Over EUR30 Billion Invested in Western Europe's Next-Gen Broadband by 2017

                                                    

Over EUR30 billion will be invested in the next three years in Western Europe's broadband sector according to new analysis from IHS. Across Germany France UK Italy and Spain government bodies and telecommunication companies are expected to spend EUR200 per household on next generation broadband rollout.

"Across Europe's big-five, companies and governments are looking to tap into the future economic and social benefits of having a future-proofed broadband network," said Richard Broughton, head of broadband analysis at IHS Technology.

Germany - EUR6 billion investment from Deutsche Telekom

Deutsche Telekom made headlines when it committed in 2012 to a headline investment of EUR30 billion in high speed broadband technology in the years to 2015.

A significant proportion of Deutsche Telekom's investment is actually committed to the US for LTE build-out, but EUR6 billion is still being devoted to next-generation broadband rollout in Germany. Deutsche Telekom intends to ensure that 65 percent of homes are covered by its fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) network by 2016, with new 'vectoring' technology being deployed to raise transmission rates to 100Mbit/s.

France - EUR20 billion investment from public and commercial sources

In 2013, the French government set out plans to invest EUR20 billion of public and private funds in next-generation fixed and mobile broadband, aiming to cover half of the population by 2017, with the remaining homes covered within a further five years.

"Crucially, the government's plans have stratified investment, asking ISPs to fund urban coverage, while providing a mixture of state and local government funding to ensure that semi-urban and rural areas are connected," Broughton said.

UK - EUR5 billion investment from BT and central government

In 2013, the UK government committed to ensuring that 95 percent of UK homes receive speeds of at least 24Mbit/s by 2017. Coupled with BT's investment in FTTC and FTTH broadband, intended to cover nearly 20 million homes by the end of 2014, over EUR5 billion is being spent on upgrading the UK's broadband infrastructure.

"Less headline grabbing, but nonetheless, locally important investments are being made by other companies, including Sky and Talk Talk. They have unveiled plans to cover the city of York and a number of other yet-unnamed areas with gigabit-per-second broadband," Broughton said.

Spain - Network sharing by main operators key to keeping costs low

Telefonica Spain, Vodafone and Orange are to invest over EUR1 billion in a joint fibre optic network covering 6 million homes by 2017, and have signed additional deals to share fibre infrastructure in buildings in Spain.

"In recession-hit Spain, network sharing - particularly as far as investment CapEx-heavy fibre-optic infrastructure is concerned - is a sound strategy for telecoms companies to engage in for reducing costs amongst ongoing uncertainty around immediate consumer demand for higher-speed broadband products," said Broughton.

Italy - Telecom Italia strategic plan to invest EUR1.8 billion in 'Ultrabroadband'

At the end of 2013, Telecom Italia ended speculation about its plans for next-gen broadband rollout by committing to significant investment in next-gen broadband - encompassing EUR1.8 billion in fixed access, and EUR0.9 billion in expanding its next-gen mobile network. The company aims to cover over half of the population with its 'ultrabroadband' by 2016.