|
|
 |
|
Viewing report
|
|
|
|
Europe Telecom Insider / Vol. 1, No 7, Edition 8 - Fiber Buildouts in Europe: A Competitive Necessity for Telcos
Pyramid Research, Inc., Aug 2009, Pages: 16
At the dawn of post-recession growth in Europe, it is time for large telcos to revise capex cuts and resume fiber rollout plans, according to this new report.
Fiber Buildouts in Europe: A Competitive Necessity for Telcos examines the potential of fiber developments in Europe and the factors that increasingly push incumbents and other DSL operators toward fiber. It contains a detailed analysis of the competitive technology and fiber developments in selected countries: the Netherlands, Romania, Russia, and Spain. The 16-page report also provides the author’s five-year forecast on FTTH and FTTB in the four selected markets and in Europe overall.
In the past year, competition in the broadband and multiplay markets has become extremely tough as operators have had to fight for customers' shrinking budgets, notes Bakhyt Weeks, analyst at Pyramid Research and author of the report. 'Higher speeds and more extensive bundles were introduced, often for less money,' Weeks says. Looking to 2010 and beyond, as customers begin to loosen their budget strings, they will want higher speeds and more services. 'As European economies start to show progress, fiber could shield telcos from mounting competition and provide opportunity for further growth,' she suggests. 'Telcos are racing against cable companies – and against time.'
DSL has managed to gain the dominant position among broadband access technologies in some markets thanks to its historically vast network coverage; however, the pressure from other technologies is mounting. 'In CEE, where DSL is growing simultaneously with other broadband technologies, the pressure is the strongest,' comments Weeks. Incumbents are missing out on broadband coverage opportunities by focusing only on DSL-covered areas all across Europe. 'DSL is struggling to compete with cable and particularly fiber in terms of capacity, which is becoming increasingly important especially in multiplay offerings while mobile broadband is also a threat in the up to 5Mbps speed range,' Weeks explains.
'Fiber would shield telcos from mobile broadband, as its speed provides it with a strong competitive advantage even against LTE,' concludes Weeks. Mobile broadband is positioned as a substitute to basic DSL, and telcos are being increasingly pushed to provide higher speeds to differentiate their offer. 'As mobile broadband speeds are expected reach at least 100Mbps, DSL will continue to lose ground,' she says, 'the only efficient way forward is, again, fiber.'
Fiber Buildouts in Europe: A Competitive Necessity for Telcos is part of the author’s Europe Telecom Insider report series.
Key findings
- DSL is falling behind cable and fiber in terms of speed and price. Even in the markets where VDSL is available, such as Germany, the maximum speed is realistically around 50-100Mbps since it quickly degrades the further the end user is from the exchange. Meanwhile, digital cable broadband speeds are on the level of VDSL in most WE and the majority of CEE countries.
- Fiber allows telcos to compete with cable operators. It can comfortably support high speeds and thus a multitude of services, one of the most important being HDTV. In the next couple of years we’ll see en masse HDTV uptake across Europe, and in the next five years, we will see some higher-definition HDTV launches. Therefore, 100Mbps speed will become the market average in most European markets within five years.
- Fiber would shield telcos not only from high-end competition but also from mobile broadband, as its speed provides it with a strong competitive advantage even against LTE. Because in many European markets mobile broadband is being positioned as a substitute to basic DSL, telcos are being increasingly pushed to provide higher speeds to differentiate their offer.
- In Western Europe, we might see some large telcos pick fiber as their nationwide technology. The majority of WE markets will use fiber as a complement to DSL for the near future, but as DOCSIS 3.0 surfaces in more markets, the switch from DSL to fiber will be imminent.
- In some CEE markets, for instance Russia, it is cheaper to roll out FTTB than copper, at $50 per line. This will create an extra impetus for FTTB and, eventually, FTTH adoption in these markets. The markets where fiber emerged at the same time as DSL will at least partly leapfrog from dial-up to some form of fiber.
Product samples
A sample for this product is available. Please Login/Register to download this sample.
Customers who bought this item also bought
USA - Broadband Market - Cable modem & DSL - Analysis, Statistics & Forecasts
USA - Broadband Market - Cable modem & DSL - Analysis Statistics & Forecasts
US Residential Broadband Speeds On the Rise
Broadband Market in Europe
Regional - Broadband - DSL in Europe - 2006
Regional - Broadband - DSL in Europe - 2006
Fiber in the Last Mile - Best Practices, Adoption Trends and the Impact of the Economic Downturn
Regional - Broadband - DSL in the Americas - 2006
2008 Europe - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Benelux
2008 Europe - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Germany and Austria
2007 Europe - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Balkans and South East Europe
2008 Europe - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Central Europe
|
|
|
|
