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Europe : 20 % growth in fibre subs
According to the latest figures of the FTTH Market Panorama prepared by IDATE for the FTTH Council Europe , the number of fibre to the home ( FTTH ) and fibre to the building ( FTTB ) subscribers in Europe increased by 20.4 % since September 2016 with more than 51.6 million FTTH / B subscribers in September 2017 for EU39 . The take-up rate also soared to 34.8 % for EU39 from 29.9 % the previous year .
The significant increase in new subscribers from September 2016 to September 2017 was in Russia , which added 1,826,000 new FTTH / B subscribers . Spain also experienced a considerable growth with 1,612,371 new FTTH / B subscribers along with France which added 1,067,780 new subscribers .
The number of homes passed in EU39 increased dramatically to reach more than 148 million representing a growth of 16 % compared to September 2016 . To be noted also that take-up in EU28 reached 32.4 %.
The new market panorama shows that in the European region , private players ( former incumbents and alternative operators ) are deploying more FTTx networks ( 56 % of the total players ) in comparison to other players such as public operators and power utilities . Another notable trend is the evolution of fibre technologies over the last year , which revealed a predominance of the FTTH architecture over FTTB ( 55 % vs 45 % by September 2017 ).
Also of interest is that more alternative operators are deploying FTTH / B , with a contribution of about 54 % of the total FTTH / B players .
Finally , a differentiation appears between the ‘ total of homes passed ’ which are counted once , independently from the number of operators which cover them , and the ‘ total of sockets deployed ’, reflecting the total effort made by players to deploy their own fibre networks . The Market Panorama indicates that with more numerous players investing in their own infrastructure in the recent years , it is becoming more common that two or more players reach the same specific household . France and Spain are leaders in this field .
“ The findings of the Market Panorama are quite telling , we are now all looking towards the same goal of a fibre-rich Gigabit society ,” noted Ronan Kelly , President of the FTTH Council . “ We obviously commend the frontrunners for their impressive and continuous progress towards FTTH / B but we are also very encouraged by the new trend of operators in countries which do not typically demonstrate a strong appetite for fibre , starting to get involved more intensively in FTTH / B projects . The structure of the market is also changing with the apparition of new types of stakeholders with innovative business models fostering infrastructure competition and making new investments .”
Latvia is a confirmed leader in FTTH / B , championing the ranking for another year at 50.6 % household penetration . Both Sweden ( 43.4 %) and Lithuania ( 42.6 %) remain on the podium confirming the growth from previous years .
This year , Ireland makes its entry to the Global ranking , reaching a penetration rate of 1.7 % and a take-up rate of 9.6 %. By September 2017 , and in comparison to September 2016 , Ireland has increased by 73 % its FTTH / B subscriber base ( 29,446 subscribers ) and by 254 % its FTTH / B Homes Passed presence in the total Irish homes ( 306,285 homes passed ).
The Irish government has played a tremendous role in expanding super-fast broadband networks across all areas of Ireland , although in recent times the need for adjustment of the tools being used to promote deployment have emerged . Ireland launched a National Broadband Plan in 2012 with a view to increasing connectivity in rural areas , providing high-speed Internet services to at least 30 % of premises and offering a universal broadband speed of 30 Mbps by the end of 2022 . During 2017 two of the major bidders , citing challenges with the economics of the plan , withdrew from the process .
Despite this , Eir , the former incumbent operator and SIRO , the joint-venture between Vodafone and the power utility ESB are continuing their deployments of fibre access networks across the country and remain the most active investors in FTTH / B in Ireland , followed by Magnet Networks , Digiweb and Enet .
“ The choice of Spain as location for the FTTH Conference 2018 is also highly symbolic ,” explained Erzsébet Fitori , director general of the FTTH Council Europe , “ we were eager to recognise Spain ’ s pivotal role as a great achiever with regard to the promotion of Very High Capacity connectivity , fibre deployment and infrastructure competition .”
With around 17.5m homes passed by FTTH / B and 6 Million subscribers by September 2017 , Spain scores high on the Global ranking with a penetration rate of 33.9 %. “ The Spanish government ’ s policy and regulatory agenda on fibre , aligned with the objective of the Digital Agenda for Europe , and the continuous work of CNMC , the Spanish telecom regulator have played a major role in the Spanish success story ,” added Fitori .
“ The findings of the Market Panorama are quite telling , we are now all looking towards the same goal of a fibre-rich Gigabit society ,”
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