Drum roll… two new countries have joined the European FTTH Ranking, including one of the major European economies. There are now 22 economies in Europe where more than 1% of households have a fibre connection. (Our definition of Europe includes the EU27 plus Andorra, Croatia, Iceland, Israel, Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, and Turkey.)
In the last six months, the region saw solid growth in the number of FTTH/B subscribers, reaching 32 million homes passed and 5.95 million subscribers by the end of June 2012. Russia also saw a significant increase with 15.8 million homes passed and 5.2 million taking a fibre subscription.
Spain entered the ranking at 20th position with household penetration of 1.42% following a 44% increase in the number of FTTH/B subscribers in the first six months of 2012. Despite the country's challenging economic situation, telecom operators such as Telefónica, Orange Spain and cable operator Ono, amongst others, have continued to invest in fibre.
The other new entrant in the ranking was Luxembourg in 19th place with household penetration of 1.45%. State-owned operator P&T Luxembourg working towards ambitious government objectives: to pass 80% of all homes with 100Mbps by end 2013, and 100% of homes by the end of 2015.