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The Market Intelligence Committee of the FTTH Council Europe presented the 2024 edition of the FTTH/B Market Panorama, revealing its insights in terms of FTTH/B coverage and adoption in Europe as of September 2023.
The total number of homes passed with FTTH and FTTB in the EU39 reached 244 million homes in September 2023, compared to nearly 219 million in September 2022. The highest increase in terms of homes passed in absolute numbers is in the United Kingdom (+4,7 M), Germany (4,4 M), and France (+2,5 M). The top 5 of the annual growth rates in terms of homes passed are headed by Belgium (+43%), the United Kingdom (+38%), Germany (+37%), Serbia (+30%), and Croatia (+28%). FTTH/B coverage rate in EU39 amounts to 69,9% (up by 6,5 percentage points vs 2022) and coverage rate in the EU27+UK reaches 64,5% (vs 55,1% from 2022).
The number of FTTH and FTTB subscribers in the EU39 region reached 121 million. The 5 fastest growing markets in terms of new subscribers were France (+3,4 M), United Kingdom (+1,8 M), Turkey (+1 M), Spain (+985 K), and Italy (+919 K).
The EU39 FTTH/B take-up rate raised to 49.6% (up by 1,1 percentage point from the previous year). A clear indication that, despite the progress being made, there is still a huge gap between fibre coverage and adoption. Nevertheless, progress has been made in the EU27+UK area, where the take-up rate grew up by 1,3 percentage points compared to 2022, reaching 52,7% in 2023.
Approximately 64% of European households (EU27+UK) are covered by FTTH/B networks, with 48% of rural inhabitants reached by full-fibre connectivity. Despite rural coverage catching up year-on-year, the study still reports a 16-point gap between national and rural coverage, compared to a 14-point difference in 2022. Nevertheless, the coverage of rural areas in EU27+UK is growing steadily, though at a very different pace among countries. The five countries with the highest rural FTTH/B coverage are Romania (92%), Denmark (90%), The Netherlands (83%), Latvia (83%), and Spain (79%).