2002 was a pivotal year for the European broadband market, as the number of high-speed internet connections and associated revenues went through the roof, says a new study from IDC.
Broadband is having a dramatic effect on internet usage across the continent (see
Broadband Heralds Growth In European Internet Use) with time spent online increasing all the time and activities such as shopping and downloading gaining in popularity.
IDC reports that there were a total of 13.4 million broadband subscribers in Europe by the end of last year, more than double the number recorded in 2001. Revenues for high-speed internet access hit $4 billion in 2002.
“An increasingly widespread availability of broadband services, greater customer choice, more affordable packages, and increasing internet usage were the building blocks of last year’s growth,” said Jan Hein Bakkers, senior analyst for IDC’s European Broadband Markets and Technologies service. “As the market is maturing, an increasing number of operators will have to differentiate their product portfolios, to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.”
It is anticipated that this increasing choice will provide additional impetus for the market in the short term while in the longer scheme of things, the development of broadband specific content and applications will ensure further growth. IDC predicts that the number of connections will grow to almost 62 million in 2007, representing $27 billion in revenues. Jupiter Research has already prophesied that Europe will overtake the US in penetration terms within the next five years (see European Broadband Penetration To Pass US In 2007).
DSL is the most popular broadband platform, accounting for more than 70% of all European connections, and its status will likely remain intact throughout the forecast period. Consequently incumbents will retain their importance in the broadband landscape, both as providers of wholesale DSL network connections and through their ISP activities.
IDC found that the five major countries (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain) account for two out of every three broadband connections in Western Europe but they are only in the middle when it comes to penetration. At the close of 2002, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden were the region’s leading countries in terms of uptake (see UK In Fourth Tier Of eMarketer’s World Broadband Comparisons).
