Belgium first in European fiber optic rankings – News

Slowly but surely, investments in FTTH are noticeable. Our country is at the very bottom of the rankings, but it is a milestone.

Each year the FTTH Council publishes statistics on the formation of fiber in Europe. Geography Approximately 183 million homes in Europe (39 countries) are now connected to fiber optics. The statistics, compiled by research firm Idate, indicate the situation in September 2020.

Of those 39 countries (including Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Iceland and Israel) a total of 52.5 percent of homes or buildings are connected to fiber, up from 49.9 percent a year ago. For the European Union and the United Kingdom (EU27 + UK) it was 43.8 per cent, up from 39.4 per cent in 2019.

Belgium is again the largest farmer

In absolute numbers, France (+4.6 million links), Germany (+2.7 million links) and the United Kingdom (+1.7 million links) are the largest farmers. In terms of percentage, our country is the largest with 155 per cent for the second year in a row, followed by Serbia (+110 per cent), Germany (+66 per cent), the United Kingdom (+65 per cent) and Ireland (+49 per cent).

We wrote last year that Belgium was the largest producer in 2019 in terms of FTTH connections. This is partly because, in our country there is no fiber at home. For example, the number of connections tripled, but still not enough to add to the European rankings, which counts countries from one percent.

This is the first time this year. In our country, 1.3 percent of homes or offices are customers who purchase the Internet through a fiber optic connection.

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© FTTH Council

The number of connected homes (passed homes) rose 155 percent, while the number of homes that took a fiber optic subscription rose 42 percent. The FTTH Council did not say how much it was in absolute numbers. But in practice it is almost all about Proximus’ customers. In the first quarter of 2021 (six months after FTTH Council figures), it had 77,000 subscribers.

Iceland leads

With our 1.3 per cent, we are last after Austria (2.1 per cent), the United Kingdom (3.7 per cent) and Germany (4.9 per cent). Iceland and Belarus (70 per cent) and Spain and Sweden (over 60 per cent) are in the lead.

Our country is the last and only country to start using fiber at the end of 2016 and needs some tricks. For example, countries where the telecommunications infrastructure is not so extensive, or countries where the copper network (VDSL runs on us) is low quality, have quickly switched switches. In Belgium, this demand was less urgent, as the same network reaches speeds of up to 100 Mbps, and the Cox network (Telenet and VOO) currently goes up to 1Gbps.

Last week, Proximus announced plans to double the speed of its copper network in rural areas, which is good news, especially for areas where no fiber is available.

Rising

The FTTH Council says it expects the number of fiber optic connections in Belgium to increase significantly in the coming years. That is obvious. Proximus announced further acceleration last year in partnership with Eurofiber and Delta Fiber. This means that the number of attached buildings will increase much faster in the coming years than in recent years.

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Each year the FTTH Council publishes statistics on the formation of fiber in Europe. Geography Approximately 183 million homes in Europe (39 countries) are now connected to fiber optics. These figures refer to the situation in September 2020, compiled by research firm Idate. Of those 39 countries (including Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Iceland and Israel), all together 52.5 per cent of the houses or fiber-connected buildings were 49.9 per cent a year ago. For the European Union and the United Kingdom (EU27 + UK) it is 43.8 per cent, up from 39.4 per cent in 2019. In absolute numbers, France (+4.6 million links), Germany (+2, 7 million links) and the United Kingdom (+1.7 million links) are the largest farmers. In terms of percentage, for the second year in a row, our country is the largest producer with 155 per cent, followed by Serbia (+110 per cent), Germany (+66 per cent), the United Kingdom (+65 per cent) and Ireland (+49 per cent). 2019 is already the year we wrote that Belgium was the largest manufacturer in the FDTH connections sector. This is partly because, in our country there is no fiber at home. For example, the number of connections has tripled, but it is still not enough to add to the European rankings, which counts countries from one percent. In our country, 1.3 percent of homes or offices are customers who purchase the Internet through a fiber optic connection. The number of connected homes (passed homes) increased by 155 percent, and the number of households subscribing to fiber optics increased by 42 percent. The FTTH Council did not say how much it was in absolute numbers. But in practice it is almost all about Proximus’ customers. In the first quarter of 2021 (six months after FTTH Council figures), it had 77,000 subscribers, with our 1.3 per cent last, Austria (2.1 per cent), the United Kingdom (3.7 per cent) and Germany (4.9 per cent). Iceland and Belarus (70 per cent) and Spain and Sweden (just over 60 per cent) are in the lead. The fact that our country is the last and began to use fiber at the end of 2016 deserves some subtleties. For example, countries where the telecommunications infrastructure is not so extensive, or countries where the copper network (VDSL runs on us) is low quality, have quickly switched switches. In Belgium, demand was low because the same network could reach speeds of up to 100 Mbps, and the Cox Network (Telenet and VOU) currently had speeds of up to 1 Gbps. Announcing the doubling program is good news for rural areas, especially those where fiber is not available at any time. The FTTH Council says the number of fiber optic connections in Belgium will increase significantly in the coming years. That is obvious. Proximus announced further acceleration last year in partnership with Eurofiber and Delta Fiber. This means that the number of attached buildings will increase much faster in the coming years than it has in recent years.

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