Europe is “cutting its own path” in terms of broadband adoption, with services offered in the UK, France and Italy as competitive as anything offered around the world, according to new research by analysts eMarketer.
The
Europe Broadband report shows that broadband households in Western Europe increased by nearly 65% over 2004, twice the rate of the US, with the highest growth in France.
eMarketer revealed that countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark Switzerland and Sweden recorded broadband penetration rates equal to or higher than the US at the end of 2004.
Commenting on the strong growth of broadband in France, Ben Macklin, eMarketer senior analyst said: “France is a good example of how differently broadband is developing, country by country. The French can now get a 20Mbps internet connection, 100 digital channels and home video telephony from their telephone socket in the wall, all for under €30 per month. This service innovation has been an enormous catalyst for broadband growth.”
Nearly 60% of all French internet users accessed the internet via a broadband connection in 2004, compared with only 32.1% in Germany.
Research published by internet research group, Nielsen//NetRatings, indicated that the number of high-speed internet users across Europe increased from 34.1 million to 54.5 million in 2004, an increase of 60% (see Broadband On The Rise In Europe).
Italy, the UK and France were shown to have the highest growth rates for the number of active broadband internet users surfing the web at home, with Italy in particular experiencing phenomenal growth, up 120% between November 2003 and October 2004.
Globally, service innovation has proved to be an important factor in driving broadband adoption, according to Macklin; “Broadband supply is half the story, broadband demand is the other half.
In South Korea and China, online gaming and broadband go hand in hand. In Japan cheap voice over IP (VoIP) was a catalyst for explosive broadband growth in 2002 and 2003.
VoIP is predicted to penetrate nearly 20 million households worldwide by 2010, and although currently the uptake is slow over the next five years it should reach about 25% of the high-speed internet access market, generating nearly $1 billion (see VoIP To Reach 20 Million Households By 2010).
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