UK Set To Lead European Broadband Market

DSL is the dominant force in the UK’s rise to the top, due in large part to developments by BT. It is forecast that 8.5 million households will receive broadband via the DSL platform by 2008. Broadband via digital cable is also forecast to grow rapidly, with 4.1 million households connected by 2008.

Screen Digest does not expect other European countries to use cable broadband in the same way as the UK as they don’t have the same cable infrastructure. Germany, for example, has a huge cable network but it will need to be updated before it can be used to deliver broadband; Italy doesn’t have a cable television network at all.

Arash Amel, broadband specialist at Screen Digest, said: “The emergence of alternative network offerings in the UK has increased competition in the market and will drive broadband growth more quickly than in other European markets.”

The findings by Screen Digest concur with new research carried out by eMarketer that also predicts the UK will become the largest broadband market in Europe. It forecasts that 11.1 million households will have broadband by 2007 (see Global Broadband Subscribers To Hit 250 Million By 2007).