Posted: 03rd Feb, 2007 By: MarkJ
New figures from the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA) indicate that European broadband uptake has slowed:
The number of broadband lines across EU25 (states) grew by 7% for the six months ended 30 September 2006 compared with the previous half-year period. By contrast, the number of broadband lines grew by 23% when comparing the end of March 2006 with end of September 2005.
One of the main reasons for the growth slowdown is that incumbents, in many markets, are clawing back significant market share, says Ilsa Godlovitch, head of regulatory affairs at ECTA. This is not the direction we want to go in if broadband penetration rates are to reach their full potential.
According to ECTAs broadband scorecard for 3Q 2006, incumbents in Denmark, Finland and France which have been traditionally high-growth broadband markets have managed to reclaim back substantial chunks of market share. In turn, says ECTA, growth rates have decreased.
So far the UK's growth has continued to be reasonably strong, albeit falling off slightly. Even so, fears that the saturation point may not be far off will no doubt grow with every such report. More @
The Telecom Magazine.