On 25 November, the European Commission (EC) released a report of the Communications Committee (COCOM) on the state of broadband Internet access in the European Union (EU) revealing that connections are faster than a year ago. In July 2010, 29 percent of broadband connections in the EU had a data rate equal or greater than 10 megabits per second (Mbps) (up from 15 percent in July 2009). The broadband penetration rate also continues to grow in Europe, registering 25.6 subscriptions per 100 citizens (23.9 one year earlier).
The COCOM data further indicate that the growth of mobile broadband is remarkable, reaching a 45 per cent increase, which means that there are on average 6 mobile broadband dedicated access devices per 100 citizens. The Netherlands and Denmark continue to be the world leaders in fixed broadband penetration (around 40 lines per 100 citizens, or about 80 percent of households). The DSL technology (Digital Subscriber Line) remains the most widely used in Europe with 100 million lines, however its market share is declining in favour of fibre architectures and cable with Docsis 3.0 (cable networks improved ), which offer higher data rates.
As for mobile broadband, COCOM report confirms its annual growth rate (6 percent) and their increasing weight in some Member States, namely Finland (21.5 mobile users per 100 citizens), Austria (16, 7), Sweden (14), Denmark (13.4) and Portugal (12.1).
However, the EU is still far from reaching the goals of the Digital Agenda for 2020, which are the availability of at least 30 Mbps for all and half of European households subscribing to speeds above 100 Mbps.
Further information:
- Communications Committee Working Document: Broadband access in the EU: situation at 1 July 2010 http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/document.cfm?action=display&doc_id=719
- Digital Agenda: broadband speeds increasing but Europe must do more http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemlongdetail.cfm?item_id=6502
