencing the typical lifecycle trend of a service in its introduction and development phases. Current growth rates are still sustained, but decreasing.

Bundling of complementary services (Voice over IP + Internet access) based on the xDSL network is increasing. The number of FTTH subscribers increased only slightly due to the fact that no significant network deployments have been realised.

At the end of 2010 there were three IPTV providers in Italy: FastWeb, Telecom Italia and Wind/Infostrada, with a customer base of more than 650,000 users, of which 200,000 are customers of FastWeb TV while approximately 360,000 subscribed to Alice Home TV (Telecom Italia) and nearly 100,000 to Infostrada TV (Wind).

FastWeb has been the first supplier in Italy to launch IPTV back in 2001. The service is now available to all of its customers connected via FTTH or Unbundled ADSL, but not to those connected to ADSL via bitstream/resale solutions. Telecom Italia began its trials in 2004-2005. Its IPTV service was launched in 2006 covering 258 cities.


IDATE 153



99%95%

86%

96%

19% 19%23% 21%23% 22%21% 23%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



According to Telecom Italia, at the end of 2010 there were about 8,600 central offices equipped with DSLAM, covering 96% of the total population.

Coverage in rural areas rose by 1% in 2010 (from 85% at the end of 2009), while total coverage increased less than 1%.


0

2 000 000

4 000 000

6 000 000

8 000 000

10 000 000



At the end of 2010, it can be estimated that more than 70% of active connections were in the range of 2 to 8 Mbps (included) Mbps download rates and a further 7% were in the range of 8 to 30 Mbps. It can therefore be stated that the majority of connections are at speeds equal or higher than 2 Mbps and most of the investments concentrated to improve and increase the number of high speed connections.


IDATE 154

However, only a small portion of subscribers (less than 10%) opted for premium connections at more than 8 Mbps, although such services are now available to nearly 70% of the population.

Over the past several years, all of Italy’s telecom carriers improved their ADSL and ADSL2+ offerings with a wide range of downstream rates (from 2 Mbps to 20 Mbps).

The leading market players are:

• The incumbent, Telecom Italia, offering ADSL services up to 20 Mbps.

• FastWeb, which has an FTTH offer at 10 Mbps and ADSL services up to 20 Mbps;

• Infostrada (Wind) offering ADSL services up to 20 Mbps;

• TeleTu and Vodafone, two different brands owned by Vodafone Omnitel NV, offering ADSL services up to 7 Mbps.

It should be noted that during the last three years Vodafone Omnitel NV aggressively targeted the ADSL market with two different brands: Vodafone and TeleTu (Tele2 until the end of 2009), and even if it has not yet implemented an ADSL2+ offer, a great many services have been deployed.


49%60%

71%

55%

20%

27%

11%

15%

40%29%

19%

2%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Also as a consequence of Vodafone/TeleTu performances, at the end of 2010 Telecom Italia’s share of the DSL retail market was down to 55% (3% less than the previous year) corresponding to 7 million ADSL lines.

LLU/shared access lines are the fastest growing markets: with around 3.7 million units, their share increased from 27% to 29% in the last year.

Competition is still growing: in 2002 the to two alternative providers together accounted for only 13% of the retail market but now have a combined share of around 28% of the total broadband connections.

The third component, DSL based on Telecom Italia’s wholesale offers, increased its market share. The annual increase were slightly less than 1%, corresponding to a base of more than 2 million units.

After a first step based on wholesale offerings (for simple resale), starting from 2004/2005 LLU&BSA has increased significantly. This development has been favoured by a several players increasing their LLU footprint, and by the steady development of bundled offerings.


IDATE 155


Cable modem is not available in Italy.


IDATE 156



19%

0% 0%

10%

0% 0% 0%1% 0%2% 5%5%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



FastWeb sells its FTTH services in both the business and consumer segments, while Colt Telecom, BT Italia, Wind and Telecom Italia offer their services to a very small group of business and corporate customers.

FastWeb reports that FTTH is available in more than 30 cities: primarily in Milan (and in 17 outlying municipalities), Rome (and in two suburbs), Naples, Turin (and one outlying municipality), Geneva, Bologna (and six outlying municipalities) and Bari.

Telecom Italia started investing in its fibre access network in 2010, with a target of covering more than 100 municipalities by 2018. At the end of 2010 Telecom Italia’s ultra-fast broadband service was not yet available, however.

Number of FTTH connections by download rate

0

75 000

150 000

225 000

300 000



All FTTH access services sold by FastWeb have a connection speed of at least 10 Mbps. These are symmetric services that offer a lower download speed than ADSL2+, but an upload speed 10 times higher than ADSL2+.


IDATE 157


Wi-Fi

According to the Ministry of Economic Development – Communication Department, at the end of 2009 there were 4,207 active Wi-Fi hotspots in Italy. The best equipped region was Lombardy, followed by Lazio, Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany.

According to a survey carried out by Between, at the end of 2010 there were around 160 WISPs (Wireless Internet Service Providers) which offered Wi-Fi/Hiperlan services, 20 of which entered the market in the last year. The service covers approximately 19% of the Italian population, but with significant regional differences (northern regions present a much higher level of coverage than southern regions) and close to 30% for rural areas.

WLL/WiMAX

WLL services are based on the 24.5 GHz and 27.5-29.5 GHz frequencies, also known as LMDS in Italy. These services were liberalised in 2002 by a public bid hold by the Ministry of Communications. Licences were granted to 13 network operators.

At the end of 2010, it can be estimated that the situation is about the same as at the end of 2006 with a base of roughly 1,000 WLL business customers in north-eastern Italy.

In October 2007 the Ministry of Communications began the award procedure for 35 licenses for the WiMAX frequencies in the 3.4-3.6 GHz frequency bands.

At the end of February 2008 the call was closed and the licenses were awarded for 21 regions and 14 macro-regions to 11 operators. Four of them are operators with a national presence and seven are local operators. Some of these operators have started their network’s deployment, but they do not cover more than 5% of the population. All these companies are required to develop significant local coverage, especially in digital divide areas (coverage obligations linked to frequency acquisition).

There were close to 17,000 WiMAX subscribers at the end of 2010, largely concentrated in a few regions. This is due to the fact that only 60% of the Italian regions had an active WiMAX service provider (Lombardy was the only one with more than two WiMAX service providers).

Satellite

Two-way satellite Internet access in Italy is supplied primarily by ISP Netsystem.com (also in partnership with Telecom Italia).


IDATE 158



98%

79%

96%98%

79%

97%

68%

80%

100%96%

100%

68%

97%

80%

100%100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Mobile broadband coverage in Italy reaches almost 96% of the total population, with a great difference between rural and urban areas (about 20%)5. UMTS and HSxPA (3G+) have had the same coverage level since 2009due to the fact that mobile operators upgraded all Base Transceiver Stations to 3G+.

5 Coverage has been calculated according to the lists of covered municipalities published by the operators’ websites. Each municipality covered by an operator has been considered as completely covered (100% of resident population). UMTS and HSxPA coverage is based on Between National Broadband Observatory data.


IDATE 159

Penetration

100% 98%

79%

96%

37%

56%62%

57%62%

59%58%

47%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



According to the National Regulatory Agency (AGCOM’s Annual Report 2011), at the end of 2010 there were 34.5 million UMTS lines (including all available terminals, SIM cards & mobile BB dedicated data services).

The Italian mobile market is comprised of four operators plus a certain number of MVNOs:

• TIM (Telecom Italia) with 31.0 million customers, of which more than 8.6 million UMTS lines;

• Vodafone Italia, with 30.6 million customers, of which more than 12.6 million UMTS lines;

• Wind, with 19.9 million mobile customers, of which about 8.3 million UMTS lines;

• H3G with near 9.1 million customers (all lines are UMTS)

MVNOs, which currently have 3.5 million customers (mostly belonging to the consumer segment), significantly increased their customer base in the last year – by around 1.1 million units. The main player is Poste Mobile – the mobile telecom arm of the national postal service provider – which, according to the National Regulatory Agency’s 2011 Annual Report, accounts for approximately 50% of all MVNOs' customers.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Latvia

IDATE 160

4.16. Latvia


Inhabitants 1,471,536 69,118 688,946 2,229,600




DSL subscribers 120,000 158,000 182,326 186,631 174,708





FTTx subscribers 1,200 8,700 159,808 170,720 216,117*


WLL subscribers 92,000 109,798 50,485 49,707 50,920**


Total 240,320 314,638 430,165 440,389 467,066


Mobile broadband subscribers 33,604 37,917 56,671***

Mobile broadband penetration (% population) 1.5% 1.7% 2.5% * including 139,062 LAN subscribers ** including 32,000 CDMA-based FWA connections (Triatel) *** excluding EDGE users

The Latvian broadband market stabilized in 2010, as Internet service providers managed to hold their positions. The telecommunication industry has appeared to be one of the most stable throughout the financial crisis. Unlike trade or construction sector businesses, none of Latvia’s ISPs closed up shop or withdrew from the market. A complicated economic situation and low purchasing power has nevertheless had a serious impact to the companies’ finances. Carriers and service providers report a reduction in the average revenue per user and loss of income.

Fixed broadband networks concentrated their resources on the upgrading their infrastructure to be able to hold onto their market share and gain an edge in the fierce struggle for customers. Meanwhile, mobile networks compete mostly on price, without having implemented any new technologies.

The broadband market trends in 2010 were:

• New standards in Internet access. Download speeds of 8-30 Mbps are the most common for urban users. Most new FTTH customers have a connection speed over 30 Mbps.

• The voice and Internet package is offered as a regular product by all Latvian ISPs. Fibre network operators provide also various options of IP television.

• Notable reduction in cable modem and DSL user numbers.

• No breakthroughs in the mobile broadband sector.


IDATE 161



99%

87%

67%

89%

6%10%

7% 8%7% 9%6%

15%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



DSL Internet in Latvia is only available from the incumbent carrier - Lattelecom. After a large-scale network modernization Lattelecom carried out a policy of switching customers from obsolete infrastructure to the fibre network. In 2010, DSL technology lost its leadership of the Latvian broadband market to FTTx/LAN. Outside of cities, however, DSL is often the only available option for a fixed connection to the Internet. The quantity of the rural DSL users has not fallen – quite the opposite, it has actually increased slightly compared to the previous year.


0

20 000

40 000

60 000

80 000

100 000



As it is concentrated on building FTTH networks, Lattelecom is not investing in the DSL infrastructure, and connection speeds remain the same as in 2009.


IDATE 162


99.6% 100.0% 100.0% 99.8%

0.3% 0,2%0,1%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



There were no changes in the DSL unbundling and resale market in 2010. Lattelecom has kept its absolute dominant position. Because of the trend of switching from DSL to the more advanced technologies, there is no reason to expect the situation will change in the future.


IDATE 163



83%

20%

5%

57%

0% 0%2% 1%2% 2%1% 3%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Unlike DSL, cable modem networks are virtually absent from rural areas, and are mainly located in zone of maximal competition: multi-storey buildings in residential areas. For some time now, cable modem network operators have been rebuilding their infrastructure and switching users to optical fibre. In 2010 this process accelerated. This, along with the incumbent’s aggressive expansion to the residential segment, caused a significant decrease in cable modem connections. The number of cable modem customers fell by 23% during the year.


0

2 000

4 000

6 000

8 000

10 000



The low-speed customers were the most active in switching from cable to other technologies. More then 60% of cable modem customers with speed less than 2 Mbps cancelled their service in 2010, and most have switched technology without changing service provider.


IDATE 164



86%

25%

18%

63%

1% 0% 3%5%2%3% 5%6%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



As a result of network deployments and marketing efforts, the quantity of optical fibre users grew from 22,000 to 77,055 in 2010. The fast growth of FTTx connections can be attributed largely to Lattelecom’s vast marketing campaign.

It is believed that within next few years optical fibre will supersede cable modem, LAN and large part of DSL networks.


0

15 000

30 000

45 000

60 000



It is obvious that new optical fibre networks provide truly NGN services: most of the new FTTx customers (~70%) enjoy access speeds over 30 Mbps. There are signs that the rapid growth of NGN users may cause a strain on the backbone in the near future, and the real download-upload speed for a single user might decline.


IDATE 165


Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi in Latvia is still predominantly used for local and home networks. Use of public Wi-Fi hotspots is very limited, and has no impact on the broadband market in Latvia. There are no known plans to develop public Wi-Fi solutions.

WLL/WiMAX

No significant changes occurred with WLL and WiMAX in 2010. There are up to 20 ISPs in Latvia using WiMAX and WLAN solutions. Lattelecom owns WiMAX network covering the capital Riga, its metropolitan area and several cities (Ogre, Daugavpils, Dunalka). WiMAX development is on hold for now as companies are waiting for the new wireless technologies to be developed and ready, while trying to secure digital dividend spectrum.

Triatel is a company that provides WLL solutions based on CDMA 450 1x network. At the end of 2010, it had a base of 32,000 WLL customers, mainly in rural areas.

Satellite

A mere 39 people in Latvia use Internet access via satellite. Because almost 100% of the country is covered by mobile 3G, satellite-based internet access does not appear to have any real potential in Latvia.


IDATE 166

4.16.7. Mobile broadband coverage and take up


98% 97% 99%

81%

65%

80%

50%

58%

100%

85%

95% 95%95%98%100%

95%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



There are four mobile internet service network operators in Latvia: Latvijas mobilais telefons (LMT), Tele2, Bite and Triatel. LMT, Tele2 and Bite operate GSM/UMTS/HSDPA networks (3G+). Triatel owns a CDMA EV-DO Rev A network using the 450Mhz frequency (3G) that provides internet access with speed of 3.2 Mbps downstream, and 1.8 Mbps upstream.

In 2010 only LMT was investing in expanding its 3G+ network, improving coverage up to 58% of the territory. The company has also completed a successful 4G trial based on LTE technology. Neither LMT nor any other mobile operator has stated definitive plans for an LTE rollout, however. Considering the poor results for UMTS/HSDPA compared to money that operators spent on introducing them to customers, LTE implementation is expected to be slow.

Penetration

100% 98% 97% 99%

1%4%3% 3%3% 3%4% 1%0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The mobile broadband market has not shown any real progress. There is still a substantial gap between mobile and fixed internet access speeds and limitations. As a result, mobile Internet occupies the very narrow market segment of people who really need to use their laptops everywhere. Hope for the future of mobile broadband is nevertheless growing with the popularity of smartphones and tablet PCs with integrated 3G connections.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Lithuania

IDATE 167

4.17. Lithuania


Inhabitants 1,912,450 227,336 1,104,633 3,244,509



DSL coverage (% of population) 83% 88% 88% 89% 89%

DSL subscribers 178,615 231,951 250,966 228,042 212,948


Cable modem coverage (% population) - - - 31% 31%



FTTx/LAN subscribers* 89,172 145,178 212,729 283,075 332,505


WLL subscribers** 33,617 64,084 59,425 69,038 88,690


Total 367,162 506,208 588,607 632,975 682,953


Mobile broadband subscribers*** 115,890 160,083 194,379

Mobile broadband penetration*** (% population) 3.5% 4.9% 6.0%

* including LAN subscribers ** including WLAN connections

*** PC data cards and dongles only

The total number of fixed broadband subscribers grew by 7.9% in 2010.

There were internet service providers offering connection via broadband in 2010 – the largest among them, in terms of subscriber numbers, being “TEO LT”, “Omnitel”, “Bite Lithuania”, “Lithuanian Radio and Television Center”, “Dokeda”.

The main types of connection for broadband services in Lithuania were FTTx networks, xDSL lines and wireless connections.

The situation in Lithuania’s broadband communications market in 2010 was similar to 2009. The leading internet technology was FTTx with a 45% market share. As it was the year before, FTTx connections were also the fastest growing technology. The main concentration and investments were in new generation of fibre networks (FTTH), and not other technology grew as quickly.

At the end of 2010 fixed broadband penetration stood at 21%, which represented 682,957 fixed broadband users.


IDATE 168

As mentioned in previous reports, Lithuania’s broadband market is special because of the prevalence of LAN. At the end of 2010, the National Regulation Authority (NRA) stated that 3.6% of broadband subscribers (24,815 users), were connected to the internet via UTP cable. Although their number is decreasing every year, local area networks are still popular and cannot be discounted. Most LAN providers use fibre for their backbone.

IPTV technologies were provided by eight ISPs: the most significant ones being ”TEO LT” AB, UAB, “Penkių kontinentų komunikacijų centras” Kavamedia UAB, “Alpha Communications-1” UAB. At the end of the year there were 70,700 IPTV subscribers, 96% of which were with incumbent provider “TEO LT”.

There was significant growth in mobile internet subscribers in 2010 and use 3G and 3G+ services remained high. The number of mobile broadband subscribers grew by 21% compared to 2009.

According to the data from the Statistics Bureau of Lithuania, 55% of households had internet access at the end of 2010, and 88% of them were connected via fixed broadband technologies. Compared to the previous year, this markets a 3.1% increase in broadband households.


IDATE 169



99% 97%

69%

89%

9%3%

8% 7%9% 7%10%4%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



there were no significant extensions to the DSL network in 2010, since the focus was on building out FTTH and FTTB systems.

IPTV via xDSL was marketed only by the incumbent “TEO LT” which does not publish figures on its IPTV – although it naturally depends on the technical capabilities of each local office.


0

40 000

80 000

120 000

160 000

200 000


Less than 256 kbps From 256 to 512 kbps From 512 kbps to 1 MbpsFrom 512 kbps to 2 Mbps From 2 to 8 Mbps From 10 to 30 Mbps

In 2010, the incumbent provider increased its connection speeds and began offering services ranging from 1 Mbps up to 12 Mbps, depending on customer demands and technical possibilities. The most popular connection speed was between 2 and 8 Mbps.


IDATE 170


99.4%

0.6%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The incumbent carrier “TEO LT” is the leading provider of broadband Internet access in Lithuania, with 99.4% of xDSL subscribers as of December 2010. Only 1,282 xDSL lines were delivered through wholesale offers, and xDSL connections through wholesale offers decreased compared to 2009.


IDATE 171



50%

15%

1%

31%

1% 0%2% 2%

5% 5%3% 3%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Most CATV networks are concentrated in urban areas and cover large groups of households with a large number of people – and cable TV providers are found in only a few small towns in rural or suburban areas. It is impossible to provide a breakdown of connection speeds according to urban, suburban and rural areas, due to the lack of information from providers.


0

5 000

10 000

15 000

20 000

25 000


Less than 256 kbps From 256 to 512 kbps From 512 kbps to 1 MbpsFrom 512 kbps to 2 Mbps From 2 to 8 Mbps From 8 to 30 Mbps

The number of cable modem connections by download rate was taken from the NRA report (with slightly different speed rate intervals). The most popular connection speed among Lithuanian users was 512 kbps – 2 Mbps, while 13.3% of cable modem customers subscribe to a service running at more than 8 Mbps.


IDATE 172



68%

37% 38%

56%

2% 0%

9%

16%

1%5%

17%

23%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The main players in the FTTx market in 2010 were: • “TEO LT” AB • “Dokeda” (brand Meganet), • “Penkių kontinentų komunikacijų centras” UAB • “Viginta” • “Mikrovisatos TV” UAB

Most fibre connections are FTTB (Fibre to the Building). FTTH (Fibre to the Home) access was launched in 2007 and has grown rapidly, mainly in the big cities and district towns. The number of FTTH subscribers grew by 75% compared to 2009.


0

50 000

100 000

150 000

200 000



According to official statistics from the NRA and data from four providers covering about 20% of the FTTx market, connection speeds above 30 Mbps predominated in 2010: 46% of total FTTx users had download rates from 30 Mbps to 100 Mbps and 18% had rates from 100 Mbps to 200 Mbps.


IDATE 173


LAN LAN technology is a specific aspect of the Lithuania’s broadband market. The number of LAN Internet connections is decreasing every year, but it still remains noticeable. At the end of 2010 there were 24,815 LAN subscribers, mostly situated in urban areas who use it as an alternative to optical fibre and DSL network. Most of them are a left over from the days when LAN was very popular among subscribers. Nowadays only a few providers offer LAN connection in areas where FTTx is not available – generally in small towns. Optical fibre began growing at a tremendous pace a few years back and LAN providers started to rebuild their networks, and today most have rolled out FTTx solutions to replace their local areas networks or have deployed fibre in the backbone.

Wi-Fi At the end of 2010 there were 3,994 hotspots operating in the country. Compared with last year, the number of hotspots decreased by 5%. In 2010, Wi-Fi was being used by 61,241 Internet subscribers. The largest operator is “TEO LT” with an installed base of 3,785 hotspots.

WLL/WiMAX The third most popular technology among fixed broadband users was wireless, which is especially popular in rural areas where there are not many alternative technologies. The number of subscribers, who received Internet over wireless access lines grew by 22% and reached 88,690 by the end of 2010. Lithuanian broadband providers offer mostly WLL access in unlicensed frequencies. WiMAX is also available in the largest towns and other cities, and in their surrounding area. In 2010 it covered more than 52 towns and their surrounding vicinity. At the end of 2010, 335 WiMAX base stations were registered, which is 1.7 times more than in 2009. WiMAX can be accessed by about half the citizens of Lithuania, mostly in urban areas. There were over 22,000 WiMAX subscribers by the end of 2010, which is 2.5 times more than the previous year. The main provider is LRTC, under the Mezon brand. Mezon invested heavily in developing its 4G network in 2010: new areas, increasing network bandwidth by 2 to 3 times (especially in places located far from base stations) and decreasing latency. All this made 4G more attractive to users. Marketing campaigns for 4G included a great many discounts and free options. But, despite the large investments, most of which were poured into urban/suburban areas, 4G is not performing well in rural and suburban areas. In mid-2011, Mezon will start testing WiMAX 2, offering connection speeds that are substantially faster.

Satellite There are no broadband satellite providers in Lithuania.


IDATE 174



88%

36%

76%

88%

36%

73%

30% 32%

97%

76%

97%

30%

73%

32%

95% 95%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Providers have stated that 3G+ technology can be used at the same locations as 3G since their base stations can support both technologies.

According to data from mobile telephone operators, 194,379 subscribers accessed the mobile Internet via a computer in 2010. The remaining 89.1% of subscribers used packet data communications services (GPRS, EDGE, UMTS) through their mobile phone.

The number of active mobile internet subscribers, using UMTS operators, stands at 753,541 (active subscribers, including 3G phone users), which is 1.6 times more than the previous year, while the number of UMTS based HSDPA (3G+) users shrank by around three times.

The largest mobile internet provider “Omnitel” reports that in 75% of covered users can connect to the Internet at speeds of up to 15 Mbps. The second largest provider offers connection speeds up to 6 Mbps in towns and about 3 Mbps in areas where connections are not that stable.

Penetration

97%

88%

36%

76%

6% 8%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Development of Broadband Access in Europe Luxembourg

IDATE 175

4.18. Luxembourg


Inhabitants 246,326 189,659 75,855 511,840




DSL subscribers 87,275 108,621 114,853 134,313 142,345







WLL subscribers 120 140 140 140 140


Total 97,261 120,942 133,420 156,411 167,718




In 2010, Luxembourg’s fixed broadband market continued to grow moderately after a sizeable rebound in 2009 following the recovery from the economic downturn in 2008. Global fixed broadband penetration now reaches 33% of the population, compared to 30.6% one year before. In this small market, DSL accounts for 85.5% of the broadband connections. That is slightly less than the year before but is still high and highlights the difficulty for competitors to emerge using the same infrastructure than the incumbent EPT. Cable modem now represents 14.5% of total fixed broadband connections. In 2010 cable modem subscribers accounted for 32% of net adds. Other access technologies represent less than 0.2% combined. Noteworthy is the fact that ILR revised its FTTx/LAN figures, stating there was no commercial offer in existence, only trials. On the mobile broadband market, 3G and 3G+ technologies are widely available as 90% of the population are covered (75% of the territory). Three operators are competing for market share, with the incumbent’s subsidiary (LuxGSM) controlling more than 47% of the market. The number of mobile broadband subscribers increased by 55% in 2010 with a penetration rate of 31.9% of the population – nearly equal to that of fixed broadband (33%)


IDATE 176



100% 100% 100% 100%

28% 26%28% 28%28% 28%28% 26%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



DSL technology is available to virtually the whole of Luxembourg’s population, with few discrepancies between the different areas, and progress compared to 2009 was limited.


0

30 000

60 000

90 000

120 000


Less than 256 kbps From 256 to 512 kbps From 512 kbps to 1 MbpsFrom 1 to 2 Mbps From 2 to 8 Mbps From 8 to 30 Mbps

DSL connection speeds are becoming higher and higher. Access is now concentrated on 2 to 8 Mbps offers and 8 to 30 Mbps offers, with virtually no services running at less than 2 Mbps. Overall, 74.5% of DSL connections are between 2 and 8 Mbps and 25.5% between 8 and 30 Mbps.


IDATE 177


75% 79%85%

78%

9%8%

10% 9%

15% 13%12% 7%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Contrary to 2009, incumbent P&T Luxembourg lost market share in every area, especially in suburban and rural areas where unbundling has been progressing. The most significant progress for unbundling is in rural areas where 7.4% of connections are provided through LLU. Despite this progress, P&T Luxembourg remains by far the dominant player as more than 78% of total DSL connections are retailed by the incumbent.


IDATE 178



85%

73%

52%

76%

4%1%

5%6%

2%6% 6%8%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Progress in cable modem coverage was limited in 2010, and cable today accounts for 14.5% of all broadband connections.


0

3 000

6 000

9 000

12 000



Contrary to DSL, there is a high proportion of cable modem users with connection speeds in the range of 1 to 2 Mbps, especially in suburban areas. However cable operators are the only one providing connection speeds above 30 Mbps, which account for 28% of the cable modem subscriber base.


IDATE 179



30%

0% 0%nanana 0.05% 0.03%0.08%0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



In 2010, ILR restated the number of fibre connections to 130 and put coverage at 30% of homes passed. This situation results from the absence of commercial (retail) fibre offers.


0

30

60

90

120

150



While no data were provided for FTTx connections by download rate, it is highly probable that most of them are superior to 30 Mbps. No commercial offers exist, however.


IDATE 180


WLL/WiMAX

Most fixed broadband wireless access is provided with WiMAX technology, of which Cegecom is the main supplier. The customer base remains unchanged from 2009 at 140 subscribers, which represents 0.08% of total fixed broadband base. Coverage too remained unchanged.

Satellite

While the entire country is covered by satellite, broad DSL coverage means that users do not need to rely on satellite and there are no commercial offers marketed in Luxembourg – although users could turn to an international provider.


IDATE 181



90%

75%

90%

75%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



In 2010, we revised our estimates for population coverage (90% at national level) thanks to new figures from the ILR.

Penetration

90%

32%35%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



In 2010, 65% of all wireless subscribers had access to 3G calling/data services, compared to 47% one year before. Meanwhile, the mobile broadband customer base (using dongles and data cards) increased by 55%. With 163,520 connections, there are nearly as many mobile broadband customers as fixed broadband customers. Because of the expensive fixed offers and the limited competition in the market, mobile broadband is used as a substitute for fixed broadband in Luxembourg.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Malta

IDATE 182

4.19. Malta


Inhabitants 412,970 not relevant not relevant 412,970

Share of total population 100.0% not relevant not relevant 100.0%



DSL subscribers 35,704 38,972 46,004 53,509 63,288





FTTx subscribers 0 0 0 0 0


WLL subscribers - 949 2,882 3,813 4,659

Satellite subscribers 15 - - - -

Total 66,348 82,106 100,869 111,543 119,286




Broadband in Malta is accessible through DSL, cable modem and WiMAX platforms. At the end of 2010, 53% of broadband connections were DSL, 43% were cable modem connections and the remaining 4% were WiMAX connections. Total broadband penetration stood at slightly below 29% of the population, with a 15.3% penetration rate for DSL, 12.4% for cable modem and 0.01% for WiMAX.

All three platforms (DSL, cable, WiMAX) enjoy nationwide coverage and reach all households in Malta. Nearly all DSL active connections are subscribed to GO plc (incumbent) as most independent ISPs closed shop by the end of 20106. The cable broadband network is owned and operated by Melita plc. The WiMAX network deployed in Malta by Vodafone has also nationwide coverage and is based on the standard 802.16d. The mobile arm of the incumbent GO, GO Mobile, has also deployed a WiMAX nationwide network using the 802.16e standard, however this has not been commercially marketed and to date, no take-up has been registered.

6 DSL subscriptions with third party ISPs as at the end of 2010 accounted for just 0.6% of all active DSL subscriptions. Another operator, which does not have national coverage, accounted for a further 0.1%,


IDATE 183



99% 99%

15% 15%15% 15%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


DSL coverage penetration (% area population) penetration/coverage Note: data for suburban areas and rural areas are not relevant as the whole Maltese territory was considered an urban area.

In 2010, DSL subscriptions continued to experience an increase and DSL penetration stood at 15.3%, an increase of 2.4percentage points over the figure registered in the previous year. In 2010, GO plc continued to consolidate its market share and for the first time since the launch of broadband in Malta in 2000, DSL connections have surpassed cable connections. This increase appears to be mainly due to the relatively cheap products aimed at low-end users, namely 4 MB download packages priced at €13.85, and also the increased popularity of quad-play bundles. In 2010, Malta witnessed a phenomenal increase in bundle subscriptions. In fact, as of December 2010 the total number of broadband connections that formed part of quad or triple play bundles stood at around 54%. As a result of the increased popularity in bundles, GO indirectly increased its market share for broadband connections.


IDATE 184


0

10 000

20 000

30 000

40 000

50 000



The DSL provider did not upgrade any of its products in 2010, and continued to offer four broadband packages: 4 Mbps, 8 Mbps, 12 Mbps and 20 Mbps.

As in previous years, the vast majority of DSL users opted for the 4 Mbps service with slow growth being reported for the 8 Mbps service and very low take-up of the 12 Mbps and 20 Mbps products. The low take-up of high speed solutions is due mainly due to low demand and the relatively high prices of these packages.


99.3% 99.3%

0.7%0.7%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Nearly all DSL connections are provided by the incumbent GO plc as most independent ISPs closed shop during 2010. Following deregulation of the broadband market in 2008, no new ISPs have entered the market, and existing ISPs proved unable to compete with the incumbent and cable operators. The final blow to ISPs was the emergence and increased take-up of triple and quadruple play bundles which alternative ISPs could not replicate.


IDATE 185



95% 95%

12%12% 13%13%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Cable broadband in Malta is supplied solely by Melita plc. The cable network has ubiquitous coverage with more than 95% of households having access to the cable network. Broadband cable penetration totals 12.4%. There are very few areas where the cable network does not reach and these are specific areas where very few residential units are present. In 2010, the cable provider continued to increase the number of connections however its market share has decreased as more customers opt for DSL connections.


0

15 000

30 000

45 000

60 000



At the end of 2010, there were 53,509 cable broadband connections – representing an increase of 7,505 connections over the same period last year. Of these, 45,110 subscribers have a speed between 2 and 8 Mbps, which represents 83.2% of all cable modem subscribers. The cable operator offers three packages: 5 Mbps, 10 Mbps and 50 Mbps, although a small number of legacy subscribers still have speeds as low as 128 or 256 kbps. In a similar fashion to the DSL incumbent, cable packages were upgraded over the course of 2009 at no extra cost for the consumer. The 50 Mbps service, which was launched as an upgrade to the 30 Mbps one, has also experienced a low take-up due to its high price and low consumer demand.


IDATE 186


In 2010 both the DSL and cable incumbents started deploying FTTC. The DSL provider, GO, launched a project whereby it was upgrading its street cabinets with fibre and reducing local connections to a maximum 1.5 km from end users to ensure that, in future, the network could support increased speeds. For now, the DSL provider is still using ADSL2+ technology and is offering speeds of up to 20 Mbps. Upgrading the cabinets to FTTC is expected to continue in 2011 and should be complete by 2012. Cable operator Melita also embarked on a node splitting exercise to pull fibre in the cable network nearer to the customer premises. The cable operator also started to upgrade its network to DOCSIS 3 technology to be able to introduce NGA speeds in 2011. The cableco is also expected to complete this FTTC rollout on a nationwide scale by 2011.

These upgrades will also enable both GO and Melita to offer increased VOD and IPTV capabilities on their respective networks.

So far, no operator has stated plans to deploy FTTH, but both GO and Melita have reported in the media that they are able to provide fibre connections to businesses that require high speed connections. Both GO and Melita generally use Ethernet technology to offer these services over fibre connections.


IDATE 187


Wi-Fi

Wireless LAN technology is becoming increasingly popular, thanks to its ability to serve roaming users. Both public and private entities have adopted the technology to provide access in a number of buildings around Malta. Free Wi-Fi is being installed in public places (at least one hotspot in each town or village will be deployed), providing high-speed access to the Internet for free. Two of the three mobile operators, namely GO Mobile and Vodafone, operate a number of hotspots in public places, mostly in tourist and business areas. Local users tend not to employ Wi-Fi broadband, however, as it is used mainly by tourists and for people who require a connection for only a short period of time.

WLL/WiMAX

In 2010, Vodafone Malta Ltd continued to offer broadband and fixed telephony services over its WiMAX network. The number of subscribers at the end of 2010 stood at 4,659, which represents a small improvement over the connections registered during the previous year. However, WiMAX broadband has not taken hold Malta for a number of reasons; mainly due to speed and download limitations, poor indoor reception and bundled offers. Furthermore, as customers are opting for bundles, Vodafone is finding it increasingly difficult to offer attractive solutions that can compete with the bundles marketed by the DSL and cable providers. A second WiMAX network has been deployed by GO, but proved very unpopular due to very high set-up fees and the fact that GO does not advertise this service but concentrates exclusively on its DSL products.

In 2010, Vodafone was marketing one package with a download speed of 4 Mbps, priced at €13.85 per month.

Satellite

Satellite access is used by only a very small number of large commercial institutions for backup interconnectivity and data transfer. No satellite providers are authorised in Malta and consequently no data is available on this service.


IDATE 188



100% 100%100% 100%100% 100%100%100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Malta enjoys 100% 3G coverageby all three mobile network operators, namely Vodafone, GO Mobile, and Melita Mobile. Vodafone and GO Mobile operate 2G and 3G networks in parallel, whilst Melita Mobile operates only a 3G network. The majority of mobile subscribers are still using 2G SIM cards, although significant growth has been registered in 3G subscriptions, in particular as a result of more special offers for smartphones. The increase in the adoption of smartphones has also fuelled the demand for 3G data, and usage statistics show that mobile broadband is on the increase.

Penetration

100% 100%

17% 17%17% 17%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



At the end of 2010, there were 71,980 mobile broadband users, which represents 17.4% of the population. In 2010, the number of dedicated mobile broadband data services (only cards/modems/dongles) increased considerably as prices continued to decrease and the services improved. In 2010, Vodafone also upgraded its 3G mobile network and is now capable of offering download speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps, whilst GO Mobile has doubled its 3G network speed to 7.2 Mbps.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe The Netherlands

IDATE 189

4.20. The Netherlands


Inhabitants 11,471,708 4,774,352 331,552 16,577,612




DSL subscribers 3,028,000 3,410,000 3,590,000 3,453,000 3,262,000



Cable modem subscribers 1,970,000 2,207,000 2;210,000 2,358,000 1,929,000


FTTx subscribers 111,000 140,000 180,000 242,000 1,034,000

PLC subscribers - - 0 0 0

WLL subscribers - - 0 0 0

Satellite subscribers 1,000 1,000 0 0 0

Total 5,110,000 5,758,000 5,980,000 6,053,000 6,225,000




The Netherlands are still reporting one of the highest broadband penetration rates in Europe and the world, with a fixed broadband penetration of 37.6% in 2010. Fixed broadband growth is increasingly driven by cable and FTTx, while DSL continued to decline with 3.3 million subscribers (compared to 3.5 million in 2009). In total there were 6.2 million fixed broadband subscribers by the end of 2010.

Compared to the preceding year, mobile broadband grew by 61.2%.


IDATE 190



99% 99% 99% 99%

19% 19%20% 20%20% 20%20% 19%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



DSL coverage has been virtually ubiquitous in the Netherlands for several years now, while penetration decreased slightly compared to 2009, going from 20.8% to 19.7% at the end of 2010 – although it is still the dominant access technology.


0

400 000

800 000

1 200 000

1 600 000



Most DSL subscribers (47.9%) access the Web at speeds between 2 to 8 Mbps but demand for faster connections is growing. In contrast to 2009, the proportion of Dutch DSL subscribers with more than 8 Mbps is now larger than those with a connection of less than 2 Mbps. 27.5% of all DSL subscribers surf the internet with speeds of more than 8 Mbps.


IDATE 191


76% 76% 77% 76%

24% 24%24% 23%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



In 2010, Dutch incumbent KPN was able to augment its market share to 76% of all DSL subscribers, and is serving 2.6 million Internet broadband customers either directly or through its subsidiaries (Planet Internet, XS4ALL, Het Net). In contrast to other countries, there is no significant bitstream/resale segment in the Netherlands – with the remaining 24% of connections being unbundled lines.


IDATE 192



99%

87%

51%

95%

10%16%

12% 12%12% 12%12%

32%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



At 95%, cable coverage is almost at the same level as DSL in terms of availability. In 2010, cable modem subscriber numbers decreased as a portion of connections were upgraded to DOCSIS 3.0 (and counted as FTTx customers). The cable sector is led by operators Ziggo and UPC.


0

400 000

800 000

1 200 000

1 600 000



The majority of cable modem subscribers have connection speeds of more than 8 Mbps. On top of 1.4 million subscribers with speeds between 8-30 Mbps, there are also more than 600,000 with speeds higher than 30 Mbps. These are counted as FTTx subscribers now as their access technology is based on a fibre to the last amplifier-technology (FTTLA) and DOCSIS 3.0.


IDATE 193



95%

85%

49%

91%

7% 5% 6%6%10%8% 7%6%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The majority of the Dutch population has access to at least one fibre technology. FTTx made a huge contribution to the overall broadband growth rate in 2010, totalling more than 1 million new subscribers. Several operators, such as Reggefiber, are upgrading to faster fibre connections and helping drive the emergence of new applications and services. KPN also increased its commitment, having completed its VDSL from the Central Office (VDSL-CO) network in April. KPN is also upgrading its network beyond the central office, which will increase ultra-fast broadband coverage and so the availability of IPTV in HD as well. VDSL is said to be only an intermediate solution. In the long term, KPN plans to achieve 60% penetration for FTTH services. The strategic ambitions of KPN and its joint-venture partner, Reggefiber, are largely a reaction to growing competition from cable TV and internet access providers using DOCSIS 3.0 which enables speeds of 120 Mbps.


0

100 000

200 000

300 000

400 000




IDATE 194


Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi services are available in some urban areas, mostly in cafes, hotels and airports. In most cases, they are used on an ad hoc basis as a complement to fixed access technologies.

WLL/WiMAX

WiMAX/WLL is insignificant in terms of market share and has not attracted increased interest among users in the Netherlands.

In light of the result of the frequency auction in April 2010, WiMAX appears to be unpopular. The 69.7 MHz band spectrum which is ideally suited to the technology remained unsold.

Satellite

Like WLL/WiMAX, satellite technology has minimal presence in the Netherlands, which is due partly to its vulnerability to breakdowns and partly to the high price of services.


IDATE 195



99% 98% 99%99% 98%96%93%

98%99% 99%99%93%

96% 98%99% 99%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Compared to the year before, mobile broadband penetration grew significantly in 2010: by a massive 61.2%, and now stands at 25.9% which means that there were more than 4 million mobile broadband subscribers in 2010, thanks to upgrades to mobile broadband technology.

On the one hand, this huge leap is attributable to the rapid development of the HSPA network. UMTS (3G) and 3G+ is available to almost everyone in the Netherlands, and virtually everywhere. In July 2010, Vodafone started to roll out the HSPA+ standard, offering a download rate of 28 Mbps. On top of this, at the frequency auction in April 2010, five operators acquired portions of the 2.6 GHz band which is suitable for 4G broadband. The licenses are valid until 2030 and brought in €2.6 million in total. The newly licensed operators – namely Ziggo and Tele2 – are obliged to roll out a network within two years. The other licence-holders are incumbents KPN, Vodafone and T-Mobile.

Penetration

99% 99% 98% 99%

27%29%25% 26%25% 26%

29% 28%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Development of Broadband Access in Europe Norway

IDATE 196

4.21. Norway


Inhabitants 1,244,700 1,300,351 2,375,254 4,920,305




DSL subscribers 997,140 1,110,914 1,109,989 1,026,000 942,064


Cable modem coverage (% population) na na na na 50%





WLL subscribers 26,900 36,800 31,265 38,987 39,968


Total 1,271,447 1,467,714 1,615,360 1,687,521 1,728,441




Fixed broadband penetration stayed practically unchanged since 2009 at around 35%. DSL is still the dominant fixed broadband technology with 55% of subscriptions, but continues its decline by more than 8% year on year. The growth in cable and fibre subscriptions makes up for the DSL decline, with growth rates at 16% and 28%, respectively. There is heavy competition in fixed broadband with HDTV bundling, resulting in a strong development in available download rates. This is also showing in the penetration, with 52% of connections having rates at 4 Mbps or higher, up from 44% one year earlier. The average subscription speed is 6.8 Mbps, up from 5.9 Mbps. Mobile broadband continues its strong development, with a growth in subscriptions of 94%. Mobile broadband has passed DSL in number of subscriptions and is now the largest broadband access technology in terms of subscriptions. The mobile broadband penetration in Norway still lags behind its Nordic neighbours, presumably because of its higher penetration of DSL and cable broadband. WiMAX is offered by national and local operators, based on regional frequency allocations, focusing on areas of low coverage by DSL and 3G and as such, plays an important role in the last mile of population coverage. The subscription base is stable at around 1.5% of all broadband subscriptions.

By end 2010, 72% of all homes had a broadband connection. According to a government report, 8,000 homes in Norway lack broadband access altogether. The report also stated that these homes will probably have to be covered by wireless broadband technology (LTE or satellite).


IDATE 197



98% 97% 96% 97%

19% 20%18% 19%18% 20%19% 21%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



According to general market information, national DSL coverage is stable at 97% (no update has been provided by incumbent for 2010, but as stated in 2009 the coverage was unlikely to change substantially in the near future).

The number of DSL subscriptions is continuing its decline, and fell by 8.2% in 2010. This development is in line with the countries in the Nordic region, where other fixed broadband technologies are replacing DSL and the biggest growth is in mobile broadband.


0

150 000

300 000

450 000

600 000

750 000



Operator information on download speeds is no longer available. However the national bureau of statistics (SSB) provides overall data on the development of fixed broadband download speeds, irrespective of technology. These data are used for estimating the trend for DSL download rate distribution.

The average download speeds end 2010 is about 4.4 Mbps, compared to 3.5 Mbps at the end of 2009.


IDATE 198


60% 60% 60% 60%

8% 8%8% 8%

32% 32%32% 32%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



No update has been provided for 2010. However based on general market information there have been only minor changes to the breakdown.


IDATE 199



80%

60%

25%

50%

12%

5%

17%

10%

21% 20%20% 19%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Cable modem subscriptions continued to grow strongly, up 16% from 2009, and they now account for 28% of the fixed broadband connections. Cable broadband coverage was practically unchanged from (in fact, estimates provided for 2009 coverage appeared to be under-valued).

Cable operators are still aggressively marketing broadband and TV/HDTV bundles, contributing strongly to overall broadband market competition.


0

30 000

60 000

90 000

120 000

150 000



No operator information on download speeds was available for cable subscriptions. The cable download rate distribution is calculated using the overall data of fixed broadband download speeds from the national bureau of statistics (SSB), less DSL, Fibre and WiMAX figures.

There is an evident shift upwards in download rates, with almost 45% of users now having a connection of more than 2 Mbps vs. 37% the year before. The number of subscribers with low speed subscriptions (under 1 Mbps) seems stable, meaning very few are upgrading their subscription. The development in average speeds seems to come from the new subscribers and upgrades for subscribers with medium speeds.


IDATE 200



25%

6%4% 5%

8%

22%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Fibre subscriptions continued to increase strongly compared to previous years, up 28% from 2009, and account for more than 15% of the fixed broadband connections.

There is little information available on FTTx coverage and geographical distribution. By the end of 2010, 66% of the market is covered by 12 operators (mainly power companies) with the largest operator having an 18% share of the market.

According to a government study on broadband coverage, FTTx coverage stood at approximately 20% at the end of 2009. Based on the main operators’ information on new areas covered in 2010, we can estimate FTTx population coverage at about 25% at the year-end.


0

75 000

150 000

225 000

300 000



Most FTTx operators did not offer subscriptions at speeds lower than 10 Mbps in 2010. At the same time, the national bureau of statistics (SSB) reports a small fraction of broadband subscriptions with speeds higher than 32 Mbps (0.3%). This means that nearly all FTTx subscriptions lie in the 8-30 Mbps speed range. It should be noted that the major FTTx operators planned to upgrade their subscribers’ download rates at the start of 2011, which will have a sizeable impact on the customer base breakdown by bandwidth.


IDATE 201


Wi-Fi

There are no official statistics on the number of hotspots, but Wi-Fi access has an almost ubiquitous presence in hotels, restaurants, airports, petrol stations and other public places throughout the country.

WLL/WiMAX WiMAX is offered by national and local operators, based on regional frequency allocations. They are concentrated on areas with low DSL and 3G coverage and as such play an important role in population coverage for the last mile. The subscription base is stable at around 1.5% of all broadband subscriptions. According to a government study on broadband the WiMAX population coverage was approximately 35% in 2009 and, according to operator information, coverage increased only marginally in 2010.

Satellite

This technology does not play a significant role in the Norwegian market.


IDATE 202



99% 97% 98%98%

75%80%

18%21%

100%

87%

100%

74%

95%

75%

100%100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Coverage is virtually unchanged from last year, since operators have focused on upgrading 3G to 3G+ and on building 4G networks. The incumbent, with a 55% market share (mobile broadband), has also been switching up its entire 2G network to 3G. This means that 3G coverage is stable at around 98%.

The pace of building 3G+ and 4G network coverage has been swift: the incumbent plans of establishing almost 6,000 LTE base stations by 2015, for instance.

Penetration

100% 99% 97% 98%

19% 20%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Mobile broadband subscriptions grew by 94% in 2010 and it is now the largest broadband access technology in terms of subscriptions. The average data traffic per user is practically unchanged from 2009, leaving the overall data traffic in the mobile networks in 2010 at 9,000 TB.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Poland

IDATE 203

4.22. Poland


Inhabitants 17,191,665 4,966,481 16,045,554 38,203,700


4.22.2. General broadband data

12/06 12/07 12/07 12/09 12/10


DSL subscribers 1,855,000 2,376,629 2,725,632 3,037,967 3,216,100


Cable modem coverage (% of population) 18% 25% 33% 34% 35%

Cable modem subscribers 721,000 946,500 1,175,200 1,421,080 1,572,021

Cable modem penetration (% of population) 1.9% 2.5% 3.1% 3.7% 4.1%

FTTx subscribers - 180,000 184,000 315,000 365,879


WLL subscribers* - 575,000 354,000 860,000 1,200,000

Satellite subscribers 100 1,000 1,000 1,100 1,200

Total 2,596,100 4,079,129 4,439,832 5,635,147 6,355,200




* estimates

In 2010 the number of fixed broadband subscribers in Poland showed a healthy growth of almost 13% – and 6.35 million by the end of the year. It should be noted that information on the fastest growing technology – namely WLL which posted an almost 40% increase in users, and is especially popular in rural and suburban areas – is based on estimates as there is no accurate data available. The growth of cable modem access and FTTx kept pace with the market. A slowdown could be observed in the number of DSL connections as the growth in 2010 was below 6%.


IDATE 204



94%

77%

58%

77%

21%

4%9% 8%10% 11%

27%

7%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


DSL coverage penetration (% area population) penetration/coverage 2010 was the first year where the practical effects of the Memorandum of Understanding – signed by UKE regulatory body and TP (the incumbent operator) in October 2009 – were visible. The MoU could not stop the decrease in density of active fixed lines, which has been falling continuously since 2004. In 2010 incumbent TP lost another 730,000 fixed lines, ending the year with 6.34 million retail lines. The main alternative operators managed to keep the number of their own fixed lines almost unchanged, and the substantial growth in their assets could be seen in the number of lines served in WLR, BSA and especially in LLU mode. The overall growth in the number of ADSL connections was only 5.9%.


0

400 000

800 000

1 200 000

1 600 000

2 000 000




IDATE 205

In 2010, as a result of extensive upgrades to TP’s lines, nodes and exchanges, speeds of 10 and 20 Mbps (ADSL2+) were introduced. At the end of 2010 these were used by approximately 30,000 customers. ADSL2+ coverage increased gradually but was still limited in suburban areas, and almost nonexistent in rural areas. After technical trials in 2009 and up to late 2010, VDSL2 technology was introduced in pilot programmes by both TP and Netia in a limited number of locations. In the case of Netia, it has since been implemented on the ISP’s network.

Further improvements could also be observed in the breakdown of connections by access speeds, with connections supplying speeds below 1 Mbps down to 12% (14% in 2009). The majority of connections were still in the 1-2 Mbps range – 55% in 2010 versus 56% in 2009 – but an increase was observed in the share of connections with bandwidth above 2 Mbps (from 25% in 2009 up to 33% in 2010). The share of connections of more than 8 Mbps was still low (2%).


72% 70% 70% 71%

16% 16%17% 16%

12% 13%14% 13%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The overall DSL retail market share controlled by TP Group, which consists of incumbent TP and Orange, its mobile subsidiary offering access via BSA, decreased to 71.1% in 2010, from almost 75% the year before. The number of ADSL connections retailed directly by the incumbent, TP, decreased by 78,000 down to 1.994 million – although the group reported slightly overall growth (0.6%) in the number of connections (2.145 million at the end of 2010) due to growth of BSA connections supplied by Orange (by 22,000 up to 151,000). The total number of ADSL lines retailed via BSA/Resale rose to 526,000, exceeding 16% of all DSL connections. Full LLU got properly off the ground in 2010. It is being used mainly by Netia which was quick to implement its LLU services on the incumbent’s lines, achieving 127,000 LLU connections by the end of the 2010. Netia, which is Poland’s largest alternative operator, has started migrating its customers from WLR/BSA to fully unbundled lines. As a result, of its LLU connections using the incumbent’s lines now outnumber DSL on its own lines. The number of Netia’s BSA connections has grown substantially as well, exceeding 321,000 at the end of the year. The second biggest alternative operator, Dialog, had managed to deploy around 3,000 LLU connections by year end, which pales in comparison to the 156,100 DSL it owns and operates. No data was available on the number of BSA connections from Dialog, but it was practically non-existent. As in previous years, there number of “naked DSL” (with no voice service) supplied by the incumbent or alternative operators was close to nil.


IDATE 206



75%

6%1%

35%

1% 0%

9%4%

12% 12%16%

1%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Cable modem technology maintained its strong competitive position in the broadband market. At the end of 2010, cable had a 25% share of the fixed broadband market, while its market share in urban areas has increased to 44%, very close to DSL (45%). At the end of 2010, the top 10 CATV operators (servicing 3.45 million out of 4.5 million cable TV lines in Poland) were supplying more than 90% of the cable broadband connections, and were present in all towns with a population exceeding 40,000. Besides TV programmes and broadband access, they supply fixed-line voice services on more than 687,000 lines, have more than 65,000 mobile voice subscribers (MVNO) and 16,600 mobile Internet subscribers. The growth rate of CATV broadband connections was almost twice that of DSL (11.7% vs. 5.9%). Contrary to traditional fixed-line telecom operators who are losing fixed-line subscribers every year, CATV networks are reporting substantial growth in voice fixed lines as well (almost 22%).


0

300 000

600 000

900 000

1 200 000



At the end of the year the share of the highest speeds was close to 1%, but the move towards higher values was clearly visible. In 2009 the majority (56%) of users’ connections were in the range of 1-2 Mbps. In 2010 approximately 65% of all CATV connections were 2-8 Mbps, and 21% of subscribers were connected with speeds higher than 8 Mbps (2.5% in 2009).


IDATE 207



11%

4%0%

5%0% 0% 1%2%

10%

18%18%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



In 2010, Netia continued its acquisition of local FTTx/LAN networks, adding more than 15,000 active users. At the end of 2009 it had 115,200 active users and almost half a million homes passed.

The special law on supporting development of broadband networks, which was ratified by the Parliament in May 2010, could have a real impact on lowering the administrative barriers and obstacles to building FTTx networks, especially concerning rights of way, cooperation with municipal sewage, water, gas and power utilities in supplying the ducts. The real impact of the law are expected to be felt in 2011.

FTTx/LAN networks provide usual Ethernet speeds of up to 100 Mbps, and more and more of them are offering VoIP telephony and IPTV.

In 2010, a 1 Gbps offer was introduced in the consumer/SOHO broadband access market.

VDSL and DOCSIS 3.0 technologies were also introduced in Poland. After technical trials in 2009 and part of 2010 VDSL2 was launched in pilot programmes by both TP and Netia in a limited number of locations while cable operators are upgrading their networks to DOCSIS 3.0. All big CATV operators have started to offer speeds exceeding 30 Mbps (up to 130 Mbps) in some locations.


IDATE 208


0

50 000

100 000

150 000

200 000

250 000




IDATE 209


PLC

There is no PLC broadband access – the only occurrence of PLC technology is the PLC modems offered by incumbent TP as an addition to WAN modem/router for home networking. The sales of these PLC modems were negligible.

Wi-Fi

The community-driven online database of hotspots (www.hot.spots.pl) lists more than 2,100 hotspots and 170 Wi-Fi providers across Poland. The list does not cover all Wi-Fi networks available in Poland and no national statistics are available. Approximately 66% of hotspots listed are free of charge, including Wi-Fi access for students at almost every university, as well as hotspots in cafés and restaurants, in popular tourist locations etc. The database contains approximately 570 hotspots run by the three biggest mobile operators and incumbent telecom operator TP.

WLL/WiMAX

The number of connections using the combined technology of WLL (Wi-Fi) in the last mile and high-speed wireless (WiMAX, LMDS) or wired data transmission (FO, operators grade DSL) in backhaul was grew quickly during the year. At the end of 2010, the number of such WLL connections was estimated at around 1.2 million. This solution is very popular in Poland, especially in suburban and rural areas which are still underserved by DSL services from telecom operators and where cable TV networks are virtually non-existent. It should be noted that there is no exact data on the number of users of such connections.

As the price of WiMAX CPE equipment is still substantially higher than WLAN/Wi-Fi gear, the majority of end-users of “pure” WiMAX connections are business subscribers. At the end of 2010 Netia was reporting a WiMAX user base (mostly SMEs) of 20,000 for VoIP-over-WiMAX telephony (decrease by 7%) and 19,000 for broadband access (increase of 11%). Around 7,000 end-users subscribe to WiMAX broadband access offered by other ISPs in various locations in the country, 60% of them in rural areas.

The regional tenders for 2.5 and 3.6 GHz WiMAX frequencies at the NUTS3 and LAU1 level continued in 2010. The winners were primarily local municipalities, local and larger ISPs. As in 2009 there were still areas where the tenders ended without result due to a lack of candidates.

Satellite

Satellite access remains a niche technology mainly because of high cost of equipment. The number of users which have specific needs for satellite access has remained unchanged for some years at around 1,000-1,200. In 2010 there were some announcements of consumer satellite access offers, but no providers are reporting a significant customer base. The 800-1,000 VSAT narrowband terminals used for data transmission by the state lottery are not included in report.


IDATE 210



70%

25%

62%

50%

9%

40%

4%

38%

95%

49%

85%

20%

50%55%

90%

70%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



In 2010, new entrants (Aero 2, CenterNet and Mobyland) continued to build up their 3G+ networks in the 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz bands, together with the former CDMA fixed-telephony operator Sferia. All four companies mentioned – Aero 2, CenterNet, Mobyland and Sferia – are in various ways (ownerships structure, joint network development, RAN-sharing agreements etc.) connected with Cyfrowy Polsat, the Polish media conglomerate and owner of the biggest commercial TV broadcaster Polsat, satellite TV platform Cyfrowy Polsat and full owner of MVNO Cyfrowy Polsat. At the end of 2010, Aero2 and Mobyland started trials of LTE in the 1800 MHz band, planning to provide wholesale LTE access for Cyfrowy Polsat MVNO, but Cyfrowy Polsat’s LTE service was not introduced until August 2011. CDMA 2000 1xEVDO access in the 450 MHz band marketed by the TP Group’s mobile arm, PTK Centertel (Orange), has 141,000 subscribers at the end of 2010. Despite published plans of country-wide deployments, Sferia was providing broadband CDMA 2000 access in the 850 MHz band to only 20,000 users. After the acquisition of Nordisk (former trunking operator licensed to supply broadband access on 420 MHz) in 2009 by one of the big three MNOs, Polkomtel, CDMA 2000 access was expected to be introduced on this band, but no commercial offer has yet appeared.


IDATE 211

Penetration

95%

70%

25%

62%

2%

22%

12%9%

12% 14%

31%

7%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



In 2010, 3G/3G+ users and coverage grew substantially, with coverage by year-end estimated at 95% in urban areas (90% in 2009), 70% in suburban areas (65% in 2009) and 25% in rural areas (15% in 2009). 3G+ (HSDPA, HSPA+) coverage of was estimated at 85%, 50% and 9%, respectively.

Despite progress in coverage, penetration remains low compared to other EU countries, but mobile Internet is being actively promoted by operators.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Portugal

IDATE 212

4.23. Portugal


Inhabitants 4,902,161 3,451,603 2,283,215 10,636,979




DSL subscribers 883,746 1,087,725 1,069,000 1,059,817 1,069,489







WLL/WiMAX subscribers 3,700 8,200 21,504 23,305 22,039

Satellite subscribers - - 15 15 10

Total 1,429,178 1,708,512 1,766,704 1,874,937 2,073,916




In 2010, growth continued on both fixed and mobile broadband market by a percentage of 10.6% and 18.8%, respectively. Mobile broadband penetration in Portugal is now higher than fixed broadband. Indeed, mobile infrastructures have been taking the place of landline ones in areas where they were deficient. This has not, however, prevented fibre from making real strides in the Portuguese market where it now accounts for 13.6% of total fixed connections. DSL still accounts for more than half (51.6%) of this total but annual growth was less than 1% while basic cable modem subscriber base is decreasing due to shift towards DOCSIS 3.0 connections.


IDATE 213



100% 100%94%

99%

10% 10%10% 10%10% 10%10% 10%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Although DSL coverage did not change much in 2010, penetration has been increasing in suburban areas but most notably in rural areas where penetration increased by 3.3 points. In urban areas the decrease of the penetration results from growth of other broadband technologies, notably fibre based technologies.


0

150 000

300 000

450 000

600 000

750 000



All DSL connections are now above 1 Mbps and most of them (60.1%) are above 8 Mbps. In 2009, only 55% of those connections reached these speeds. Only in rural areas do connections between 2 and 8 Mbps account for a larger share, but the situation has been improving dramatically since the figure has gone from 14.6% to 41% of rural DSL connections.


IDATE 214


63%

84%91%

76%

4%

5%

5%

5%32%

19%12%

4%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%




IDATE 215



100%

89%

51%

85%

5%1%

13%7%

13%8%5%

2%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Cable operator Zon Multimedia is still the main rival for its former parent company, with a 33% share of the entire fixed broadband market. In 2010 cable network coverage did not change, while cable technology was having to contend with the growth of FTTx connections.


0

150 000

300 000

450 000

600 000

750 000



The trend observed in the DSL market with a concentration of connections around higher speeds is also true in the cable modem market. Connections between 8 and 30 Mbps now far exceed those running at between 2 and 8 Mbps. In rural areas, cable connections are still marginal.


IDATE 216



40%

0.6% 0.2% 1.2%2.1% 3%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



FTTx coverage is very high in Portugal due both to FTTH/B deployments (close to 1.6 million homes passed at the end of 2010) and to DOCSIS 3.0 upgrades by cable operators, mainly ZON.


0

20 000

40 000

60 000

80 000

100 000



Speeds of fiber-based connections do not exceed 30 Mbps for one connection out of 3 as prices for upper speeds are generally quite high.


IDATE 217


WLL/WiMAX

As mobile broadband is taking off, the WiMAX customer base is now slowly decreasing.

Satellite

With only 10 customers, satellite in Portugal is more than marginal, in part due to good fixed infrastructure as well as complementary mobile infrastructure.


IDATE 218



98%

66%

85%

67%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Penetration

98%

24% 25%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Since 2009, Portugal has been home to more mobile broadband subscribers than fixed broadband subscribers. Although not providing the same connection speeds as most advanced fixed infrastructures, 3G+ mobile infrastructures provide fast enough connections for most internet usages. In 2010, mobile broadband penetration increased by 4.2 percentage points.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Romania

IDATE 219

4.24. Romania


Inhabitants 11,831,076 0 9,600,222 21,431,298

Share of total population 55.2% 0% 44.8% 100.0%


DSL coverage (% of the population) - - 68% 75% 82%

DSL subscribers 100,000 360,000 660,000 789,000 833,100


Cable modem coverage (% population) - - 65% 68% 68%



FTTx subscribers 580,000 1,110,000 1,360,000 1,530,000 1,758,900


WLL subscribers 14,000 11,000 10,000 20,000 20,000

Satellite subscribers 100 200 400 1,000 1,000

Total 1,084,100 1,921,200 2,500,400 2,820,000 3,001,000


Mobile broadband subscribers 480,000 790,000 1,530,000 2,760,000 6,070,000


The total number of fixed broadband subscriber base increased by 181,000 in 2010 and penetration reached 14%. Growth is much lower than previous years. Even with this growth, the penetration rate still remains very low compared to EU average.

The ADSL subscriber base increased by 5.6% in 2010 and penetration reached 3.9%. the upward trend of DSL subscribers continued on through 2010, albeit as a lesser pace than in previous years .

Most high speed Internet subscribers use FTTx technology, including LANs which are very well developed in Romania. At the end of 2010, the National Regulatory Authority reported that 1,580,000 broadband subscribers were connected to the Internet via UTP/FTP cable and 90,000 subscribers via FTTH. Other FTTx connections are based by VDSL or cable/DOCSIS 3.0 technologies.

Competition remained intense in 2010, with 973 ISPs providing Internet access at the end of the year (1,065 ISPs at the end of 2009). The main broadband access technologies in the country are FTTx/LAN, ADSL/VDSL, cable modem and wireless.

The incumbent carrier, Romtelecom, controls the DSL customer base, while RDS&RCS and UPC Romania are the biggest players in the cable modem and FTTx market. Other ISPs use their smaller FTP/UTP or WLL networks through FTTx connections to provide their customers with service.


IDATE 220



99%

60%

82%

3%4% 4%4% 5%5%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



DSL subscribers and coverage continued to increase in 2010 – with coverage increasing primarily in rural areas.

DSL subscribers grew by 44,100 during the year (91,000 when including VDSL) and their market share grew to 27.8% at the end of 2010.


0

150 000

300 000

450 000

600 000

750 000



Most DSL users were connected to the Internet via 6 Mbps connections. Services delivering access at 20 and 30 Mbps are offered mostly in urban areas over ADSL. Download rates below 2 Mbps are supplied only for back-up solutions when the highest speed is not available. In 2010 the DSL provider increased the speed for all its subscribers, as it had in previous years.


IDATE 221


100% 100% 100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The incumbent carrier provides all DSL connections. There have been several attempts by smaller providers to lease the local loop but all have been unsuccessful.


IDATE 222



90%

40%

68%

1%2% 2%3% 3%3%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


coverage penetration (% area population) penetration/coverage In 2010, the number of basic cable modem subscribers was down (-92,000 connections) partly due to the shift towards DOCSIS 3.0 and the market share of cable modem declined to 12.9% at the end of the year. Most of Romania’s local cable operators provide broadband Internet access in a market dominated by two companies RDS&RCS and UPC Romania.


0

50 000

100 000

150 000

200 000

250 000



Romania still has 51 cable modem providers (14 fewer than in 2009). The most popular download rates are similar to those found with DSL customers: between 2 and 8 Mbps.


IDATE 223



73%

25%

51%

1%

14%8%

19%16%

4%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The number of FTTx/LAN subscribers continued to increase in 2010.

At the end of 2010, there were 1,759,000 FTTx/LAN subscribers in the country (90,000 FTTH subscribers, 1,580,000 LAN subscribers and the rest based on VDSL and cable/DOCSIS 3.0 technologies). FTTx networks cover most of the big cities of Romania but can be found in rural areas too. Most of the fibre connections are FTTB or FTTH delivering connections for business and residential market (LAN subscribers). Most of the high speed Internet subscribers use FTTx technology (including LAN). This technology continues to hold 58.6% market share. Available download speed over FTTx/LAN is up to 100 Mbps.


0

300 000

600 000

900 000

1 200 000




IDATE 224


Wi-Fi

At the end of 2010, there were 1,050 hotspots operating in the country – hotels, shopping centres, airports, mostly with free access.

WLL/WiMAX

WiMAX is not yet available in Romania.

The largest percentage of WLL subscribers is located in the areas where use of other technologies (DSL, cable modem, FTTx) is limited.

In 2010 the number of WLL subscribers remained unchanged with 20,000 subscribers (10,000 in 2008).

Satellite

One thousand subscribers were connected to broadband via satellite at the end of 2010, according to the National Regulatory Authority annual report.


IDATE 225



80%

90%

40%

21%27%

98%

59%

75%

54%

45%

96%

82%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



By the end of 2010 there were 6,070,000 mobile broadband subscribers in Romania, compared to 2,760,000 at the end of 2009. Growth was stimulated by lower monthly fees for the mobile internet and an increasing range of smartphones among mobile phones users. There are five mobile operators in Romania providing access to the broadband mobile Internet: Vodafone, Orange, Cosmote, RDS&RCS using HSDPA, UMTS, EDGE and Romtelecom, Cosmote, using CDMA/EVDO 1x and UMTS technologies. 3G+ is available mainly to customers in the largest cities.

Penetration

98%

80%

90%

11%

43%

28%

43%

31%

14%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The geographical coverage of 3G, UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, CDMA/EVDO has increased substantially over the last three years and the number of broadband mobile subscribers grew from 1,530,000 in 2008 to 6,070,000 in 2010.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Slovakia

IDATE 226

4.25. Slovakia


Inhabitants 1,863,173 1,990,223 1,581,877 5,435,273




DSL subscribers 182,391 277,832 336,369 367,723 398,056







WLL subscribers 69,629 92,356 94,257 155,984 182,166


Total 355,375 508,867 612,568 785,456 875,459


Mobile broadband subscribers 97,176 192,329 567,503 831,219 1,154,606


In 2010, the fixed broadband market increased by 11.5% (22% in 2009).

In the DSL segment, Slovak Telekom still retains a very strong position as bitstream/resale offers only account for 8.5% of connections (7.9% in 2009) and unbundling supplied its first actual figures (but only 31 connections) during 2010. Cable modem penetration is still low, due chiefly to coverage constraints.

The broadband market development was defined in 2010 by following:

- quasi monopolistic position of the incumbent operator, Slovak Telekom, in fixed telephone network infrastructure (actual unbundling only since February 2010);

- significant reduction of the year-on-year development of xDSL coverage by the incumbent operator, with only +0.5% in 2010 or 60 newly covered municipalities (was +250 in 2009). At the end of 2010, in Slovakia 56.4% of municipalities remained without xDSL coverage;

- gradual increase of coverage by cable modem (35% of the population); - gradual increase of FTTx customers to 206,000 (+14% in 2010); - rapid development of mobile internet access over 3G/3G+ networks and also by FLASH-OFDM

network (also called FLARION), with speed up to 5.3 Mbps; - further development of commercial and municipal wireless broadband (Wi-Fi, FWBA/WiMAX and

WLL (FWA) networks.


IDATE 227



100%

89%

55%

83%

8% 6%8% 7%8% 9%9% 11%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


coverage (%) penetration (% area population) penetration/coverage

In 2010, ADSL services were available in 1,277 municipalities (including 17 municipalities within Bratislava-City and 22 municipalities within Kosice-City), which represent 43.6% of municipalities. xDSL coverage is limited (official data are not available) as not all PSTN lines are capable of delivering xDSL. This is a significant problem in suburban and rural areas. The incumbent, Slovak Telekom, enables end-users to share xDSL connection with other households or companies.

In 2010, 60 municipalities were newly covered (248 during 2009). There were still 1,651 municipalities or nearly 937,500 people not covered by xDSL services (227,000 people in suburban areas and 733,000 inhabitants in rural areas).

In 2010 DSL services were also provided by Railway Telecom Operator (ZSR-Zeleznicne Telekomunikacie), but its activity is limited to territories located within the railway infrastructure only. The number of its commercial DSL services was symbolic (only few dozens of connections) when compared to the incumbent operator.


IDATE 228


0

100 000

200 000

300 000

400 000



Slovak Telekom launched ADSL services in 2004. ADSL2+ services were introduced at the end 2006. Practically all DSL services (97.2% in 2010, in comparison with 98.9% in 2009) were provided at a speed of 2–8 Mbps downstream (256 Kbps upstream). The rest of DSL services were provided at 1-2 Mbps (1.8% of total DSL connections) or at 8-30 Mbps (1.0% of total DSL connections). This type of services is only available in urban areas located near to the incumbent’s PSTN exchanges. DSL services provided by Railway Telecom Operator (ZSR-Zeleznicne Telekomunikacie) were chiefly connections running at 512 Kbps – 1 Mbps, and only a few customers were supplied faster connections (1-2 Mbps or 2–8 Mbps).


84%94% 99%

91%

6% 1%16%

9%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



With more than 398,000 lines, Slovak Telekom delivers 91.5% of all xDSL lines directly (similar to the previous two years). The remaining 8.5% are covered by bitstream/resale offers. Unbundled connections represented only 0.02% in urban areas. Only one alternative operator offered unbundled xDSL services in 2010. During 2008-2009, LLU prices decreased but no actual unbundling agreement was implemented before 2010. The wholesale model for ADSL services has only been in effect since March 2006.


IDATE 229



79%

20%

1%

35%

1% 0%4%

2%5% 5%4% 6%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



In 2010, CATV penetration in Slovakia is amongst the lowest in the EU (38%). Cable broadband modem services were available in 83 municipalities (73 in 2009), mainly in urban areas (41 towns or most Bratislava-City and several Kosice-City municipalities), then in suburban areas (39 municipalities) and very little in rural areas (only three municipalities). 10 new municipalities were covered (18 during 2009). The net increase of covered population was more than 150,000 (53,000 in 2009). This represents only 2.8% of municipalities and 35% of total population (1.9 million inhabitants in comparison to 1.7 million in 2009).


0

15 000

30 000

45 000

60 000

75 000



The entire cable modem market represented nearly 89,000 lines (81,000.in 2009) in 2010, while UPC Broadband Slovakia covered more than 74% of the market (77% in 2009). Other major regional or local providers of cable modem services include SATRO, Martico and Digi Slovakia, while a few municipalities also operate cable modem services for their citizens.


IDATE 230



85%

27%

1%

39%

2% 0%4%

8%11%9% 10%10%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



FTTx has been one of the most dynamic sectors of the past several years. In 2010, several national and many local alternative operators provided FTTx services in 97 municipalities (91 in 2009) including local municipalities within Bratislava-City and Kosice-City. FTTx services were available to the majority of urban municipalities (44 in 2010, 42 in 2009), in 43 suburban towns and also in few rural areas (10 municipalities, up from four in 2009). The 2010 total number of FTTx customers is now over 200,000 (an increase of 25,000). No VDSL services were offered in Slovakia during 2010.

The main FTTH operators at the national level are Orange, SWAN, Slovanet, UPC Broadband Slovakia (DOCSIS 3.0) and Slovak Telekom and, at the regional/local level, Antik, Satro (DOCSIS 3.0) and GAYA. Several local operators in many municipalities have also started or continued building their own fibre optic infrastructure.

FTTB services were provided by a few national alternative operators and one academic network (SANET). The main commercial FTTB providers are Energotel (only wholesale services), ZSR-Zeleznicne telekomunikacie (Railways telecom operator), Orange, Slovanet, SWAN and Slovak Telekom on a national level and mainly Antik at the regional/local level. Commercial FTTB services are mainly available in urban and suburban areas, but rarely in rural areas and only if located close to one of the main energy distribution or railway infrastructures.

The triple-play market has been growing in Slovakia since 2008, and accounted for 83,500 customers in December 2010 (72,900 in 2009). Double-play customers decreased to 85,500 IPTV/broadband subscribers (89,000 in 2009) – with double and triple-play bundles available to 47% of the population (44% in 2009). Several operators market these bundles in the same locations as their competitors, with the main providers in 2010 being Slovak Telekom, UPC Broadband Slovakia, Orange Slovakia, SWAN, Slovanet, SATRO and Antik.


IDATE 231


0

30 000

60 000

90 000

120 000

150 000



FTTx services with a download speed over 30 Mbps (up to 120 Mbps) were available to 27% of the population (25% in 2009) FTTB services range from 10 Mbps up to 1 Gbps.


IDATE 232


PLC

A few private companies in co-operation with electric distribution companies have conducted PLC trials since 2006, but no services have been launched.

WLAN

The first Wi-Fi standard (802.11b) pilot projects were launched in Slovakia in 2003, and the next generation of wireless technologies are bow available in Slovakia: RLAN (2400 – 2483.5 MHz), HIPERLAN (5150 – 5350 MHz only indoor) and HIPERLAN (5470 – 5725 MHz outdoor). There is a general authorisation regime with an obligation to register.

Public Wi-Fi hotspots grew rapidly from 2003 to 2010, numbering 4,000 by the end 2010. No data on private wireless LAN based on Wi-Fi standard are available.

In 2010 there were more than 200 hotspots in approx. 100 cities or villages. T-Mobile also provides its Wi-Fi hotspots to its EDGE/UMTS/FLASH-OFDM customers at no extra charge. Several municipalities have launched public hotspot services free of charge since 2007, mainly in urban and suburban areas.

At the end 2010, WLAN services were available in 2,125 municipalities (2,012 in 2009) in Slovakia or to 92.1% of the population (90.4% in 2009). The total number of Wi-Fi customers exceeded 169,000 (120,000 in 2009), and population coverage is estimated at 60% (official data not available).

WLL/WiMAX

At the end of 2010, the telecom regulator issued four licences for FWA 3.5 GHz broadband services, 54 licenses for FWA 10GHz services, two licenses for FWA 26 GHz services and one license for 29 GHz-band services. A total of 672 operators were registered for public wireless services.

Applications for FWA 3.5 GHz were opened in August 2005 and four licences were granted. Three operators had launched commercial services before the end of 2005, all using WiMAX technology. Since 2007, approximately 90 new FWBA permissions (10 GHz bandwidth) for several local/regional operators in 38 localities were granted by national regulator (Telecommunication Office).

In December 2010, the total number of FWA customers was approximately 13,000. FWA services are available mainly in urban and suburban areas. The leading operator in 2010 was again WiMAX Telecom Slovakia. At the end of 2010 FWA services were available in 1,162 municipalities (913 in 2009) covering 3.85 million inhabitants (70.8% of the population). FWA services were not available in five municipalities in urban areas, 276 suburban areas and 1,485 in rural areas. Population coverage is estimated at 45% (official data is not available),

Satellite

Two-way satellite Internet access is available in Slovakia via Towercom, GiTy and Softel. Eighteen operators were registered, a few of which were focusing only on pay-TV services.

At the end of 2010, there were 373 satellite Internet subscribers (205 in 2009). The main end-users are mountain hotels, betting shops, quarries, schools and local branches of multinational companies which are located mainly in rural areas.


IDATE 233



92%

53%

83%

74%

24%

65%

17%

31%

100%

68%

100%

45%

90%

56%

99% 100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Since October 2005, T-Mobile in Slovakia has launched FLARION services based on FLASH-OFDM (download rate of 5.3 Mbps and 500 kbps upload) broadband technology operating in the 450 MHz band. T-Mobile provides mobile broadband services to its customers with EDGE / UMTS / HDSPA / FLASH-OFDM technology, but Orange is offering mobile internet services only via its own 3G/3G+ network (UMTS/FDD).

In December 2010, GSM territory coverage was 90.8% (90.2% in 2009) and 99.6% of the population (same as in 2009). UMTS territory coverage was 23.5% (22.3% in 2009) with 68% of the population (67.8% in 2009). Since 2007 two existing mobile operators – Orange and T-Mobile – have been offering 3G and 2.5G services (GPRS, EDGE) services. A CFP for a third mobile operator was opened in May 2006, and the winner was Telefónica O2 which began supplying 2G/3G services in February 2007, and GPRS/EDGE mobile internet services in 2010 (commercial 3G services were only launched in July 2011).

Penetration

100%92%

53%

83%

21%26%

17%21%

17%

26%28%

39%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%




IDATE 234

At the end of 2010, the total number of mobile users was 5.925 million. (penetration stands at 109.1%), of which 1.9 million were also using mobile internet services (including 648,000 GPRS customers). The total number of 3G broadband customers was 956,000 and it was 357,400 for 3.5G+ (cards, modems).

Commercial 3.5G/HDSPA services (Orange) at 3.6 Mbps have been available in Slovakia since March 2006. Download speeds of 7.2 Mbps have been available since July 2008 and of 14.4 Mbps since April 2010. In 2010 the highest bitrate provided by T-Mobile was 7.2 Mbps.

In December 2010, 3G/HDSPA coverage was available in 540 municipalities (405 in 2009) or to 68% of the population). FLASH-OFDM is available in 1,618 municipalities (1,606 in 2009) or to 83.2% of the population.

Mobile broadband population coverage in Slovakia stands at 87% for 3G+/FLASH-OFDM services and 68% for 3G+ services. The territorial coverage for mobile broadband is 61.6% for 3G+/FLASH-OFDM services and 31% for 3G+ services.

In 2010, the leading mobile internet operator was Orange, followed by T-Mobile. The third mobile operator, O2 Slovakia, was not offering 3G/3G+ mobile broadband services in 2010.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Slovenia

IDATE 235

4.26. Slovenia

4.26.1. Population

Urban area Suburban area Rural area National

Inhabitants 462,578 803,905 783,706 2,050,189




DSL subscribers 194,250 247,195 285,866 289,400 285,315


Cable modem coverage (% population) 51% 51% 53% 49% 42%*





WLL subscribers 1,153 921 1,082 3,279 3,884


Total 264,352 343,640 426,595 467,724 492,847


Mobile broadband subscribers 100,291 261,765 446,863 577,392 607,155


* figure is not comparable with those for previous years (see comments in 4.26.4)

The DSL subscriber base has remained flat over the past two years in Slovenia, and the technology’s share of fixed connections has dropped from 67% at the end of 2008 to 58% at the end of last year. In the meantime, the cable modem subscriber base increased by 32% to 125,500 (+17% in 2009) while nearly one out of six fixed broadband subscribers was connected with FTTH at the end of 2010.

WLL and two-way satellite remain marginal, while WiMAX access is no longer commercially available in Slovenia.

The growth of mobile broadband subscribers slowed in 2010, but the mobile broadband subscriber base is now 23% bigger than the fixed broadband subscribers’ base.


IDATE 236



99% 97%

84%

92%

14% 16%11% 14%12%

15%14%19%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



According to estimates from the Post and Electronic Communications Agency of the Republic of Slovenia (APEK), DSL is available to 574,957 households in Slovenia. There were 285,315 DSL subscribers at the end of 2010.


0

30 000

60 000

90 000

120 000

150 000



Connection speeds were up in 2010 but remain low compared with most other European countries: on average, speed exceeds 2 Mbps for only one connection out of three.


IDATE 237


64%

8%

28%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



At national level, the incumbent carrier’s share of the retail market decreased from 66% to 64% in 2010, mainly due to an increase in unbundled lines.


IDATE 238



83%

46%

21%

45%

6% 5%8% 6%

10%14%13%

24%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



In 2010, APEK started to run separate registers for TV connections and for connections that are also suitable for broadband access. The national cable modem penetration in 2010 (measured as a % of the population) increased from 5% to 6% in suburban areas and from 2% to 5% in rural areas.

APEK estimated that cable modem connections suitable for broadband access are available to 285,733 households. There were 125,458 cable modem subscribers at the end of 2010.


0

15 000

30 000

45 000

60 000



At the end of 2010, most cable modem connections were supplying speeds below 2 Mbps (66%).

When compared with DSL (at national level), cable modem subscribers generally enjoy higher download speeds.


IDATE 239



73%

45%

6%

37%

4% 3% 4%5%

47%

9% 10%7%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



APEK estimated that FTTH was available to 234,065 of households at the end of 2010, i.e. 37% of the population, while only 4% actually subscribed (up from 3% at the end of 2009).

In 2010, FTTH coverage increased in urban and suburban areas (from 61% to 73% in urban areas, from 38% to 45% in suburban areas) but remained low in rural areas – although still a very attractive solution.


0

15 000

30 000

45 000

60 000

75 000



At the end of 2010, the vast majority (97%) of FTTH connections supplied speeds above 10 Mbps.

FTTH offers far greater download speeds to potential users than either ADSL/VDSL or cable modem, which also explains why the incumbent Telekom Slovenia has stepped up its efforts to expand its own FTTH network, despite enjoying a monopoly over DSL.


IDATE 240


Wi-Fi

The number of Wi-Fi and MMDS subscribers at the end of 2010 was low, but it has increased compared to 2009 – from 3,279 to 3,884 subscribers. Wi-Fi and MMDS (Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service) are often offered in rural areas where there is a lack of suitable alternatives.

WLL/WiMAX

Two operators obtained a WiMAX licence from the Post and Electronic Communications Agency of the Republic of Slovenia: Telekom Slovenia and Tok telekomunikacije. Telekom Slovenia started to offer WiMAX in summer 2009, while Tok telekomunikacije has never offered it commercially, according to APEK. Last year Telekom Slovenia handed back its frequencies: because mobile broadband has become so predominant there is no longer any interest in WiMAX in Slovenia.

Satellite

The number of satellite subscribers in Slovenia at the end of 2010 was virtually nil – having decreased from 16 in 2009 to 11 in 2010. Most of them are located in remote rural areas. What probably hampers the broader deployment of satellite access are the high price of hardware (a satellite antenna costs more than €400) and high monthly fees.


IDATE 241



98%

36%

81% 81%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



3G and 3G+ coverage of the population is very high: almost 100% of the Slovenian population is covered with EDGE network, 81% with UMTS network upgraded with HSDPA (download speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps) and HSUPA (upload speeds of up to 2 Mbps ) technology and 32% of the population with UMTS network upgraded with HSPA+ technology (download speeds up to 21.6 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 5.76 Mbps).

Penetration

98%

26%30%

36%30% 30%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



At the end of 2010, 3G+ coverage stood at 81% of the population (up from 77% at the end of 2009). In addition, it was estimated that mobile broadband access has reached 30% at the national level, 36% in urban areas, 30% in suburban and 26% in rural areas.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Spain

IDATE 242

4.27. Spain


Inhabitants 26,404,459 10,986,141 9,760,220 47,150,820




DSL subscribers 5,243,094 6,393,952 7,208,603 7,747,809 8,416,581



Cable modem subscribers 1,417,340 1,633,489 1,839,446 1,939,099 2,056,426



PLC subscribers 2,780 2,200 1,887 1,739 0

WLL/WiMAX subscribers 30,000 36,600 80,878 59,935 60,554


Total 6,701,914 8,077,541 9,135,751 9,772,251 10,595,004




The total number of broadband lines continued to increase strongly in 2010 with just over 668,772 new subscribers, despite the grim economic situation in Spain. Annual growth of fixed broadband subscribers totalled 8.6% (+7% in 2009).

The most significant increase still came from mobile broadband subscribers which grew by 71.2% – due mainly to users’ changing consumption habits.


IDATE 243



99% 99% 99% 99%

17% 16%19% 18%19% 18%17% 16%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The DSL subscriber base increased by 8.6% in 2010 (+670,000 subscribers) with a penetration rate now close to 18%.


0

1 500 000

3 000 000

4 500 000

6 000 000



There is virtually no offer below 4 Mbps. The incumbent operator offers 6 Mbps at no extra cost and there are numerous offers over 8 Mbps in the residential market.


IDATE 244


65% 65% 65% 65%

1% 1%1% 1%

33% 33%33% 33%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The retail market share of the incumbent operator, Telefónica de España, decreased again in 2010, from 68% at the beginning of the year to 65.3% at the end.


IDATE 245



77%

39%

12%

55%

4% 4%4% 4%6% 8%11%

36%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The cable subscriber base was up 6% in 2010 thanks to expanded coverage in urban and in suburban areas. ONO is the leader with a 50.2% market share.


0

500 000

1 000 000

1 500 000

2 000 000



The most popular download speeds for cable modem offers are in the 10 Mbps range, but speeds can reach 50 Mbps in the residential market – in some cases thanks to technical upgrades.


IDATE 246



6%0.0% 0.0% 0.1%0.2% 2%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The number of FTTx connections increased significantly in 2010, reaching almost 60,000 customers at the end of the year. The market is driven mainly by business customers.


0

7 500

15 000

22 500

30 000


Less than 2 Mbos From 2 to 8 Mbps From 8 to 30 Mbps More than 30 Mbps

Network upgrades, notably with the use of DOCSIS 3.0, are driving in increase in faster services.


IDATE 247


Wi-Fi/WLL/WiMAX

There was practically no increase in the number of WiMAX subscribers in 2010 after the PEBA Plan came to an end.

Satellite

The two-way satellite market is no longer active in Spain, with only a small number of "residual" subscribers.


IDATE 248



95%95%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



3G/3G+ coverage reached 95% at the end of 2010, up from 89% the year before.

Penetration

95%

7% 7%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Development of Broadband Access in Europe Sweden

IDATE 249

4.28. Sweden

4.28.1. Population

Urban area Suburban area Rural area National

Inhabitants 4,262,497 4,015,342 1,137,731 9,415,570




DSL subscribers 1,531,277 1,764,000 1,769,000 1,708,000 1,625,878







WLL subscribers 6,578 6,578 - 3,000 0

Satellite subscribers 704 704 2,200 100 200

Total 2,349,408 2,721,282 2,924,200 2,909,100 3,014,200


Mobile broadband subscribers 877,000 1,100,000 1,699,000*


* Only dedicated mobile broadband subscriptions are included in the survey aggregated numbers (1,222,000 regular mobile subscribers access to mobile broadband as add on service)

According to PTS, the Swedish regulatory authority, less than 1,000 households still lack broadband access entirely, putting overall broadband coverage at 99.98% of the population. In total, fixed broadband coverage now reaches 98.52% of the population.

At the end of 2010, more than 44% of all households have access to broadband at speeds over 100 Mbps, with an increase compared to 2009 mainly due to roll-out of fibre access network and cable-TV network upgrades. 54% of all households have access to a high-speed broadband network (fibre and cable), i.e. at speeds over 30 Mbps.

The fixed broadband penetration grew again after a small decline in 2009, due to a substantial growth in fibre penetration while the number of basic broadband connections (ADSL and cable modem excluding DOCSIS 3.0) declined.

The number of mobile broadband subscriptions is still growing with an increase of 54% in 2010. The numbers for mobile broadband, as stated in the above table, only include dedicated broadband subscriptions. When mobile broadband as an add-on service to the traditional mobile subscriptions are counted, there are 2,921,000 mobile broadband subscriptions in the Swedish market, almost balancing the number of fixed broadband subscriptions.

PLC, WLL and satellite do not play a significant role in the Swedish market.


IDATE 250



100% 98%92%

98%

11%15%

23%17%

23%18%

12%17%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



DSL coverage was 98% nationwide with 100% coverage in urban areas. The coverage is more or less unchanged from 2009.

The DSL subscriber base decreased by 4% in 2010, and is now passed by mobile broadband connections. 54% of all fixed broadband subscriptions are DSL.


0

300 000

600 000

900 000

1 200 000



The number of subscriptions with speeds lower than 2 Mbps was reduced by almost 50% when compared with 2009 figures, making up the whole decline in overall DSL subscriptions (4%).

For speeds over 2 Mbps there were practically no changes in download rate distribution in 2010. 30% of all DSL subscriptions have speeds above 8 Mbps.


IDATE 251


55%

70%62% 60%

12%

13%

3%7%

41%33%

17%25%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The share of the total DSL market served by unbundled local loop operators declined for the second year in a row and is now at 32.8%, down from 34%. The incumbent’s share is stable at 60% in 2010.

The number of subscribers served by bitstream providers or resellers increased somewhat (6%) from 2009, implying that dedicated actors are utilizing available capacity, whereas the major operators are focusing on growing newer technologies like fibre and mobile.


IDATE 252



50%

35%

3%

38%

5%0%

6%8%

15%15% 15%15%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



There are approximately 30 suppliers of cable TV in Sweden, covering 1.7 million homes and resulting in a coverage of 38% – which is unchanged from 2009.

The technology has been deployed primarily in urban/suburban areas, while coverage in rural areas is only 3%.

The number of basic cable broadband subscriptions decreased in 2010 (-5%), to 547,000 at the end of the year, as a result of subscribers shifting to DOCSIS 3.0-based connections.


0

50 000

100 000

150 000

200 000

250 000



The available speeds for cable subscriptions are higher than for DSL, which also shows in the distribution of download rates for actual subscriptions. According to a broadband test conducted by PTS in October 2010, the fastest cable subscriptions delivered a 53 Mbps download rate on average.

There was a weak shift upwards in download rate distribution for cable broadband subscriptions, with 45.5% above 8 Mbps, up from 20% in 2009 (not taking into account the effect of DOCSIS 3.0 upgrades).


IDATE 253



54%

43%

10%

44%

9%

2%9%

11%

20%20% 20%20%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



FTTH is deployed primarily by Bredbandsbolaget, targeting mainly large apartment buildings or multi-dwelling units. In 2010, fibre was rolled out in a large number of new areas, increasing the population coverage to 44%, up approximately 5% from 2009.

The number of subscriptions rose clearly in 2010 exceeding 840,000, up 35% from 2009 and now accounts for 28% of the fixed broadband market.


0

90 000

180 000

270 000

360 000

450 000



A vast majority of the fibre subscriptions in Sweden have download rates above 8 Mbps.

There was a clear shift upwards in download rate distribution for fibre broadband subscriptions in 2010, mainly due to the new subscription class with download rates above 100 Mbps being acquired by over 15% of the fibre broadband subscribers. Interestingly, the shift upwards in rate class was initiated by customers who already had services running at over 30 Mbps, whereas the group of subscribers with rates below 30 Mbps did not upgrade their subscriptions to the same extent.


IDATE 254


Wi-Fi

There are no official statistics on the number of hotspots.

WLL/WiMAX

WLL/WiMAX does not play a significant role in the Swedish market.

Satellite

Satellite does not play a significant role in the Swedish market.


IDATE 255



100% 100% 100%100% 98%

70%

30%

50%

100% 100%100%

90%

100%95%

100%100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



The two main technologies offered in Sweden are CDMA2000, supplied by one operator, and 3G/HSPA, supplied by four operators. Both technologies cover virtually the entire population. The CDMA2000 network also covers most of the Swedish territory (95%) due to the technology’s radio propagation properties, whereas the HSPA networks covers approximately 50% of Sweden.

TeliaSonera was the first operator in the world to launch a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, at the end of 2009. LTE networks offer substantially higher data rates than HSPA and CDMA2000. LTE is being rolled out in rapidly Sweden, but still accounted for an only marginal portion of the broadband market, covering a mere 0.1% of the population.

Penetration

100% 100% 100% 100%

18% 18%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Including both dedicated broadband subscriptions and broadband as an add-on service, the number of mobile broadband subscriptions stood at close to 3 million in 2010, with a growth of over 70% compared to 2009, and a penetration rate of 31% at the end of the year (18% in the above chart refers to dedicated mobile subscriptions only), and is about to pass fixed broadband as the dominating technology in terms of subscriptions.

74% of subscribers have (theoretically) access to speeds at or above 2 Mbps, while 22% have access to speeds above 8 Mbps.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe The United Kingdom

IDATE 256

4.29. The United Kingdom


Inhabitants 37,641,277 17,408,734 6,332,989 61,383,000




DSL subscribers 9,974,000 12,186,000 13,593,000 14,389,000 15,441,000



Cable modem subscribers 3,058,500 3,413,400 3,683,000 3,796,400 3,835,600


FTTx subscribers 0 1,500 3,150 45,050 248,900


WLL subscribers 2,500 2,500 2,500 2,500 2,000


Total 13,041,000 15,609,400 17,287,650 18,238,950 19,533,500


Mobile broadband subscribers 8,651,864

Mobile broadband penetration (% population) 14.1%

The UK broadband market has reached a new level of maturity with a broadband penetration that now exceeds PC penetration, according to Ofcom, the national regulator.

Cable company Virgin Media has completed the deployment of DOCSIS 3.0 technology and many of its subscribers now receive superfast broadband.

FTTx deployments and subscriptions in 2010 consisted mainly of services from Virgin Media that uses optical fibre in its DOCSIS 3.0 network. Incumbent BT has begun rolling out FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) but it is still too early to measure the effects.

Mobile broadband has continued to grow. Most subscribers use it as a secondary form of access although, according to Ofcom, it is the sole form of access for 7% of customers.


IDATE 257



100% 100% 100% 100%

27% 25%24% 25%24% 25%27% 25%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Since 2009 all UK households have been technically able to receive a DSL service, including in rural areas.

The focus of the government and of the regulator has shifted from coverage to quality of connection – in particular the delta between advertised speed and actual speed. There is little difference in penetration over coverage in the different areas, even though quality of service may differ.


0

2 000 000

4 000 000

6 000 000

8 000 000

10 000 000



All operators have now standardised their marketing offers at 20 and 24 Mbps and customers have been migrated to the higher speed – although the actual delivery does not differ with newer packages. DSL operators are moving away from speed segmentation (they are all the same) and differentiate their offerings with monthly data allowances (10 Gb, 40 Gb…) and bundled services, although IPTV services in the UK are very limited (and often confined to catch-up TV).


IDATE 258


34% 35% 39% 35%

16%18%

16% 16%

49% 49%49% 43%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


Incumbent retail (%) Wholesale (%) ULL (%)

The incumbent has maintained its retail market share, although unbundling represents nearly half of DSL lines (up 5% compared to 2009) or 7.5 million lines, which marks an increase of over 1.1 million lines from last year. Market share in terms of customer numbers has remained stable, and each of the leading players has the same share as in 2009.


IDATE 259



62%

34%

18%

50%

4% 2%8% 6%

13% 12%13% 11%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Cable coverage increased slightly in 2010, as did penetration. There has been a change in Virgin Media’s marketing emphasis which has shifted from broadband speeds to the TV features of its triple play-offering, which includes HD channels. The company has nevertheless continued to invest in upgrading its broadband infrastructure. This allows faster connectivity with packages at 50 Mbps, and even 100 Mbps in a few areas. This programme will continue on through 2011, and will eventually apply to the entire network.


0

1 000 000

2 000 000

3 000 000

4 000 000



Cable modem cannot be qualified as available to all Virgin customers since the company completed the deployment of DOCSIS 3.0 over optical network at the end of last year. Only the entry level service at 10 Mbps could be classified as being in the cable modem category. As the government and the regulator emphasise actual speed delivered, as opposed to the advertised speed, the operator is keen to point out that it is the only ISP to deliver virtually all of its advertised bitrates. It even went one step further in the distinction by upgrading its offers from 10/20/50 Mbps to 10/30/50 Mbps – the latter being classified as FTTx.


IDATE 260



80%

43%

18%

63%

0% 0% 0%1% 1%1% 1%1%0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



In 2010 the main technology to benefit of superfast broadband was cable with optical fibre, with FTTLA (Fibre to the last amplifier) over DOCSIS 3.0. Most households could technically subscribe to services at 30 or 50 Mbps. According to the regulator, the majority of households could therefore have access to superfast broadband, but the penetration/coverage ratio remained very low.

Although reasons for this low take-up are not yet entirely clear, possible justifications include the deterrent for some of the additional price, since a 30 or 50 Mbps requires subscription to a package that costs least £40 to £50 (including TV), along with the lack of any killer application that absolutely requires superfast broadband.

The incumbent carrier was still having to contend with low adoption rates in the early months of 2011: despite having performed FTTC rollouts at very fast pace, actual subscription rates have fallen well below expectations.

The UK is nevertheless home to a great many FTTx initiatives and pilots, some with the support of the government for the more remote and less commercially sustainable areas. Superfast broadband is among the government’s top priorities, aiming to be the most connected society in Europe by 2015.


IDATE 261


0

50 000

100 000

150 000

200 000

250 000



At the end of 2010 there were only two services at over 30 Mbps, both using FTTx technology: 50 Mbps from Virgin Media (FTTLA+DOCSIS 3.0) and the second running at up to 40 Mbps supplied by BT with its Infinity offer based on VDSL/FTTC.


IDATE 262


Wi-Fi

The Wi-Fi market remained very dynamic in 2010. There are a multitude of players providing hotspots which are available in locations such as coffee shop chains, fast food restaurant, hotels chains… Providers are either Wi-Fi specialists – such as The Cloud, BT Open Zone – or vertically integrated specialists that provide a full range of services to the hotel industry such as cable TV, CCTV.

In 2010 one of the leading Wi-Fi market events was the acquisition of The Cloud by BSkyB for £50 million. The acquirer is now promoting the “Home TV” experience outside the home as an optional feature, allowing users to watch pay-TV programmes on their smartphones and tablets.

At the same time, most mobile operators are looking for infrastructure to offload their massive data traffic which is only growing with the popularity of smartphones and tablets. It is also cheaper for operators and faster for consumers to use Wi-Fi rather than 3G+ for large volumes of data, hence the success of the technology.

As part of their broadband subscriptions Orange and BT also offer unlimited Wi-Fi access on the BT Openzone network.

WLL/WiMAX

WiMAX is not very widespread in the UK. Although it was meant to be an alternative for covering dead zones, the leading company Freedom4 sold all of its licenses to UK Broadband and a clearly identifiable offering from this firm remains to be seen.

Satellite

Satellite offerings remain embryonic with a handful of distributors. The lack of success is partly due to high prices when compared to other available broadband technologies. Satellite is therefore restricted to broadband dead zones or very remote areas where the coverage is insufficient to satisfy customers’ requirements, especially small businesses located in those areas.


IDATE 263



95%

80%

97%95%

80%

90%

42%

60%

100%97%

100%

42%

90%

60%

100%100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Mobile coverage in the UK is fairly comprehensive according to the operators, although expanding 3G coverage is still the target of investments in rural areas – although carriers are also working to increase network density in urban areas as well. The growing number of mobile broadband users, and the surge in data traffic due to the increasing population of smartphones has resulted in bottlenecks in densely populated areas. This has forced carriers to either invest more in the current infrastructure with 3G and 3G+, while also investing in alternative networks such as Wi-Fi to offload data traffic from heavy users with smartphones. Rural areas still lag behind in terms of coverage.

Penetration

100%95%

80%

97%

7%

15%15% 14%15% 15%16%9%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Mobile broadband has now been adopted by 15% of the population. Drivers to adoption, as surveyed by the regulator, include the freedom it provides for connection. Surprisingly, users are more likely to use their mobile broadband connection inside the home than out, which correlates the fact that it is the prime internet access for some of the users. Of course the widespread adoption of smartphones in the UK is also a major driver for mobile broadband. It is worth noting that not many operators allow tethering mobile phone to a laptop as this would cannibalise their mobile data offers, dedicated to laptops. Mobile data plans are now a common feature in most mobile post-pay packages.

Development of Broadband Access in Europe Glossary

IDATE 264

5. Glossary

3G 3rd Generation (cellular)

(A)DSL (Asymmetrical) Digital Subscriber Line

BWA Broadband Wireless Access

DSLAM Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer

FTTx Fibre To The x

FTTB Fibre To The Building

FTTC Fibre To The Curb

FTTH Fibre To The Home

FTTN Fibre To The Node

HFTTP Fibre To The Premise

GPON Gigabit Passive Optical Network

HSPA High Speed Packet Access

HSDPA High Speed Downlink Packet Access

HSUPA High Speed Uplink Packet Access

ISP Internet Service Provider

LAN Local Area Network

LLU Local Loop Unbundling

PC Personal Computer

PLC Powerline Communication

POTS Plain Old Telephone Service

PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network

RLAN Radio Local Area Network

SIM Subscriber Identity Module

UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

VDSL Very High speed Digital Subscriber Line

Wi-Fi (the standard for) Wireless Fidelity

WiMAX Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access

WLAN Wireless Local Area Network

WLL Wireless Local Loop

broadband coverage in europe - wired · 2016. 3. 14. · idate 8 2. executive summary there were...

Documents