Broadband coverage in Europe 2016 : mapping progress towards the coverage objectives of the Digital Agenda : final report.
Date: 2017-09-25
Institutions: Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology
Subjects: information technology, mobile phone, new technology, telecommunications, telecommunications equipment, transmission network, waveband

FR 

 Broadband Coverage 
in Europe 2016 
 Mapping progress towards the coverage 
objectives of the Digital Agenda 

FINAL REPORT  

A study prepared for the European Commission 
DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology 
by:  

Digital 
Single 
Market 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This study was carried out for the European Commission by 

IHS Markit Ltd. 
25 Ropemaker Street 
London EC2Y 9LY 
United Kingdom 
http://ihs.technology.com 

Point Topic 
Innovation Warehouse, 
1 East Poultry Avenue 
London EC1M 3JQ 
United Kingdom 

Internal identification 
Contract number: 30-CE-0809995/00-22 
SMART 2016/0043 

DISCLAIMER 

By the European Commission, Directorate-General of Communications Networks, Content and Technology.  

The  information  and  views  set  out  in  this  publication  are  those  of  the  author(s)  and  do  not  necessarily 
reflect the official opinion of the Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data 
included in this study. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may be 
held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein. 

ISBN 978-92-79-68961-1 
doi:10.2759/679477 

© European Union, 2017. All rights reserved. Certain parts are licensed under conditions to the EU.  

Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CONTENTS 

Executive Summary 

2.0 Project Objectives 

3.0 Methodological approach in detail 

3.1 Survey design and data collection 
3.2 Defining households and rural areas 
3.3 Additional research conducted in parallel to the survey 
3.4 Validation and integration of data 
3.5 Estimating coverage for different technology combinations 
3.6 Estimating coverage for speed categories 
3.7 Estimating additional mobile coverage metrics 

4.0 European Overview 

4.1 Europe-wide coverage by technology combinations 
4.2 Europe-wide coverage by individual technologies 

4.2.1 Coverage by technology in total 
4.2.2 Coverage by technology in rural areas 

4.3 Country comparison by total technology coverage 

4.3.1 Total overall fixed broadband by country 
4.3.2 Total overall NGA coverage by country 
4.3.3 Mobile broadband technologies coverage by country 
4.4 Country comparison by rural technology coverage 
4.4.1 Rural overall fixed broadband coverage by country 
4.4.2 Rural NGA coverage by country 
4.4.3 Rural Mobile coverage by country 

4.5 Coverage by speed categories 
4.6 NUTS 3 level total coverage 

5.0 Coverage by Country 

5.1 Austria 
5.2 Belgium 
5.3 Bulgaria 
5.4 Croatia 
5.5 Cyprus 
5.6 Czech Republic 
5.7 Denmark 
5.8 Estonia 
5.9 Finland 
5.10 France 
5.11 Germany 
5.12 Greece 
5.13 Hungary 
5.14 Iceland 
5.15 Ireland 
5.16 Italy 
5.17 Latvia 
5.19 Luxembourg 

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5.20 Malta 
5.21 Netherlands 
5.22 Norway 
5.23 Poland 
5.24 Portugal 
5.25 Romania 
5.26 Slovakia 
5.27 Slovenia 
5.28 Spain 
5.29 Sweden 
5.30 Switzerland 
5.31 United Kingdom 

6.0 Appendices 

6.1 M2M applications 
6.2 Broadband coverage definitions 
6.3 Broadband coverage data tables 

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Executive Summary 

  The Broadband Coverage in Europe study is designed to monitor the progress of EU Member 
States  toward  their  specific  broadband  coverage  objectives  –  namely:  ‘Universal  Broadband 
Coverage  with  speeds  at  least  30  Mbps  by  2020’  and  ‘Broadband  Coverage  of  50%  of 
households with speeds at least 100 Mbps by 2020’. 

 

In 2016, DG Connect selected the IHS Markit in partnership with Point Topic to run the project. 
The research team surveyed NRAs and telecommunications groups across each participating 
state  to  compile  the  requisite  information.  Both  IHS  Markit  as  well  as  Point  Topic  have 
previously  conducted  the  broadband  coverage  research.  Point  Topic  was  the  incumbent 
provider introducing the original research methodology in the period 2010-2012. IHS Markit (in 
cooperation with VVA) delivered the study from 2013-2015 and adopted similar data collection 
and analysis methods to those implemented by Point Topic in order to ensure comparability of 
datasets for the purposes of time-series assessment. 

  The collected data reflects the situation at the end of June 2016 compared to the situation at 
the  end of June 2015. In editions of the study  prior to 2015, the collected data reflected  the 
situation at the end-of-year (i.e. end of December). The timeline of the data collection for the 
2015 edition of the BCE study was moved forward in order to align reporting of the broadband 
coverage  data  with  the  publications  of  the  Digital  Economy  and  Society  Index  and  the 
European Semester related country assessments. 

  This  report  covers  31  countries  across  Europe  –  the  EU28,  plus  Norway,  Iceland  and 
Switzerland, and analyses the availability of nine broadband technologies (DSL, VDSL, cable 
modem,  DOCSIS  3.0,  FTTP,  WiMAX,  HSPA,  LTE  and  satellite)  across  each  market,  at 
national and rural levels. In addition, three combination categories indicating the availability of 
one or more forms of broadband coverage are also published. These cover overall fixed and 
mobile broadband availability, fixed broadband availability and next generation access (NGA) 
availability.  

  The collected data shows that over 218 million EU households (99.9%) had access to at least 
one  of  the  main  fixed  or  mobile  broadband  access  technologies  at  the  end  of  June  2016 
(excluding satellite). This equates to a 0.1 percentage point increase, or 1.4 million additional 
households, compared to the end of June 2015. 

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  Overall  fixed  broadband  coverage  increased  by  0.2  percentage  points,  reaching  97.5%  of 
households by mid-2016, an equivalent of an additional 1.5 million households and 213 million 
EU households in total being passed by fixed broadband access technologies. 

  Next generation access services (VDSL, DOCSIS 3.0 and FTTP) continued to  increase at a 
similar rate to the previous edition of the study, rising by 5.5 percentage points to cover 75.9% 
of households across the EU Member States by mid-2016. This translates to 12.8 million new 
households,  meaning  that  over  166  million  households  in  the  EU  had  access  to  next 
generation broadband by the end of June 2016. 

  Rural  broadband  coverage  remains  considerably  lower  than  national  coverage  across  EU 
Member States. While 92.6% of rural EU households were covered by at least one broadband 
technology in mid-2016, less than 40% (39.2%) had access to next generation services.  

  Satellite  broadband  remained  the  most  pervasive  technology  in  Europe  in  terms  of  overall 
coverage.  However,  satellite  coverage  is  still  limited  in  the  Baltic  countries  and  is  absent  in 
Iceland. 

  DSL  continued  to  be  the  most  widespread  fixed  access  technology,  reaching  94.3%  of  EU 
households by mid-2016, an improvement of 0.2 percentage points. Cable networks were the 
second most prevalent fixed access technology, covering 44.4% of EU homes (up from 43.9% 
at the end of June 2015). WiMAX was the only broadband technology to record a reduction in 
coverage,  decreasing  by  1.8  percentage  points  to  17.8%.  This  is  a  consequence  of  many 
operators  discontinuing  their  WiMAX  networks  in  order  to  redistribute  the  spectrum  for  LTE 
services. 

  VDSL  maintained  its  lead  among  NGA  technologies  with  a  7.1  percentage  point  coverage 
increase  in  the  twelve-month  period  to  mid-2016,  making  it  the  fastest  growing  fixed 
broadband technology for the fifth consecutive year. At the end of June 2016, VDSL services 
were available to nearly a half (48.2%) of EU households and as such VDSL  continues to be 
the key driver of NGA coverage growth across the EU. 

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  The number of EU households passed by FTTP networks increased by 3.4 percentage points 
to  reach  23.7%  of  EU  households  at  the  end  of  June  2016.  Whilst  this  represented  slower 
growth than for VDSL services, it was notably faster than increase in DOCSIS 3.0 coverage, 
which grew by only 0.7 percentage points to reach 43.9% of EU households. 

  Examining mobile broadband technologies, availability of LTE services continued to expand at 
a fast pace and following a 10.1 percentage point increase, LTE networks covered 96.0% of 
EU  homes  at  the  end  of  June  2016.  A  considerable  growth  making  LTE  networks  nearly  as 
widespread as HSPA networks, which passed 98.0% of EU households by mid-2016. 

  Limitations  remain  in  terms  of  rural  broadband  coverage.  By  mid-2016,  fixed  broadband 
services  were  available  to  92.7%  of  rural  households  across  the  EU.  This  is  nearly  5 
percentage  points  less  than  total  fixed  coverage.  The  difference  was  much  greater  for  NGA 
technologies  with rural NGA coverage reaching  39.2% rural homes compared to 75.9%  at  a 
national level. Nevertheless, the gap between rural and national coverage, for both fixed and 
NGA  technologies,  is  declining  compared  to  previous  editions  of  the  study  suggesting 
increasing investment in rural broadband. 

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  As in  previous  years, the highest growth in rural fixed broadband coverage  was  reported for 
VDSL. What is more, rural VDSL coverage grew at a faster rate than in previous years, rising 
by 8.2 percentage points, to reach 26.6% of rural EU homes by mid-2016. This improvement 
reflects  the  continued  investment  of  predominantly  incumbent  operators  to  upgrade  existing 
DSL networks in rural areas. 

  By mid-2016, HSPA coverage reached 92.2% of rural households compared to 89.9% in mid-
2015.  Growth  in  rural  LTE  coverage  was  considerably  faster  in  the  twelve-month  period  to 
mid-2016, increasing by a staggering 43.4 percentage points to 79.7%.  

  Out  of  the  31  study  countries,  26  countries  reported  fixed  broadband  coverage  of  above 
95.0%, while 19 countries had fixed broadband coverage above the EU28 average (97.5%). A 
number  of  countries  registered  complete,  or  near-complete,  fixed  broadband  coverage 
including  Malta,  Luxembourg,  Cyprus,  the  Netherlands  and  the  United  Kingdom.  Three 
countries,  Romania,  Slovakia  and  Poland,  recorded  fixed  coverage  of  less  than  90%  of 
households by mid-2016.   

  Malta  remained  the  only  country  to  report  complete  coverage  for  NGA  technologies,  while 
Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Iceland and Portugal all reported coverage levels at or 
above 95%. 

  Out of the 31 study countries, 21 countries reported NGA coverage above the EU28 average 
(76.0%).  As  in  the  previous  edition  of  the  study,  Greece  reported  the  lowest  proportion  of 
homes passed by NGA networks. In addition to Greece, France was the only other country to 
report NGA availability of below 50.0% of households in mid-2016. 

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  Looking at mobile broadband technologies, all of the study countries reported HSPA coverage 
levels above 95%, with the exception of Germany (92.1%) and  Slovakia (90.7%). During the 
twelve  months  to  mid-2016,  LTE  technology  has  become  near-universal  in  many  study 
countries,  with  LTE  coverage  reaching  99%  of  households  in  eleven  study  countries.  In 
addition, LTE coverage now reaches similar levels to those of HSPA networks. 

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1.0 Introduction 

In  order  to  foster  the  development  of  network-based  knowledge  economy  and  stimulate  growth  the 
European Commission has been promoting strategies to encourage digital opportunities and enhance 
Europe’s  leading  position  in  digital  economy.  In  May  2015,  the  Digital  Single  Market  (DSM)  strategy 
was adopted to eliminate online barriers, which hamper free movement of goods and services online 
and  mean  that  businesses,  governments  and  individuals  cannot  fully  benefit  from  digital  tools  that 
would be available to them but that are currently locked in 28 different regulatory environments.  

The European Commission estimates that once completed, a DSM could create up to €415 billion per 
year and generate hundreds of thousands new jobs. The DSM strategy is based on three pillars: 

1.  Access:  better  access  for  consumers  and  businesses  to  digital  goods  and  services  across 

Europe; 

2.  Environment:  creating  the  right  conditions  and  a  level  playing  field  for  digital  networks  and 

innovative services to flourish; 

3.  Economy & Society: maximising the growth potential of the digital economy.   

However, in order for the consumers, businesses and governments to fully benefit from the provisions 
of  the  DSM,  it  is  essential  that  access  to  digital  infrastructure  is  ensured  by  facilitating  roll  out  of 
reliable high-speed broadband networks across Europe. 

In  2010,  the  Digital  Agenda  for  Europe  (DAE)  was  drawn  as  one  of  the  flagship  initiatives  of  the 
Europe 2020 strategy and included specific broadband coverage targets stretching to 2020: 

  Universal broadband coverage of speeds above 30 Mbps by 2020 

  50% broadband coverage of speeds above 100 Mbps by 2020. 

The  Digital  Scoreboard  serves  as  a  tool  for  assessing  progress  towards  these  targets.  Broadband 
availability  metrics  are  also  a  component  of  the  Digital  Economy  and  Society  Index  (DESI)  that 
summarises  indicators  on  Europe’s  digital  performance  and  Member  States  digital  competitiveness. 
One  of  DESI’s  five  dimension  measures  focuses  on  connectivity  and  measures  the  deployment  and 
quality of broadband infrastructure. 

In  order  to  monitor  the  progress  of  the  broadband  networks  deployment  across  the  Member  States, 
DG Connect (the European Commission Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content 
and Technology) has commissioned the Broadband Coverage in Europe (BCE) project to measure the 
household coverage of all the main fixed and wireless broadband technologies with a specific focus on 
Next  Generation  Access  (NGA)  technologies.  In  2013,  DG  Connect  selected  the  consortium  of  IHS 
Markit & VVA to run the three-year project. In 2016, IHS Markit partnered with  the previous research 
provider  of  the  BCE  study,  Point  Topic,  and  was  subsequently  chosen  to  continue  to  deliver  the 
broadband coverage research for the period 2016-2018.  

The European Commission publishes  and analyses the  data in the  Digital Scoreboard.  A  number of 
broadband coverage indicators are also included in the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) and 
the  European  Semester  related  country  assessments.  In  order  to  align  reporting  of  the  broadband 
coverage  data  with  the  publications  of  the  DESI,  the  broadband  coverage  data  collection  has  been 
scheduled  to  reflect  the  situation  at  the  end  of  June  (i.e.  half-year  data  rather  than  year-end  data 
points are collected). This change was first implemented in the 2015 edition of the BCE study and has 
been carried on going forward. 

As  in  previous  years,  the  study  is  primarily  based  on  a  survey  of  broadband  network  operators  and 
National  Regulatory  Agencies  (NRAs)  to  obtain  a  Europe-wide  picture  of  the  coverage  of  the  nine 
main  broadband  technologies.  The  study  was  to  cover  thirty  countries  including  the  EU28,  Norway, 
and  Iceland.  A  separate  study  was  commissioned  by  Glasfasernetz  Schweiz  to  conduct  identical 
research of broadband coverage  in  Switzerland.  Results of the study  are also  included in this report 
increasing the total number of study countries to 31.  

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The nine broadband technologies analysed in this study are: 

  DSL (including VDSL) 
  VDSL 
  Cable modem (including DOCSIS 3.0) 
  DOCSIS 3.0 
  FTTP (Fibre-to-the-property) 
  WiMAX 
  HSPA 
  LTE 
  Satellite 

Coverage of these technologies is reported on national and rural level based on the number of homes 
passed by each individual technology. 

The study also aims, as requested by DG Connect, to estimate the overall coverage of “combination” 
of  technologies  accounting  for  the  overlap  of  the  different  technologies  capable  of  delivering  a 
comparable  level  of  performance.  The  combination  categories  included  in  this  study,  and  similar  to 
previous years, are: 

  Overall broadband coverage 

o 

Includes  all  the  main  broadband  technologies,  both  fixed  and  mobile,  but  excludes 
satellite 

o  Combination of DSL (including VDSL), cable modem (including DOCSIS 3.0), FTTP, 

WiMAX, HSPA and LTE 

  Overall fixed broadband coverage 

Includes all the main fixed-line broadband access technologies, but excludes satellite 

o 
o  Combination of DSL (including VDSL), cable modem (including DOCSIS 3.0), FTTP, 

and WiMAX 

  Next Generation Access (NGA) coverage 

o 

Includes  fixed-line  broadband  access  technologies  capable  of  achieving  download 
speeds meeting the Digital Agenda objective of at least 30 Mbps coverage 

o  Combination of VDSL, DOCSIS 3.0, and FTTP 

Due  to  the  fact  that  multiple  operators  may  deploy  their  networks  in  the  same  or  similar  areas, 
particularly  in  urban  and  more  densely  populated  locations,  it  is  necessary  to  take  into  account  the 
possibility of overlapping coverage when determining the technology combinations.  

The methodology used in this report mirrors the approach developed by Point Topic in 2012, adopting 
regional  approach  to  measuring  overlapping  and  complementary  coverage.  Coverage  data  was 
collected  on  a  regional  level  using  NUTS  3  statistical  units  as  a  research  basis.  The  NUTS 
(Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics) areas are geographical subdivisions generally based 
on  existing  national  regional  divisions  of  EU  countries  and  associated  countries  (such  as  Norway, 
Iceland and Switzerland). More specifically, NUTS 3 level areas are smaller regional units of 150,000 
to  800,000  inhabitants.  There  are  1,357  NUTS  3  areas  in  the  31  study  countries.  With  general 
statistical data (such as population, household, and area size) readily available on NUTS 3 level, using 
this  regional  approach  provides  a  comprehensive  and  detailed  view  of  broadband  coverage  across 
Europe and allows for a year-to-year comparison with the BCE 2012-2015 data. 

In  addition  to  individual  technology  coverage  and  combination  technology  coverage,  DG  Connect 
required  coverage  by  download  speed  to  be  included  in  the  study.  The  following  speed  categories 
were thus included among the research metrics: 

  Coverage by broadband network/s capable of at least 2 Mbps download speed 

  Coverage by broadband network/s capable of at least 30 Mbps download speed 

  Coverage by broadband network/s capable of at least 100 Mbps download speed 

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Coverage by speed categories was first estimated by IHS Markit in the 2013 edition of the BCE study.  
By including this additional metric, it is possible to obtain an additional analytical layer to evaluate the 
study  countries’  progress  towards  the  Digital  Agenda  goals  and  determine  the  actual  speeds 
consumers will be able to receive on the particular networks available to them. 

In  the  Tender  Specifications  for  SMART  2016/0043,  DG  Connect  also  requested  additional  mobile 
coverage  data  to  be  collected  in  order  to  better  reflect  availability  of  mobile  broadband  services  for 
European  consumers  as  well  as  to  take  into  account  the  mobility  aspect  connected  with  mobile 
networks accessibility.  

Therefore, in addition to the standard coverage metrics, the research team provided DG Connect with 
data on average LTE coverage in each study country. This measurement took into account coverage 
of  all  LTE  network  operators,  calculating  average  household/population  coverage  level  in  order  to 
better  represent  an  actual  user  experience,  as  a  typical  user  will  only  be  able  to  use  one  mobile 
network  at  a  time.  This  indicator  was  included  as  one  of  the  components  of  the  DESI  Connectivity 
dimension.1 

To  address  the  mobility  aspect  of  mobile  networks  coverage,  the  research  team  introduced  a  new 
metric looking at coverage of transportation networks in each study country. As this was a completely 
new metric with untested methodology, the research team applied varied approach to estimating the 
transportation  coverage  consisting  of  information  provided  by  the  mobile  networks  operators,  NRAs, 
desk  research.  In  addition,  we  have  compared  household  and  landmass  coverage  and  used  Point 
Topic’s  European  Kilometre  Grid  database  and  the  Corine  landmass  database  to  determine 
population settlements within sparsely populated and/or geographically challenging regions in order to 
provide fair assessment of availability of mobile services.  

Given  the  varying  level  of  available  information,  the  research  team  decided  to  take  the  2016 
transportation coverage data collection as a testing ground for this metric with the aim to further evolve 
the methodological approach in the next iterations of the study. Therefore, following discussions with 
DG Connect, a decision has been made to keep the 2016 transportation coverage results for internal 
purposes.  The  research  team  will  continue  to  develop  a  more  robust  methodology  with  further  help 
from NRAs and operators.  

Furthermore, the Tender Specifications also asked for the research team to provide additional insight 
into  the  Machine-to-Machine  (M2M)  communications  needs.  M2M  connectivity  is  increasingly 
important  in  terms  of  M2M  applications’  reliance  on  availability  of  universal  and  uninterrupted 
broadband connectivity. The research team has included a short chapter in the Appendix of this report 
outlining the existing M2M applications currently deployed in the Member States and their connectivity 
needs. 

1
 DESI Indicator 1b2: 4G coverage (DESI 2017). 

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The following table details the scope of the Broadband Coverage in Europe 2016 study. 

Scope 
Geographical 
coverage 

Technologies 

Description of Broadband Coverage Metrics 

  EU28 + Iceland, Norway and Switzerland 
  Rural and national coverage 

The following technologies are included: 
  DSL (excluding VDSL) 
  Cable modem (excluding DOCSIS 3.0) 
  HSPA 
  FTTP (Fibre to the Home and Fibre to the Building) 
  VDSL 
  Cable modem DOCSIS 3.0 
  LTE 
  WiMAX 
  Satellite 

The study also covers the following technology combinations: 

  Overall broadband coverage (including DSL, VDSL, FTTP, Cable 
modem, Cable modem DOCSIS 3.0, WiMAX, HSPA and LTE) 

  Overall fixed broadband coverage (including DSL, VDSL, FTTP, Cable 

modem, Cable modem DOCSIS 3.0 and WiMAX)  

  NGA coverage (including VDSL, FTTP and cable modem DOCSIS 

3.0) 

Speeds 

The study covers the following speed categories: 

  At least 2 Mbps download 
  At least 30 Mbps download 
  At least 100 Mbps download 

Mobile 
coverage 

Additional mobile metrics are included in the 2016 edition of the study: 
  Average LTE coverage (average of operators in each study country) 
  HSPA and LTE coverage of transportation infrastructure 

Acknowledgements 

It would not be possible to deliver the results of this project without the support of all involved parties. 
First and foremost, the  IHS  Markit and  Point Topic team  would like to thank all survey respondents, 
both regulators and operators, who took the time to fill in the BCE questionnaire and provide us with 
the  fundamental  information  and  data  that  form  the  core  of  this  study. We  are  very  grateful  for  their 
involved  and  responsible  approach  in  addressing  the  demanding  request  for  information  and  data. 
While  the  figures  in  our  deliverables  might  not  always  be  exactly  the  same  as  those  provided  by 
respondents (due to a number of complex factors, such as different statistical bases or definitions), the 
research team always attempted to prioritise data received directly from respondents and reflect this 
information in our estimates as much as possible. 

The  research  team  is  also  grateful  to  the  FTTH  Council  Europe  and  IDATE,  for  kindly  sharing 
information from their research of FTTx coverage across Europe. While in most cases the team relied 
on  data  collected  though  the  survey,  IDATE’s  data  proved  to  be  an  important  additional  source  of 
information. 

Last but certainly not least, we would like to thank DG Connect for their active involvement throughout 
all stages of the project.  

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2.0 Project Objectives 

The specific objectives of the study can be set out as below:  

  Collect coverage data on a country, regional, and rural level for different technologies through: 

o  a survey of operators (ISPs) and National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs);  
o  a  review  of  alternative  sources  (e.g.  operator  websites,  white  papers,  consultant 

reports); 

  Estimate coverage for different technology and speed combinations; and 

  Write up a final  report on the findings on EU  and country-level and prepare  a database  with 

statistical data. 

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3.0 Methodological approach in detail 

The methodological  approach  used  in  the  2016  edition  of  the  Broadband  Coverage  in  Europe  study 
mirrors the approach used in the 2013-2015 studies, which was in turn based on a methodology first 
implemented by Point Topic in 2012. Applying the same methodological approach allows the research 
team to ensure both consistency and year-on-year comparability of the data. 

As  in  previous  years  of  the  project,  a  survey  of  NRAs  and  broadband  network  operators  forms  the 
core of this study. The survey results were validated and cross-checked against additional information 
gathered from other sources (including public announcements by telecoms groups) in parallel with the 
survey  data  collection.  The  additional  research  also  helped  to  fill  in  any  gaps,  which  resulted  from 
incomplete  information  from  NRAs  or  operators.  Lastly,  survey  data  and  additional  information  were 
combined  and  used  to  calculate  national  coverage  by  individual  technologies  as  well  as  the 
combination coverage categories and speed coverage categories for all study countries. 

The timeline of the data collection for the 2016 edition of the BCE study follows an amended schedule 
first implemented for the 2015 edition of the study.  This means that the collected information reflects 
the situation at the end of June (i.e. half-year data rather than year-end data points were collected).  

The following chapters of this report provide a detailed description of the project’s methodology. 

3.1 Survey design and data collection 

For  the  sake  of  consistency,  the  research  team  used  similar  wording  and  formatting  of  the  survey 
questionnaire  as  in  2012-2015.  Using  near-identical  question  wording  enables  the  research  team  to 
deliver findings which can be compared with research undertaken in previous years.  

Where possible, the research team contacted survey participants that were approached for the  2012-
2015  data  collection.  During  the  previous  data  collection  the  IHS  Markit  research  team  updated  and 
expanded the list to include new contacts in already surveyed companies and organisations as well as 
those companies that were not previously approached. The fact that the BCE project is a long-running 
project means that most respondents are familiar with the study as well as the survey questionnaire, 
making it easier for them to fill in the by-now familiar information. 

The  survey  questionnaire  was  focused  on  one  central  question,  which  asked  about  the  absolute 
number of homes passed by broadband networks, and was applied to the following key metrics of the 
research: 

  Technology coverage – for each of the technologies (with the exception of satellite) a question 
was  included  asking  NRAs  to  supply  the  number  of  homes  passed  by  each  individual 
technology in the country. 

  Regional  coverage  –  NRAs  and  operators  were  also  asked  to  supply  homes-passed 

information for each of the NUTS 3 regions in all study countries for each of the technologies. 

  Rural coverage  – the same questions  were asked of respondents for homes passed in rural 
areas of each NUTS 3 region as well as for the total number of rural homes passed country-
wide.  

  Speed  coverage  -  the  2013-2015  survey  questionnaires  were  extended  to  include  questions 
asking participants about the numbers of homes passed by networks able to achieve speeds 
of  at  least  2  Mbps,  30  Mbps  and  100  Mbps.  This  metric  and  corresponding  questions  were 
retained in the 2016 study.  

In  a  number  of  cases,  coverage  data  was  delivered  on  a  more  detailed  geographical  level  than  the 
requested NUTS 3 areas. In these cases,  the research team aggregated the provided data to match 
the NUTS 3 regions. 

In  addition  to  the  coverage  questions,  the  survey  questionnaire  also  provided  space  for  additional 
comments  and  explanations  of  the  various  technologies  and  speed  specifications  in  cases  in  which 

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respondents’ definitions differed from those outlined in the survey (detailed definitions of the individual 
broadband  technologies  are  included  in  the  Appendices  of  this  report).  These  comments  provided 
further insight and were reflected in the final analysis of the data. 

Given  the  nature  of  satellite  broadband  coverage,  questions  regarding  satellite  coverage  were  not 
included in the survey questionnaire. The satellite coverage across Europe was determined based on 
conversations  with  leading  satellite  providers  such  as  Eutelsat,  a  KA-SAT  broadband  provider  and 
other smaller satellite operators. 

Furthermore, in order to determine the additional mobile coverage metric focused on HSPA and LTE 
coverage  of  transportation  links,  the  research  team  included  questions  regarding  mobile  network 
coverage  of  key  road  and  railway  infrastructure  in  the  2016  questionnaire.  The  research  team 
provided the length of road and rail networks (in km) in each study country and asked the NRAs and 
mobile network operators to provide information on percentage coverage of both individual road and 
rail  coverage  as  well  as  combined  coverage  of  transportation  infrastructure  provided  by  HSPA  and 
LTE  networks.  In  cases,  where  specific  transportation  coverage  information  was  not  available,  the 
respondents were asked to provide more general information on landmass/geographic coverage of the 
HSPA and  LTE networks, represented in terms of percentage of landmass/geographic  area covered 
by the specific networks. 

The  research  team  has  been  from  the  onset  of  this  project  aware  of  the  sensitivity  of  the  requested 
data provided by operators, as much of the coverage data (especially on such a granular level) could 
be  regarded  as  commercially  sensitive  by  operators.  Therefore,  confidentiality  of  the  information 
gathered from both NRAs as well as individual operators was assured at all stages of the survey data 
collection and subsequent analysis.  

In order to protect the confidentiality of the data, study results for individual coverage technologies are 
published  only  on  a  total  country  level.  On  the  regional  NUTS  3  level,  reported  data  is  limited  to 
coverage  by 
include  multiple 
these 
technologies,  coverage  by  individual  technologies  or  companies  is  concealed  within  the  combined 
total coverage. 

technology  combinations.  As 

technology  combinations 

All  of  the  collected  data  was  treated  as  commercially  confidential  and  was  used  solely  for  the 
purposes of this study. 

3.2 Defining households and rural areas 

The central question posed by the survey questionnaire asks about the number of homes passed by 
individual  operator  and/or  technology  networks,  depending  on  the  respondent.  In  order  to  make 
determining  the  numbers  of  homes  passed  in  each  NUTS  3  region  easier  for  respondents,  the 
research team provided guidance by including total number of households in each area in the survey 
questionnaire. 

As it is not possible to obtain annually updated household figures by NUTS3 regions for all of the BCE 
study  countries,  IHS  &  VVA  team  (as  well  as  Point  Topic)  calculated  the  number  of  households  in 
each NUTS 3 region using NUTS 3 level population data published annually by Eurostat and average 
household  size  figures  also  published  by  Eurostat  annually  for  each  country.  This  approach  allowed 
the research team to maintain a unified methodology across all of the study countries using one data 
source. 

One  of  the  key  dimensions  of  the  study  was  centred  around  gaining  information  on  broadband 
coverage in rural areas. In order for the rural data collected in the period 2013-2015 to be comparable 
to  the  2012  dataset,  the  IHS  &  VVA  research  team  adopted  a  similar  approach  to  determine  rural 
households to the one used by Point Topic. 

In 2012, Point Topic developed a new methodology to defining rural areas using the Corine land cover 
database  and  creating  a  database  of  population  and  land  type  in  every  square  kilometre  across 
Europe.  Households  in  square  kilometres  with  population  less  than  one  hundred  were  classified  as 
rural.    This  granular  approach  based  on  population  density  enabled  Point  Topic  to  identify  the  truly 
rural areas likely to be unserved or underserved by broadband operators.  

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Beginning  with  the  2016  edition  of  the  study,  IHS  Markit  has  partnered  with  Point  Topic  and  an 
updated  estimation  of  rural  population  in  individual  NUTS  3  regions  was  produced  by  Point  Topic. 
According to the updated data, in 2016 approx. 14% of households in the study countries were rural. 
Combining  this  information  with  updated  population  and  household  data  from  Eurostat,  the  EU 
statistical  office,  allowed  the  research  team  to  create  new  estimates  for  the  numbers  of  rural 
households across each market and NUTS 3 area. 

3.3 Additional research conducted in parallel to the survey 

In  addition  to  data  gathered  through  the  NRAs  and  ISPs  survey,  the  research  team  carried  out 
supplemental research to  check the validity  of survey  data as  well as to fill  in  any missing pieces of 
information. 

The  additional  research  was  built  on  the  IHS  Markit  and  Point  Topic  team’s  extensive  in-house 
knowledge of the European broadband sector and was complemented with country and regional-level 
data collected from publicly available NRAs and ISPs reports and details on broadband strategies and 
development plans of individual companies and governments. 

This desk-based research provided basic estimates on country-level coverage for each technology. In 
many  cases,  information  on  regional  deployments  of  next  generation  access  technologies  was  also 
available, or it was possible to infer such detail from company communications.  

The individual elements of the additional research were determined on a country-by-country basis and 
included (but were not limited to) desk research of the following publicly available sources: 

• 
• 
• 
• 

NRAs market reports  
ISPs financial reports and press releases 
Industry organisations white papers, special reports and analysis 
Industry news 

3.4 Validation and integration of data 

In this phase of the study, data collected through the survey and via additional research were brought 
together to obtain the actual coverage figures for all of the study countries. 

The  data  integration  was  conducted  on  a  country-by-country  basis.  Information  gathered  from 
additional research was cross-checked with results of the survey. In cases for which data points were 
missing,  for  example  some  of  the  NUTS  3  regions  or  rural  coverage,  a  modelling  methodology  was 
applied  to  fill  in  the  gaps.  Models  used  varied  on  a  case-by-case  basis,  and  relied  on  a  range  of 
inputs, which  included  national coverage and regional presence data as  well as the research team’s 
knowledge  of  individual  markets,  companies’  deployment  strategies  and  ancillary  data,  such  as 
population density. 

Each country’s data was integrated for each technology individually. This allowed the research team to 
first obtain estimates for individual technologies at a NUTS 3 level, which were then used to calculate 
estimates for technology combinations – again at a NUTS 3 level. Regional data was finally summed 
to  obtain  national-level  coverage  information.  When  integrating  data  on  individual  technologies, 
special  attention  was  paid  to  areas  for  which  coverage  of  the  same  technology  was  provided  by 
multiple operators, in order to rule out possible overlap. 

At  the  end  of  the  data  validation  and  aggregation  process,  the  research  team  was  able  to  provide 
estimates  for  each  of  the  nine  broadband  technologies  in  all  NUTS  3  areas  both  on  total  and  rural 
level. 

3.5 Estimating coverage for different technology combinations  

After reaching the broadband coverage figures by individual technologies in each country and NUTS3 
regions,  the  research  team  calculated  estimates  for  the  following  three  technology  combinations, 
taking into account the overlaps of different technologies: 

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• 

• 

• 

Overall  broadband  coverage  (including  DSL,  VDSL,  FTTP,  Standard  cable  modem, 
DOCSIS 3.0, WiMAX, HSPA and LTE) 

Overall fixed broadband coverage (including DSL, VDSL, FTTP, Standard cable modem, 
DOCSIS 3.0 and WiMAX) 

Overall NGA coverage (including VDSL, FTTP and DOCSIS 3.0) 

For  the  sake  of  consistency,  the  research  applied  similar  methodology  in  the  2016  study  to  the 
approach  used  in  the  2012-2015  editions  of  the  study.  Unless  information  provided  by  NRAs  or 
telecoms groups suggested otherwise, a standardised default formula was used taking the average of: 

1.  The minimum possible coverage; equal to the coverage of the most widespread technology or 

operator in the area; and 

2.  The maximum possible coverage; equal to the sum of the coverage of all the technologies or 

operators being considered, or to 100%, whichever was the greater.  

As  in  the  previous  studies,  a  varied  formula  was  used  in  cases  where  some  technologies’  coverage 
was  more  complementary  than  overlapping.  In  these  cases,  the  minimum  coverage  was  taken  as 
equal to the sum of the complementary technologies, if this was greater than the most-widely available 
single technology. 

Additionally,  the  estimates for combination coverage  on a national  level  were made by summing the 
estimates  for  the  NUTS  3  areas  rather  than  applying  this  formula  on  a  country  level.  This  approach 
provides a more accurate data output than simply taking the country-level average. 

Once the research team completed  the final country  level dataset, it  was passed on  to DG Connect 
and to the NRAs of all of the study countries for their feedback and comments before the finalised data 
was  used  as  components  of  the  Digital  Society  &  Economy  Index  (Connectivity  Dimension)  and 
published as part of the individual country assessment reports. 

In a number of cases, new and more accurate data was provided to the research team reflecting the 
2015  data  and  thus  justifying  restatement  of  the  figures  published  in  the  Broadband  Coverage  in 
Europe  2015  study.  During  the  2016  data  collection,  the  research  team  has  also  introduced  new 
checks of rural coverage estimates, comparing the number of uncovered households on a total level to 
the number of uncovered rural households. When these checks were applied to rural coverage values 
reported in previous years, they identified underestimation of rural coverage in a number of countries 
leading to restatements of previously reported rural coverage data. Restatements are indicated in the 
data tables sections of individual country chapters. 

3.6 Estimating coverage for speed categories 

The speed categories were first included as broadband coverage metrics in 2013 in order to provide 
additional analytical layer to evaluate the study countries’  progress towards the Digital Agenda goals 
and  to  estimate  the  download  speeds  available  to  households  across  the  EU  Member  States.  This 
additional  component  of  the  broadband  coverage  research  was  retained  in  the  2016  edition  of  the 
study with following speed categories included among the metrics: 

  Coverage by broadband network/s capable of at least 2 Mbps download speed 

  Coverage by broadband network/s capable of at least 30 Mbps download speed 

  Coverage by broadband network/s capable of at least 100 Mbps download speed 

Including this metric allows for a comparison of the technology coverage, which might be reported as 
relatively  high,  to  the  actual  speeds  consumers  will  be  able  to  receive  on  the  particular  networks 
available to them. 

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In previous years, the speed coverage metrics and analysis were included in a separate chapter in the 
Appendix of the BCE final report as the quality of the received data varied quite substantially across 
respondents. However, given the fact that speed coverage metrics have been collected and estimated 
for the past three years and as such have become a standard component of the  study, the research 
team has decided to  include the speed coverage  analysis in  the main sections of the final report  for 
the 2016 edition of the report.  

The  following  methodological  approach  was  first  implemented  in  2013  and  carried  over  in  the 
subsequent  iterations  of  the  study.  In  order  to  estimate  the  coverage  by  the  speed  categories,  the 
research team needed to develop a suitable methodology and clear definition to determine coverage 
by  realistically  achievable  speeds  as  required  by  DG  Connect.  Thus,  the  following  speed  categories 
were  added among the research metrics and questions regarding  these categories  were  included in 
the survey questionnaire: 

  Coverage by broadband network/s capable of realistically achieving actual download speeds 
of  at  least  2  Mbps.  This  category  encompassed  DSL  (including  VDSL),  FTTP,  WiMAX, 
standard  cable  (including  DOCSIS  3.0  cable),  HSPA  and  LTE  broadband  access 
technologies.  However,  as  not  all  DSL  connections  are  capable  of  download  speeds  of 
2Mbps and higher, respondents were asked to exclude those connections which did not meet 
the criteria from their answers. 

  Coverage by broadband network/s capable of realistically achieving actual download speeds 
of at least 30 Mbps. This category encompassed VDSL, FTTP, DOCSIS 3.0 cable, and LTE 
broadband access technologies. However, as not all connections utilizing these technologies 
can  achieve  30  Mbps  and  higher  actual  download  speeds  (for  example,  VDSL  connections 
with  distance  from  the  exchange  point  higher  than  500m  see  radical  decrease  in  actual 
speeds),  respondents  were  asked  to  exclude  those  connections  which  did  not  meet  the 
criteria from their answers. 

  Coverage by broadband network/s capable of realistically achieving actual download speeds 
of  at  least  100  Mbps.  This  category  encompassed  FTTP,  DOCSIS  3.0  cable,  and  LTE 
broadband  access  technologies.  In  cases  where  vectoring  is  applied  to  VDSL2  technology 
and speeds reach 100 Mbps and higher download speeds, VDSL with vectoring was asked to 
be included in this category. However, as not all connections utilizing these technologies can 
achieve 100 Mbps actual download speeds (for example, in the case of FTTB  – fibre-to-the-
building  – connections included  in the FTTP category in-building  wiring can pose significant 
constraints on achievable end-user broadband speeds), respondents were asked to exclude 
those connections from their answers. 

The coverage of these speed categories was then defined as a household having technical access to 
one  or  more  networks  supporting  at  least  2,  30,  or  100  Mbps  download  speed  connections  if  the 
connection’s broadband speed was capable of achieving a minimum of 2, 30, or 100 Mbps download 
speed  (respectively)  for  the  majority  of  the  time.  ‘Majority  of  time’  is  understood  to  mean  actual 
download speeds achieved by a household for at least 75% of the time. 

As speed information can be generally hard to decode, even for the NRAs and ISPs themselves, the 
research  team,  in  addition  to  the  collected  survey  data,  also  relied  on  sector  knowledge  regarding 
deployments to make informed estimates of achievable speeds to gain complete picture of coverage 
by the speed categories.  

The research team also gave an option to the respondents to also include information on achievable 
speeds on LTE networks in the at least 30 Mbps and at least 100 Mbps download speed categories. 
With  the  technological  improvements  in  terms  of  speed  and  connection  quality  attainable  over  LTE 
mobile networks, 2016 was the first year LTE speeds were recorded within these categories. 

Note  that  unlike  the  technology  coverage,  the  speed  metric  categories  have  been  determined  on  a 
country level only, as gathering information on rural and regional NUTS 3 level would not have been 
feasible within the scope of the study – although we hope that NRAs and ISPs will consider collecting 
and making such information available at a future point in time. 

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3.7 Estimating additional mobile coverage metrics 

As required in the Tender Specifications for SMART 2016/0043 and following the discussions with DG 
Connect at the inception meeting, the research team has introduced two new mobile metrics as part of 
the 2016 Broadband Coverage in Europe study. These metrics are aimed to  better reflect availability 
of  mobile  broadband  services  for  European  consumers  as  well  as  to  take  into  account  the  mobility 
aspect  connected  with  mobile  networks  accessibility.  In  order  to  comply  with  the  Tender 
Specifications, the research team introduced the following additional mobile metrics: 

  Average LTE coverage 

  HSPA and LTE networks coverage of transportation infrastructure 

The first additional metric took into account LTE household/population coverage provided by individual 
operators  in  each  study  country.  This  data  was  provided  either  by  the  operators  themselves,  by  the 
NRAs  or  collected  from  publicly  available  sources,  such  as  information  accessible  from  operators’ 
websites,  quarterly  reports,  press  releases,  etc.  The  research  team  then  provided  DG  Connect  with 
overall  average  LTE  coverage  value,  calculated  as  a  simple  average  of  operators’  LTE  networks 
coverage in each study country.  

This  indicator  was  requested  by  DG  Connect  to  serve  as  a  better  measurement  of  actual  user 
experience (as a typical user will only be able to use one network at a time) and was included as one 
of the components of the DESI’s Connectivity dimension (1b2 – 4G Coverage).  

The  second  additional  mobile  coverage  metric  aimed  to  estimate  HSPA  and  LTE  mobile  networks 
coverage of transportation  infrastructure in the study  countries.  As this  was a completely  new metric 
the 
with  untested  methodology, 
transportation  coverage  consisting  of  information  provided  by  the  mobile  networks  operators,  NRAs, 
desk  research  as  well  as  comparing  household  and  landmass  coverage  and  using  it  to  determine 
overlay  of  geographical  coverage  and  key  transportation  links  in  order  to  provide  fair  assessment  of 
the availability of mobile services. 

team  applied  varied  approach 

to  estimating 

the  research 

The  research  team  included  questions  regarding  mobile  network  coverage  of  key  road  and  railway 
infrastructure in the 2016 questionnaire, providing the length of road and rail networks (in km) in each 
study country. NRAs and mobile network operators were asked to provide information on percentage 
coverage  of  both  individual  road  and  rail  coverage  as  well  as  combined  coverage  of  transportation 
infrastructure provided by HSPA and LTE networks. In cases, where specific transportation coverage 
information  was  not  available,  the  respondents  were  asked  to  provide  more  general  information  on 
landmass/geographic coverage of the HSPA and LTE networks, represented in terms of percentage of 
the total country landmass area covered by the specific networks. 

In parallel, the research team collected information from additional sources such as NRA reports and 
other  operator  reported  and  publicly  available  information  to  complement  the  survey  data.  In  cases 
where  only  landmass  coverage  information  was  available,  coverage  of  transportation  infrastructure 
was determined by comparing landmass and population/household coverage values and overlaid with 
Point Topic’s European Kilometre Grid database and the Corine landmass database. 

Given  the  varying  level  of  available  information,  the  research  team  decided  to  take  the  2016 
transportation coverage data collection as a testing ground for this metric with the aim to further evolve 
the methodological approach in the next iterations of the study. Therefore, following discussions with 
DG Connect, a decision has been made to keep the 2016 transportation coverage results for internal 
purposes.  The  research  team  will  continue  to  develop  a  more  robust  methodology  with  further  help 
from NRAs and operators.  

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4.0 European Overview 

4.1 Europe-wide coverage by technology combinations 

The main objective of the 2016 Broadband Coverage in Europe study was to assess the availability of 
broadband  services  across  the  EU,  with  additional  information  provided  for  Norway,  Iceland  and 
Switzerland.  

As  in  the  previous  editions  of  the  study,  nine  broadband  technologies  (DSL,  VDSL,  FTTP,  WiMAX, 
cable,  DOCSIS  3.0,  HSPA,  LTE,  satellite)  were  analysed  to  ensure  comparability  and  to  evaluate 
progress in broadband roll-out across Europe.  

The collected data show that over 218 million EU households (99.9%) had access to at least one of 
the  main  fixed  or  mobile  broadband  access  technologies  in  mid-2016  (excluding  satellite).  This 
represents a 0.1 percentage point increase, or 1.4 million additional households, compared to the end 
of June 2015. When satellite coverage is included, basic broadband services are now offered to every 
household in the EU.  

In absolute terms, the number of homes passed by fixed broadband networks (DSL, cable, FTTP or 
WiMAX) increased by 1.6 million in the twelve-month period to mid-2016, translating to 97.5% homes 
passed in the EU28 by mid-2016, up from 97.3% in mid-2015. 

As in previous years, the largest growth among the combination categories was witnessed in coverage 
of  Next  Generation  Access  (NGA)  networks,  which  reported  a  5.5  percentage  point  increase  in  the 
twelve-month period to mid-2016. This is equivalent to 12.8 million new households gaining access to 
next  generation  broadband  services.  By  mid-2016,  75.9%  of  households  across  the  EU  Member 
States were passed by at least one NGA technology (VDSL, FTTP or Cable DOCSIS 3.0), compared 
to 70.4% in mid-2015.2 

Access to fast broadband services in rural areas remains a key priority for the EU. At the end of June 
2016, 99.2% of rural households across the EU28 had access to at least one broadband technology. 
from  NGA  broadband. 
However,  only  39.2%  (12.0  million  rural  households)  could  benefit 

2
 During the 2016 data collection, new and more accurate NGA technologies coverage data became available for a number of 
study countries (Estonia, Italy, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia, and Switzerland) reflecting the 2015 NGA coverage levels. This 
new data justified restatements of the 2015 data for the individual countries and impacted the EU28 2015 total NGA coverage, 
which was previously reported to be 70.9% and has been restated to 70.4% EU households having access to NGA broadband 
in mid-2015. All restatements are highlighted in the data tables included in the individual country chapters. 

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Nevertheless, rural  NGA coverage  growth is  increasing at a faster rate  than in  the first half of 2015, 
suggesting  NGA  deployment  is  shifting  towards  rural  areas.  Rural  NGA  coverage  increased  by  9.5 
percentage points in the last year compared with 2.7 percentage points in the six-month period to mid-
2015.  In  total  2.9  million  additional  rural  households  gained  access  to  next  generation  broadband 
services between the end of June 2015 and 2016. 

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4.2 Europe-wide coverage by individual technologies 

4.2.1 Coverage by technology in total  
The breakdown by technology shows that satellite remained the most pervasive technology in Europe 
in  terms  of  overall  coverage.  By  mid-2016,  satellite  broadband  was  available  to  99.4%  of  EU 
households.  Based  on  our  research,  this  indicates  there  has  been  no  change  in  satellite  broadband 
coverage  compared  to  2015.  In  the  Baltic  countries,  there  remained  a  low  coverage  of  the  KA-band 
satellites  with  satellite  broadband  reaching  only  certain  parts  of  Estonia,  Latvia  and  Lithuania.  As  in 
previous years, there continued to be no satellite broadband services available in Iceland.  

Looking  at  fixed  broadband  coverage  technologies,  DSL  technology  continued  to  be  the  most 
widespread.  DSL  networks  reached  94.3%  of  EU  households  by  mid-2016,  an  improvement  of  0.2 
percentage points. Meanwhile, cable broadband coverage increased 0.5 percentage points to 44.4%. 
While  these  appear  to  be  negligible  coverage  increases,  when  taking  into  account  the  increasing 
number of households, they represent considerable growth in absolute coverage. For instance, in the 
twelve-month period to June 2016, cable networks passed an additional 1.6 million EU households.   

WiMAX  was  the  only  broadband  technology  to  witness  a  reduction  in  coverage,  decreasing  by  1.8 
percentage points to 17.8%. This is a result of many operators discontinuing their WiMAX networks in 
order to reallocate the spectrum for LTE transmission.  

Growth  in  VDSL  coverage  remained  the  key  driver  of  the  increase  in  overall  NGA  coverage.  VDSL 
coverage continued to grow at a similar rate to the previous years, increasing by 7.1 percentage points 
in  the  twelve-month  period  to  mid-2016.  Consequently,  VDSL  carried  on  being  the  fastest  growing 
fixed broadband technology for the fifth consecutive year. There was also considerable growth in the 
availability  of  FTTP  technology,  as  coverage  increased  by  3.4  percentage  points  to  reach  nearly  a 
quarter (23.7%) of EU households.  

Compared to VDSL and FTTP, growth in DOCSIS 3.0 was considerably lower, expanding by only 0.7 
percentage points to reach 43.9% of households. DOCSIS 3.0 growth was limited by the lack of new 
cable  networks  being  deployed,  while  the  majority  of  existing  cable  technology  has  already  been 
upgraded  to  DOCSIS  3.0.  By  mid-2016,  98.9%  of  homes  passed  by  cable  networks  had  access  to 
DOCSIS 3.0 cable broadband services indicating that the upgrade of cable networks to DOCSIS 3.0 is 
mostly complete across the EU. 

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Examining  mobile  broadband  technologies,  HSPA  continued  to  provide  nearly  universal  coverage, 
reaching 98.0% of EU households by mid-2016. LTE is now also close to providing close to universal 
coverage, following a steep 10.1 percentage point increase in the twelve-month period to June 2016. 
This increase translates to almost 23 million additional households across  the  EU, as LTE coverage 
reached 96.0% of EU households. By mid-2016, the difference in coverage between HSPA and LTE 
equalled only 2 percentage points, compared to 11.7 percentage points at the end of June 2015. 

4.2.2 Coverage by technology in rural areas 
Historically,  it  has  been  hard  for  operators  to  justify  investments  in  rural  areas.  As  a  result  of  low 
population  density  in  these  areas,  investments  can  be  viewed  as  economically  less  profitable. 
Consequently, achieving the Digital Agenda’s goal of universal 30 Mbps coverage by 2020  continues 
to represent a considerable challenge in EU’s rural regions.  

Broadband  coverage  levels  in  rural  regions  remain  notably  lower  than  total  national  coverage,  with 
fixed  broadband  networks  passing  92.6%  of  rural  EU  households  compared  to  97.5%  of  total 
households. The gap between rural and total NGA coverage in previous years had remained the same 
at  around  40  percentage  points.  However,  in  the  past  year,  there  has  been  an  evidence  of  the  gap 
between rural and total NGA coverage narrowing as the difference reduced to 36.7 percentage points 
by  mid-2016,  with  39.2%  coverage  at  rural  level  versus  75.9%  for  all  EU  households.  This 
development suggests that NGA networks deployments are beginning to shift towards rural areas. 

Rural  VDSL  coverage  increased  by  7.7  percentage  points  in  the  twelve-month  period  to  mid-2016, 
compared  with  only  1.8  percentage  points  in  the  first  half  of  2015.  By  the  end  of  June  2016,  over  a 
quarter  (26.6%)  of  rural  households  across  the  EU  has  access  to  VDSL  services.  However,  as  was 
the case in previous years, the additional VDSL coverage relates mainly to areas already covered by 
DSL networks, which  are  being gradually  upgraded to  VDSL.  Consequently, this increase  would  not 
account for newly deployed networks to previously underserviced areas.  

DSL  remained  the  most  important  fixed  technology  for  rural  coverage,  increasing  by  1.3  percentage 
points to reach 86.0% of rural EU households by mid-2016. With regards to other fixed technologies, 
the number of rural households reached by WiMAX decreased 1.8 percentage points to 17.8% by mid-
2016.  This  was  due  to  the  decision  of  many  operators  across  the  EU  to  shut  down  their  WiMAX 
operations in order to redistribute the spectrum for LTE.  

The number of rural households passed by cable broadband services remained limited with 10.7% of 
rural  homes  reached  by  the  end  of  June  2016.  The  low  rural  coverage  of  cable  networks  can  be 
attributed to the considerable cost of deploying cable networks. For this reason, operators continue to 

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focus  on  deploying  new  cable  networks  in  urban  areas,  where  the  higher  population  densities  help 
ensure  return  on  investment.  Where  rural  cable  networks  are  available,  they  have  been  largely 
upgraded  to  DOCSIS  3.0  due  to  the  relatively  low  cost  of  upgrading  cable  networks  to  DOCSIS  3.0 
versus the cost of the initial deployment. High-speed cable broadband services passed 10.1% of rural 
households  by  mid-2016.  FTTP  remained  the  least  widespread  rural  NGA  technology,  however,  the 
number  of  rural  homes  reached  by  FTTP  networks  increased  by  2.1  percentage  points  over  the 
course  of  the  year.  Consequently,  at  current  trajectories,  rural  FTTP  coverage  can  be  expected  to 
overtake rural DOCSIS 3.0 availability in 2017.  

In terms of mobile broadband, the number of homes reached by HSPA networks increased at a similar 
pace to the previous  year.  By mid-2016,  92.2% of rural homes had been covered,  a  2.3  percentage 
point  increase  over  the  course  of  the  twelve-month  period.  Given  its  much  lower  starting  coverage, 
unsurprisingly, LTE coverage improved at a considerably faster rate than HSPA. The number of rural 
EU homes reached by LTE increased to 79.7% from 36.3%, an increase of 43.4 percentage points. As 
in  the  previous  year,  LTE  was  the  fastest  growing  broadband  technology  in  rural  areas  in  terms  of 
coverage. This remains an important development, as the rollout of LTE networks in rural areas  has 
the potential to improve rural coverage in regions where fixed network deployment is more difficult or 
not feasible. 

Due to the nature of satellite technology, satellite reached roughly the same level of coverage in rural 
areas as across the EU as a whole (99.4%). In the most sparsely populated and hard-to-reach areas, 
satellite continues to be the only option for receiving broadband access.  

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4.3 Country comparison by total technology coverage 

4.3.1 Total overall fixed broadband by country 
The overall fixed broadband coverage category has been designed to provide a measure of progress 
in deployment of fixed broadband access technologies which are capable of providing households with 
broadband services of at least 2 Mbps download speed. Four technologies make up the overall fixed 
broadband  coverage  figures:  DSL  (including  VDSL),  cable  (including  DOCSIS  3.0),  FTTP,  and 
WiMAX. Note that FTTP coverage trends are discussed in more detail in the following chapter on NGA 
coverage by country. 

Out  of  the  31  study  countries,  26  countries  registered  fixed  broadband  coverage  of  above  95%, 
indicating the breadth of fixed broadband coverage in most nations.  Compared to the previous  year, 
more  countries  are  above  the  European  average  for  overall  fixed  broadband  coverage  with  19 
countries reporting fixed broadband coverage levels at or above the EU average of 97.5% at the end 
of  June  2016.  Several  countries  recorded  complete,  or  near-complete,  fixed  broadband  coverage 
including Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Only three countries 
(Romania,  Slovakia  and  Poland)  reported  coverage  below  90%  in  mid-2016.  These  countries  face 
fixed broadband coverage challenges due to their sparsely populated and underserviced rural areas. 

4.3.1.1 Total DSL coverage by country  
DSL remained the most widespread fixed  broadband  technology  in terms of coverage in the twelve-
month  period  to  the  end  of  June  2016,  with  18  study  countries  recording  DSL  coverage  of  at  least 
95%. As in the previous  year, Malta, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom 
reported complete coverage by DSL networks. However, it is important to note that while a universal 
DSL coverage  was registered  for these countries,  this is generally considered to be  accurate to one 
decimal place to account for the possibility of a negligible number of remote homes failing to receive 
DSL coverage. 

The universal or near-universal DSL coverage (i.e. very close to 100% of households) was observed 
in countries with the most developed traditional telephone networks, as DSL technology utilizes fixed 
line twisted-pair copper network infrastructure. 

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Only  six  Member  States  recorded  DSL  coverage  levels  below  80%:  Poland,  Estonia,  Slovakia, 
Lithuania, Romania and Latvia. In a number of these countries DSL coverage has begun to give way 
to  NGA  technologies  such  as  FTTP,  which  is  discussed  in  more  detail  in  the  individual  country 
chapters. 

4.3.1.2 Total cable coverage by country  
Compared  to  DSL  coverage,  there  is  considerable  variation  in  cable  coverage  by  country. 
Traditionally,  cable  operators  have  concentrated  deploying  their  networks  in  urban  and  semi-urban 
areas,  as  higher  population  densities  in  these  areas  helped  to  ensure  return  on  investment.  Cable 
networks are also likely to have greater coverage in countries with a tradition of cable TV. Conversely, 
in countries where cable companies entered the market at a later stage or their operations failed (such 
as in Italy), cable coverage tends to be considerably lower.  

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As  cable  deployments  are  generally  centred  on  urban  areas,  there  tends  to  be  low  levels  of  extra 
coverage  provided  by  cable  technology  due  to  overlap  with  DSL  in  these  urban  areas.  However, 
DOCSIS 3.0 cable services continue to contribute considerably to NGA broadband availability across 
the EU as described in the following chapter. 

By  mid-2016,  three  countries  recorded  cable  coverage  above  95%:  Malta,  Belgium  and  the 
Netherlands.  However,  Malta  was  still  the  only  country  with  complete  cable  coverage.  Fifteen  other 
countries recorded coverage rates above the European average of 44.4%, although all these countries 
reported coverage levels well below the three leaders. The highest coverage increase was reported in 
Cyprus, where cable coverage increased by 11.7 percentage points to reach 68.7% of homes across 
Cyprus.  Cable networks remained completely absent in Greece, Iceland and Italy.  

4.3.1.3 Total WiMAX coverage by country  
When determining WiMAX coverage, it is important to keep in mind the limitations of WiMAX signals. 
WiMAX can technically offer quite extensive geographic reach, yet the number of customers that the 
network  can  realistically  support  may  be  much  smaller  than  a  fixed  wireline  technology.  Another 
challenging  factor  is  the  great  fragmentation  of  the  European  WiMAX  market,  which  features  many 
small providers operating across Europe. On the other hand, WiMAX technology generally provides a 
viable broadband solution for less-densely populated and harder-to-reach areas. 

By  mid-2016,  WiMAX  remained  a  rather  marginal  broadband  technology  in  the  majority  of  study 
countries. This is reflected by WiMAX coverage exceeding 70% in only two study countries, Lithuania 
and Czech Republic. Fourteen countries reported no WiMAX availability, compared to nine countries 
in mid-2015, driven by the decision of several operators to discontinue WiMAX in order to redistribute 
the  spectrum for  LTE.    For  instance, WiMAX  coverage  reduced  by  65  percentage  points  in  Bulgaria 
following the decision of the wireless operator,  Max Telekom, to discontinue  its WiMAX network and 
migrate all of its WiMAX subscribers to its LTE network3.  

4.3.2 Total overall NGA coverage by country  
The  NGA  combination  category  comprises  VDSL,  FTTP  and  DOCSIS  3.0  technologies,  all  typically 
capable of delivering a service speed of at least 30 Mbps (although VDSL local loop lengths mean that 
actual  speeds  do  vary4).  The  main  objective  of  the  Digital  Agenda  for  Europe  is  to  have  complete 

3
 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2015/11/03/max-to-discontinue-wimax-services-in-november/  
4
 Please see Chapter 4.5 for more information on actual download speed coverage. 

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coverage  of  European  households  at  this  speed  by  2020.  The  analysis  of  the  combination  therefore 
constitutes an evaluation of the roll-out of the relevant technologies and progress towards this goal.  

As  was  the  case  with  cable  coverage,  the  most  urbanised  countries  recorded  the  highest  NGA 
coverage.  Malta  remained  the  only  country  to  report  complete  coverage  for  the  NGA  technology 
category, while Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Iceland and Portugal reported coverage levels 
above  95%.  There  continued  to  be  considerable  differences  in  NGA  coverage  across  the  study 
countries,  reflecting  the  various  strategies  and  approaches  to  high-speed  broadband  deployment 
adopted across Europe. Of the 31 study countries,  ten countries  reported coverage levels below the 
European average (75.9%). Even though it remains below the EU average, Italy recorded a staggering 
31.3  percentage  point  growth  in  NGA  coverage  and  NGA  networks  passed  nearly  three-quarters 
(72.3%)  of  Italian  homes  at  the  end  of  June  2016.  Nevertheless,  coverage  levels  in  some  countries 
remain very low compared to the top performers. For instance, NGA services in  France and Greece 
are available only to around 45% of households.  

4.3.2.1 Total VDSL coverage by country  
VDSL remained the fastest growing NGA technology during the study period. At the end of June 2016, 
VDSL  networks  passed  nearly  a  half  (48.2%)  of  EU  homes  compared  to  41.1%  in  mid-2015.  This 
shows that coverage growth is continuing at a similar rate  to the first six months of 2015, when total 
VDSL  coverage  improved  by  3.5  percentage  points.  Operators  continue  to  focus  their  deployment 
strategies on upgrading existing copper networks instead of investing in the typically more expensive 
deployments of fibre optic networks all the way to customers’ property. 

It is important to note that broadband performance on VDSL lines varies depending on the length of 
the  copper  loop  from  the  VDSL  enabled  cabinet  connected  to  the  optical  fibre  backhaul.  Typically, 
households with a VDSL connection and a distance of about 500 metres from a VDSL enabled street 
cabinet or exchange reach download connection speeds of around 25 Mbps.5  

Belgium  and  Iceland  were  the  only  two  study  countries  to  report  VDSL  coverage  exceeding  90%, 
although five other countries reported coverage levels of over 80% (Luxembourg, Switzerland, the UK, 
Austria and Ireland). Eighteen study countries achieved  VDSL coverage exceeding the  EU average, 
however, VDSL remains far from widespread in most markets.  

5
 For further analysis of actual download speed coverage please see Chapter 4.5. 

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At  the  end  of  June  2016,  VDSL  was  not  available  in  Bulgaria,  Lithuania  and  Portugal,  while  four 
countries  had  less  than  20%  coverage  (France,  Latvia,  Spain  and  Romania).  Traditionally,  many  of 
these countries prefer other NGA technologies over VDSL.  However, in other countries, there was a 
substantial  increase  in  NGA  coverage.    For  instance,  VDSL  coverage  in  Italy  more  than  doubled 
during  the  twelve-month  period  to  mid-2016,  as  coverage  increased  by  33.6  percentage  points. 
Iceland, Germany, Hungary and Slovakia also witnessed double-digit growth in VDSL coverage during 
the twelve-month period to mid-2016. 

4.3.2.2 Total FTTP coverage by country  
In  2016,  FTTP  coverage  continued  to  grow  in  Portugal,  improving  by  10.7  percentage  points  during 
the  twelve-month  period  to  mid-2016.  As  a  consequence  of  this  growth,  Portugal  with  86.1%  FTTP 
coverage  has  now  surpassed  Latvia  (85.2%)  and  Lithuania  (81.4%)  to  rank  first  in  terms  of  FTTP 
coverage among all study countries.  

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The strongest growth in FTTP coverage, however, was recorded in Czech Republic, where availability 
of  FTTP  services  increased  by  17.7  percentage  points  during  the  twelve-month  period  to  mid-2016 
with more than a third (35%) of Czech homes passed by FTTP networks, driven primarily by small and 
local  deployments.  In  the  same  period,  Spain  also  saw  a  substantial  10.0  percentage  point  FTTP 
coverage  increase,  rising  by  10.0  percentage  points  to  reach  62.8%  of  Spanish  households.  One  of 
the  major  contributors  to  the  rise  of  FTTP  coverage  in  both  Portugal  and  Spain  is  the  strategic 
business  model  of  Portuguese  and  Spanish  network  operators,  which  is  based  on  network  sharing 
and cooperation on joint roll-out of FTTP networks all the way to customers’ premises. 

Eleven countries reported coverage levels below the EU average. While FTTP access is on offer in all 
study countries, in some of the countries FTTP services are available only on a very limited basis. As 
in  previous  years,  Greece  and  Belgium  reported  the  lowest  levels  of  FTTP  coverage,  at  0.6%  and 
0.4%.  In  the  UK,  FTTP  coverage  was  only  slightly  higher  at  1.8%.  This  reflects  the  preference  of 
operators  in  these  countries  to  prioritise  their  deployment  strategies  on  upgrading  existing  VDSL 
networks,  rather  than  investing  in  the  typically  more  expensive  FTTP  technology.  These  operators 
view the speeds associated with VDSL technologies as sufficient to satisfy current demand. And some 
operators  have  also  begun  to  trial  solutions  such  as  G.fast  in  selected  areas  to  further  increase 
speeds  to  up  to  gigabit  levels  with  a  view  of  wider  scale  implementation  in  the  future  as  consumer 
demand grows. 

4.3.2.3 Total DOCSIS 3.0 coverage by country  
In  mid-2016,  European  cable  network  operators  continued  to  upgrade  their  cable  networks  to  the 
DOCSIS 3.0 standard, although a large part of the work has already been done in previous years. The 
percentage  of  cable  networks  across  Europe  upgraded  to  DOCSIS  3.0  technology  increased  to 
99.0%, an increase of 0.5 percentage points in the twelve-month period to mid-2016. 

A  further  4  countries  fully  upgraded  their  cable  networks  to  DOCSIS  3.0  by  mid-2016,  meaning  that 
cable networks in 15 study countries were fully upgraded. DOCSIS 3.0 comprised over 80% of cable 
networks in all countries with cable broadband coverage, with the exception of Croatia. However, even 
in  Croatia  the  pace  of  DOCSIS  3.0  upgrades  seems  to  have  picked  up  with  78.6%  of  cable  homes 
passed being upgraded to the DOCSIS 3.0 standard compared to only 70% in mid-2015.   

Malta was the only country to record 100% DOCSIS 3.0 coverage, while Belgium and the Netherlands 
remained the other countries to report DOCSIS 3.0 coverage levels above 95%. Beyond this, all other 
study  countries  recorded  DOCSIS  3.0  coverage  levels  below  85%.  Eighteen  of  the  study  countries 
performed better than the  EU  average (43.9%). The  biggest  improvement  in terms of  the number of 

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homes  passed  by  DOCSIS  3.0  was  recorded  in  Cyprus,  where  coverage  increased  by  11.2 
percentage points. As in previous years, Greece, Iceland and Italy remained the three study countries 
without a cable broadband network and therefore reported no DOCSIS 3.0 coverage.  

4.3.3 Mobile broadband technologies coverage by country  

4.3.3.1 Total HSPA coverage by country  
As in previous years, HSPA provided near-universal coverage. By mid-2016, HSPA networks covered 
98.0%  of  EU  households,  an  increase  of  0.4  percentage  points  compared  to  mid-2015.  The  limited 
coverage  growth  highlights  that  HSPA  coverage  has  approached  saturation  levels.  The  biggest 
improvement  in  HSPA  coverage  was  witnessed  in  Ireland,  where  coverage  improved  by  4.6 
percentage points to 99.2%. With coverage improvements in Ireland, Slovakia and Germany were the 
only two countries to report HSPA coverage levels below 95% (at 92.1% and 90.7%, respectively).  

However, it is important to note that the actual performance and user experience of HSPA broadband 
varies  greatly  due  to  varying  standards  of  individual  operators  as  well  as  actual  conditions  in  each 
coverage  area.  CDMA-based  mobile  networks  (such  as  HSPA)  are  also  subject  to  changes  in  the 
range  of  the  geographical  area  covered  by  a  cellular  telephone  transmitter  based  on  the  amount  of 
traffic using that transmitter in any given moment – so called cell breathing. Thus, the quality of mobile 
broadband  connection  can  vary  significantly,  within  an  area  as  a  consequence  of  geographic  or 
building  features,  and  temporally  as  a  consequence  of  cell  breathing.  There  can  also  be  significant 
differences  between  indoors  and  outdoors  coverage  with  respect  to  mobile  broadband  performance. 
For the purpose of this study the research team defined HSPA coverage based on outdoors coverage 
of premises. 

4.3.3.2 Total LTE coverage by country  
LTE  remained  the  fastest  growing  broadband  technology  in  terms  of  coverage,  increasing  by  10.1 
percentage  points  in  the  twelve-month  period  to  mid-2016,  reaching  96.0%  of  EU  households.  Yet, 
even though LTE retained its title, the pace of the coverage growth is slowing  compared to previous 
years. This is to be expected, as the availability of LTE networks has become near-universal in several 
study countries. By mid-2016, 21 study countries reported coverage levels exceeding the EU average 
(96.0%) and LTE coverage reached 99% of households in 11 study countries. It is also worth to note 
that  in  a  number  of  countries,  such  as  the  Czech  Republic,  Germany,  Hungary,  and  the  UK,  LTE 
coverage reached higher levels than that of HSPA networks. 

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Several countries recorded significant growth in LTE coverage during the twelve-month period to the 
end of June 2016, including Malta where LTE coverage increased by 27.5 percentage points to make 
it  one  of  the  leaders  in  terms  of  availability  of  LTE  services.  However,  the  largest  increase  was 
reported in Slovakia where LTE coverage increased by 29.0 percentage points to 90.3%. Bulgaria also 
witnessed a rapid growth in the proportion of households covered by LTE, as coverage increased by 
28.4  percentage  points.  Despite  this,  Bulgaria  continued  to  lag  behind  the  vast  majority  of  study 
countries.  Along  with  Romania  and  Cyprus,  LTE  coverage  in  Bulgaria  was  at  around  75%  of 
households in mid-2016. 

4.3.3.3 Average LTE coverage by country  
In addition to the standard measurement of LTE broadband coverage analysing the highest possible 
coverage after taking into account overlapping network coverage of operators providing LTE services 
over their networks in the same area, DG Connect has also asked the research team to provide them 
with a new metric looking at average coverage of all LTE operators. This indicator aims to serve as a 
better  measurement  of  actual  user  experience,  as  a  typical  user  will  only  be  able  to  connect  to  one 
LTE  network  at  a  time.  The  average  LTE  coverage  metric  has  been  also  included  as  one  of  the 
components of the Connectivity dimension of the Digital Economy & Society Index published in March 
2017. 

Looking  at  the  average  LTE  coverage  values,  it  is  possible  to  see  that  all  operators  in  Denmark, 
Norway, and Sweden provide universal coverage meaning that no matter which particular operator a 
consumer  decides  to  use,  the  operator’s  LTE  network  will  be  available  ubiquitously.  In  Malta,  LTE 
services are available to be provided on average to 99.3% of consumers and in Finland, Switzerland, 
Lithuania, Luxembourg, and Portugal the average LTE coverage was higher than 95.0%.  

In seven countries (Greece, Slovakia, France, Croatia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Romania) average LTE 
coverage levels were recorded lower than the overall EU average total of 84.4%. In these countries, 
operators  provide  only  partial  LTE  coverage  and  thus  the  user  experience  of  these  networks  is  also 
limited.  

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4.3.3.4 Total mobile coverage of transportation links 
As  per  the  Tender  Specifications  and  DG  Connect’s  specification  during  the  inception  meeting,  the 
research team has aimed to provide  information on  availability  of mobile broadband connectivity  not 
limited to household coverage, which would better reflect the mobility aspect of mobile connectivity. 

The  2016  data  collection  and  analysis  provided  best-effort  estimates  based  on  data  obtained  from 
NRAs, mobile network operators, as well information attained from various official NRA-backed reports 
assessing national mobile networks connectivity and publicly available operator published information, 
such  as  operator  coverage  maps.  The  research  team  also  collected  data  on  landmass/geographic 
coverage  of  mobile  networks,  which  was  used  to  help  guide  the  estimates  in  cases  where 
transportation coverage  information  was  not available. In addition,  Point Topic’s  European  Kilometre 
Grid  database  and  the  Corine  landmass  database  were  also  used  to  compare  operator  published 
coverage maps with the geographic location of key transportation links. 

As such the research team considered transportation infrastructure in terms of  motorways and roads 
as  well  as  railway  networks.  The  following  data  thus  represents  a  composite  estimation  of  road  and 
railway coverage provided by HSPA and LTE networks, taking into account operator networks overlap. 

However,  it  is  outside  of  the  scope  of  this  evaluation  to  take  into  account  the  quality  of  service 
components  associated  for  example  with  lost  connectivity  due  to  road  and  rail  tunnels,  tower  signal 
handover  when  travelling  in  high-speed  on  a  motorway  or  with  restricted  signal  strength  inside  train 
carriages caused by the thickness of the carriage walls. Therefore, these and other factors influencing 
mobile broadband connectivity and user experience were not evaluated. 

Given  the  varying  level  of  available  information,  the  research  team  decided  to  take  the  2016 
transportation coverage data collection as a testing ground for this metric with the aim to further evolve 
the methodological approach in the next iterations of the study. Therefore, following discussions with 
DG Connect, a decision has been made to keep the 2016 transportation coverage results for internal 
purposes.  The  research  team  will  continue  to  develop  a  more  robust  methodology  with  further  help 
from NRAs and operators. 

4.3.3.5 Total satellite coverage by country 
At the end of June 2016, all of the study countries, with the exception of Iceland, were covered by KA-
band satellite capable of delivering 2 Mbps broadband services. However, there continued to be only 
partial satellite coverage in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. As in 2015, satellite beams are still capable 
of reaching about 75% of Estonian households, approx. 50% of Lithuanian households and just over 

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20% of Latvian homes. In addition, satellite dishes with 1.2m diameter are required to receive satellite 
broadband  services  in  these  areas,  thus  making  the  widespread  use  of  satellite  broadband  in  these 
three countries more challenging. 

Moreover, it is important to note that while satellites are technically able to cover all households in the 
reach of a particular beam, the actual number of users that can be serviced by a single beam is limited 
by  the  peak  average  bandwidth  usage,  thus  restricting  number  of  serviceable  homes  in  a  particular 
area.  

As in the previous year, the research team estimated the total EU coverage of satellite broadband as 
reaching over 99% of EU households. Satellite coverage in rural areas was assumed to be identical to 
the total satellite coverage  and satellite coverage for  overseas administrative  areas  was assumed to 
be the same as coverage of the respective countries they belong to (France, Portugal and Spain). 

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4.4 Country comparison by rural technology coverage 

4.4.1 Rural overall fixed broadband coverage by country  
As  in  previous  years,  rural  fixed  coverage  in  most  study  countries  is  lower  than  national  fixed 
coverage. By mid-2016, rural fixed broadband coverage reached 92.7% of rural households compared 
to  national  coverage  of  97.5%.  However,  the  gap  between  total  fixed  coverage  and  rural  fixed 
coverage continues to reduce. Standing at 4.8 percentage points in mid-2016, this is 0.8 percentage 
points lower than the gap in mid-2015, and 7.5 percentage points lower than at the end of 2012.   

Seventeen study countries reported rural fixed broadband coverage above the  EU average (92.6%). 
Moreover, seven countries reported that more than 99% of rural households were covered by at least 
one  fixed  broadband  technology.  Predominantly,  these  are  countries  with  relatively  high  levels  of 
urbanisation. For instance, in 2016 just 1% of households in Malta were classified as rural, 8% in the 
Netherlands, and 11% in Cyprus.  

It should be noted that data on rural coverage collected from NRAs and individual operators was not 
always as comprehensive as total market-level data. In cases when information on rural coverage was 
incomplete, the research team estimated rural coverage using similar approach applied by Point Topic 
in  previous  years  of  the  study.  These  estimations  assume  that  a  technology  will  typically  cover  a 
particular rural area only when urban or non-rural areas within the same region reach 100% coverage. 

During the 2016 data collection, the research team has also introduced new checks of rural coverage 
estimates,  comparing  the  number  of  uncovered  households  on  a  total  level  to  the  number  of 
uncovered  rural  households.  When  these  checks  were  applied  to  rural  coverage  values  reported  in 
previous  years, they identified  underestimation  of rural coverage  in  a number of countries  leading to 
restatements  of  previously  reported  rural  coverage  data.  These  restatements  have  been  reflected  in 
the year-on-year rural comparisons analysed throughout this report. 

4.4.1.1 Rural DSL, WiMAX and cable coverage by country  
In mid-2016, DSL remained the most widespread fixed broadband technology in terms of the number 
of rural homes passed. On average, rural DSL networks covered 86.0% of rural EU households. This 
represents  an  8  percentage  point  gap  when  compared  to  the  total  EU  average  for  DSL  networks 
(94.3%).  Moreover,  the  difference  between  total  and  rural  coverage  was  far  greater  in  several  study 
countries such as Lithuania (54 percentage points) and Estonia (37 percentage points). 

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By  mid-2016,  nineteen  countries  reported  rural  DSL  coverage  levels  exceeding  the  European 
average. DSL coverage improvements in Croatia and Sweden meant these countries  were above the 
European average for rural DSL coverage, unlike in the 2015 edition of the study. Rural DSL coverage 
in  Estonia,  Latvia  and  Lithuania  remained  at  below  40%  in  mid-2016,  considerably  below  the  other 
study countries. 

However,  other  technologies  can  serve  as  a  partial  substitute  for  DSL  in  rural  areas  meaning  that 
countries with low-DSL coverage in rural areas are often among the leaders in terms of rural WiMAX 
coverage.  

Compared to mid-2015, a further six countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Iceland, Malta and the UK) 
reported that WiMAX was not available to households in rural areas in mid-2016. As noted previously, 
this  reflects  the  decision  of  several  operators  to  discontinue  WiMAX  in  order  to  redistribute  the 
spectrum for LTE.  

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With  regards  to  cable  technologies  in  rural  areas,  the  nature  of  cable  network  deployment,  and  its 
primary focus on urban and semi-urban areas, results in limited coverage for rural households. At the 
end of June 2016, only 10.7% of rural EU households had access to cable broadband. This equates to 
a 0.5 percentage point increase, a similar growth rate to previous editions of the study.  

4.4.2 Rural NGA coverage by country  
Ensuring access to high speed broadband services for rural households is one of the main challenges 
that European countries face in implementing their national strategies for achieving the targets set out 
in the Digital Agenda for Europe.  

Malta continued to lead the study in terms of rural NGA coverage, with near-complete NGA coverage 
of  rural  households.  The  rural  EU  average  for  NGA  technologies,  at  39.2%,  continued  to  be 
considerably lower than total NGA coverage (76.0%). However, in contrast to previous years, the gap 
between  rural  NGA  and  total  NGA  coverage  reduced.  By  mid-2016,  the  difference  was  36.7 

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percentage  points  in  comparison  to  over  40  percentage  points  in  mid-2015.  This  suggests  that 
deployment is shifting towards rural areas, as urban areas start to reach saturation for NGA coverage. 

Seventeen  countries  performed  better  than  the  EU  average,  and  four  countries  recorded  rural  NGA 
coverage  exceeding  90%  -  Malta,  the  Netherlands,  Luxembourg,  and  Switzerland.  As  of  mid-2016, 
Croatia, Finland and Greece recorded rural NGA coverage below 10%. In all three of these countries, 
the  availability  of  DSL  connections  in  rural  areas  is  rather  high  and  an  upgrade  of  such  networks  to 
VDSL  could  potentially  lead  to  increased  rural  NGA  coverage  in  the  future.  For  instance,  rural  NGA 
coverage in Italy improved by 16 percentage points in the twelve-month period to mid-2016, driven by 
the deployment of VDSL networks. Previously, at the end of June 2015, only 3.1% of rural homes had 
access to NGA broadband and in 2014, there was no rural NGA coverage recorded in Italy.  

4.4.2.1 Rural VDSL, FTTP and DOCSIS 3.0 coverage by country  
VDSL remained the leading rural NGA technology. Rural VDSL coverage improved by 7.7 percentage 
points, with VDSL networks passing 26.6% of rural homes in the EU by mid-2016. This constitutes a 
considerably faster rate of rural growth, compared to previous editions of the study.  

Luxembourg continued to lead in terms of rural VDSL coverage, with almost 90% of rural households 
reached.  Iceland,  the  UK  and  Belgium  were  the  only  three  other  countries  to  record  rural  coverage 
levels of more than 60%.  

With  regards  to  rural  FTTP  coverage,  Latvia  was  the  leader  with  nearly  70%  of  rural  households 
reached by FTTP by mid-2016. Luxembourg and Denmark were the only two other countries to have 
around  50%  rural  FTTP  coverage,  reaching  51.5%  and  49.0%  of  households,  respectively.  Fifteen 
other countries recorded above-average FTTP availability; although in many of these countries FTTP 
coverage  was  still  less  than  30%.  Rural  households  in  four  countries  (Belgium,  Cyprus,  Greece  and 
Malta) had no access to FTTP services.  

In the  previous editions  of  the  BCE study, rural FTTP coverage in  Lithuania  was estimated  to  reach 
around  90%  of  rural  households.  However,  results  of  a  detailed  mapping  study  conducted  by  the 
Lithuanian Ministry of Transport and Communications suggest that a much smaller proportion of rural 
households  in  Lithuania  (around  40%)  have  access  to  FTTP  broadband.  In  light  of  this  new  data, 
historical data has been restated accordingly. 

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Developments  in  rural  DOCSIS  3.0  coverage  continued  to  broadly  reflect  the  availability  of  standard 
cable  broadband  services.  By  mid-2016,  rural  DOCSIS  3.0  coverage  increased  by  0.7  percentage 
points to 10.1%. Malta was the only country with near-complete rural DOCSIS 3.0 coverage, followed 
by the Netherlands with 92.5% of rural homes passed by the high-speed cable networks. Switzerland 
and Belgium were the only other countries with more than 50% rural DOCSIS 3.0 coverage. 

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4.4.3 Rural Mobile coverage by country  

4.4.3.1 Rural HSPA coverage by country 
HSPA  continued  to  offer  the  second  widest  rural  broadband  coverage  in  the  EU  after  satellite 
broadband.  Five  countries  (Bulgaria,  Denmark,  Latvia,  Finland  and  Romania)  reported  complete 
coverage,  with  several  others  recording  near-complete  coverage  levels.  All  countries,  with  the 
exception of the UK, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany, recorded HSPA coverage of more than 
90%.  

4.4.3.2 Rural LTE coverage by country  
Rural  LTE coverage registered a  substantial increase in  the twelve-month period to mid-2016, rising 
by 43.4 percentage points to 79.7%. Conversely, in the six-month period to mid-2015, total rural LTE 
coverage increased by only 9.3 percentage points.  

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In  total,  21  countries  reported  coverage  levels  above  the  EU  average.  However,  there  are  still 
considerable differences compared to HSPA coverage. Three countries recorded rural LTE coverage 
of  below  50%  (Romania,  Bulgaria  and  Cyprus).  Cyprus  was  the  only  country  with  no  rural  LTE 
coverage, following the initiation of rural LTE deployments in Malta and Bulgaria.  

By  mid-2016,  sixteen  study  countries  reported  rural  LTE  coverage  above  90%  compared  to  six 
countries (Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Slovenia, Norway and Luxembourg) in mid-2015. The 
highest coverage increases were reported in the UK and Poland, where rural LTE coverage increased 
by 85.2 and 82.6 percentage points, respectively. By mid-2016, rural LTE covered 95.3% of rural UK 
households and 88.4% of rural Polish households.  

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4.5 Coverage by speed categories 

4.5.1 Europe-wide coverage by speed categories 

Looking at coverage levels by the individual speed categories, it is possible to see that at the end of 
June 2016, 96.7% of EU households were reached by networks providing them with actual download 
speeds of at least 2 Mbps, a constant trend compared to mid-2015. 

As for availability of connections with at least 30 Mbps actual download speed, three-quarters (75.1%) 
of  EU  homes  had  access  to  such  services  in  mid-2016.  This  speed  category  registered  the  highest 
increase, growing by 7.5 percentage points compared to the end of June 2016. The increase can be 
attributed to overall growth in fixed NGA coverage, but also to technological advancements meaning 
that  higher  number  of  VDSL  networks  is  capable  of  supporting  30  Mbps  download  speeds  and  LTE 
networks are capable of supporting such speeds in a consistent manner, a fact that has been reflected 
in the speed coverage estimates for the first time in 2016. 

The  research  team  estimates  that  over  a  half  (50.9%)  of  EU  households  had  access  to  broadband 
services  capable  of  providing  at  least  100  Mbps  actual  download  speeds  at  the  end  of  June  2016 
meaning that EU as whole has reached the Digital Agenda goal of 50% of households having access 
to  100  Mbps  broadband  services  by  2020.  However,  as  is  explained  in  the  following  sections,  big 
differences remain among individual countries. 

4.5.2 Country comparison of coverage by speed categories 

The information gathered on actual download speed of at least 2 Mbps shows that in most countries, 
vast majority of households had access to connections with at least 2 Mbps actual download speeds 
at the end of June 2016. In 11 countries, at least 2 Mbps actual download speeds were available to all 
or nearly-all (over 99.8%) households.  

Lower  availability  of  at  least  2  Mbps  broadband  connections  was  recorded  for  countries  with  higher 
proportion  of  DSL  or  WiMAX  networks  in  the  make-up  of  fixed  broadband  coverage,  as  traditionally 
DSL  (and  WiMAX)  networks  tend  to  be  less  reliable  in  sustaining  actual  speeds  at  peak  times 
compared to cable and FTTP networks. In Slovakia, Estonia, and Poland fewer than 90.0% of homes 
were passed by networks capable of delivering at least 2 Mbps actual download speeds. 

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In a number of countries, availability of at least 2 Mbps broadband connections reached higher levels 
than  that  of  fixed  broadband  coverage.  In  Germany,  Iceland,  Norway,  Romania,  Slovenia,  and 
Sweden, mobile networks and LTE networks in particular were reported to provide sustainable actual 
downloads  speeds  of  at  least  2  Mbps  and  thus  contributed  to  boosting  the  coverage  by  at  least  2 
Mbps speed category to surpass coverage provided by fixed broadband networks. 

Similar trend  was also observed  when  looking at the NGA coverage figures in comparison  with data 
on at least 30 Mbps actual download speeds. In France, Lithuania, Norway, Romania, Slovenia, and 
Sweden  more  households  were  able  to  access  broadband  services  providing  them  with  at  least  30 
Mbps  actual  download  speeds  than  there  were  homes  passed  by  fixed  NGA  networks.  This 
development shows the potential and technological improvement of the LTE networks, which in these 
countries were considered to be able to partially support the at least 30 Mbps speeds for the required 
majority (75%) of time at the end of June 2016. 

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In addition, many countries experienced a substantial growth in availability of connections supporting 
at  least  30  Mbps  actual  download  speeds  in  the  twelve-month  period  to  the  end  of  June  2016.  The 
highest  growth  was  recorded  in  Italy,  where  at  least  30  Mbps  coverage  grew  by  28.2  percentage 
points  and  at  the  end  of  June  2016,  more  than  7  in  10  Italian  households  (71.8%)  had  access  to 
services  providing  these  speeds.  The  main  reason  for  this  growth  was  a  steep  increase  in  VDSL 
coverage  witnessed  in  Italy  over  the  same  period,  with  information  provided  by  the  main  VDSL 
networks operators suggesting that most connections over the newly deployed VDSL networks were 
capable of supporting the at least 30 Mbps actual speeds. 

However,  this  was  not  a  case  for  many  other  countries,  which  have  seen  large  increases  in  VDSL 
coverage  in  recent  years,  resulting  in  high  levels  of  VDSL  coverage  compared  to  other  NGA 
technologies.  As  the  quality  of  VDSL  connection  speeds  relies  on  a  number  of  factors,  such  as 
distance  from  the  street  cabinet  or  presence  of  crosstalk,  VDSL  networks  tend  to  be  impacted  the 
most in terms of inconsistencies in actual speeds achieved at peak times. 

Countries,  with  the  largest  gaps  between  the  two  categories  (NGA  coverage  and  At  least  30  Mbps 
coverage)  include  Austria,  Finland,  the  UK,  and  Croatia,  for  which  differences  of  more  than  8 
percentage points were recorded. 

As mentioned previously,  by mid-2016, the  EU as  whole reached  the Digital  Agenda goal of 50%  of 
households having access to 100 Mbps broadband services by 2020. However, big differences remain 
among individual countries, with levels of 100 Mbps availability ranging from 99.4% in Malta to virtually 
no connections being able to support at least 100 Mbps speeds in Greece. 

Biggest increases in terms of availability of at least 100 Mbps actual download speeds, were recorded 
for Norway and Poland,  which  witnessed  a 39.0 and 35.2 percentage points increases, respectively. 
As  was  the  case  with  the  “At  least  2  Mbps”  and  “At  least  30  Mbps”  speed  categories,  the  main 
contributor to this increase was the inclusion of LTE in this category as reported by the NRAs. 

When  comparing  NGA  coverage  levels  to  the  availability  of  100  Mbps  actual  download  speeds,  it  is 
possible to conclude that high NGA coverage does not necessarily mean high levels of availability of 
at least 100 Mbps speeds. Countries such as the UK, Italy, Austria and Ireland, where VDSL networks 
make  up  significant  portion  of  the  overall  NGA  coverage  show  some  of  the  biggest  differences.  For 
example,  in  the  case  of  the  UK,  while  92.3%  of  homes  are  passed  by  NGA  networks,  services 
supporting  actual  download  speeds  of  100  Mbps  and  higher  are  available  to  less  than  a  quarter 
(23.6%) of UK households. 

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4.6 NUTS 3 level total coverage 

The  maps  included  in  this  chapter  indicate  the  distribution  of  fixed  and  NGA  broadband  coverage 
across Europe’s regions and demonstrate the study results discussed in the previous chapters of this 
report. 

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5.0 Coverage by Country 

5.1 Austria 

5.1.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

In the twelve months to June 2016, overall broadband coverage in Austria remained slightly below the 
EU average, both nationally and in rural areas. Fixed broadband coverage was relatively unchanged 
during the period and continued to be above the EU average by nearly 2 percentage points at  a both 
national  and  rural  level.  NGA  coverage  remained  stable,  rising  less  than  0.5  percentage  points,  as 
Austria  continued  to  outperform  the  EU  average  for  total  NGA  coverage  and  nearly  9  in  10  (89.2%) 
Austrian  households  had  access  to  NGA  services.  In  terms  of  rural  NGA  coverage,  there  was  an 
increase  of  around  16  percentage  points  in  the  year  to  mid-2016  as  Austria  moved  above  the  EU 
average. By mid-2016, 41.5% rural homes in  Austria  were passed  by  NGA networks and rural NGA 
coverage  can  be  expected  to  continue  to  grow,  helped  by  a  funding  programme  put  in  place  by  the 
Austrian Government to close the urban-rural gap.6 

By  mid-2016,  DSL  networks  reached  around  98%  of  Austrian  households,  unchanged  from  the 
previous year. During the twelve months to mid-2016, Austrian cable coverage moved above the EU 
average (44.4%), increasing by  8.5 percentage points to 49.1% of homes. Cable coverage in Austria 
can  be  expected  to  continue  to  grow,  with  the  leading  cable  company,  UPC,  set  to  deploy  cable 
networks  to  an  additional  250,000  households  across  Austria  and  Switzerland  over  the  next  five 
years.7  

Looking  at  NGA  broadband,  VDSL  remained  the  key  NGA  technology  in  Austria.  The  proportion  of 
homes reached by VDSL networks (82.1%) was unchanged from previous years, remaining above the 
EU  average  (48.2%).  Moreover,  DOCSIS  3.0  coverage  (47.2%)  moved  above  the  EU  average 
(43.9%),  due  to  the  aforementioned  increase  in  cable  coverage.  There  was  minimal  change  in  the 
reach of FTTP networks in the twelve-month period to the end of June 2016, although in August 2016 
the incumbent (A1 Telekom Austria) revealed it plans to deploy FTTP networks to an additional 30,000 
households8. 

6
 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2016/10/17/austria-allocates-eur110m-for-broadband-
development-in-2017/ 
7
 https://www.upc.at/ueber-upc/presse/pressearchiv/upc-startet-millionen-investitionsprogramm-autostrada/  
8
 http://www.a1.net/newsroom/2016/08/a1-erweitert-breitband-internet-in-grazer-innenstadt-mit-neuer-ausbauvariante/  

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Examining  mobile  broadband  technologies,  the  proportion  of  Austrian  households  covered  by  LTE 
networks increased by 9.5 percentage points to reach 99.0% of households, thus remaining above the 
EU  average  of  96.0%.  Moreover,  when  average  coverage  of  LTE  networks  of  all  mobile  network 
operators  is  considered,  on  average  LTE  services  were  available  to  89.3%  of  Austrians. With  near-
universal LTE coverage, Austrian operators such as T-Mobile are trialling 4.5G as a precursor to the 
development of 5G technology.9  

DSL  remained  the  primary  broadband  technology  in  rural  areas,  reaching  89.0%  of  households, 
unchanged  from  the  previous  year.  The  number  of  rural  households  passed  by  cable  networks 
increased 3.3 percentage  points to  20.7%, considerably higher than the  EU  average (10.7%). There 
was a reduction in WiMAX coverage, leading to a slight drop in the rural fixed broadband combination 
category.  

9
 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2016/10/24/t-mobile-austria-huawei-demo-speeds-of-almost-
2gbps/  

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Examining rural NGA coverage, rural VDSL availability increased by 10.8 percentage points during the 
period,  but  the  difference  between  rural  VDSL  coverage  (17.9%)  and  total  VDSL  coverage  (82.1%) 
remained substantial and rural  VDSL coverage in Austria continued to be below the  EU average.  At 
20.7%, DOCSIS 3.0 was key NGA access technology in rural areas, increasing 3.3 percentage points 
in the twelve months to the end of June 2016. 

With regards to mobile broadband technology in rural areas, LTE coverage increased to 92.6% of rural 
households, rising 67 percentage points. Given the extent of LTE coverage in rural areas, A1 Telekom 
Austria  is  evaluating  fixed-mobile  solutions  to  deliver  high-speed  broadband  in  rural  areas. 10  On 
average, LTE services provided by all Austrian mobile network operators were available to 89.3% of 
Austrians at the end of June 2016. This is higher than the average EU value    

10

 https://www.telekomaustria.com/en/newsroom/2016-7-15-telekom-austria-group-austrian-subsidiary-a1-presents-the-internet-

of-the-next-generation  

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5.1.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Examining individual regions, fixed broadband coverage did not vary significantly across regions, with 
all regions reporting coverage in the 98%-100% range. Universal fixed broadband coverage was 
recorded in the Salzburg und Umgebung region. 

With regards to NGA coverage, the situation was more varied, with coverage levels ranging from close 
to 65% in Weinviertel and Oststeiermark to 100% in the Salzburg region.  

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5.1.3 Data tables for Austria  

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

8,576,261 
2.2 
13.7% 

Austria 2016 

Austria 2015 

Austria 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

98.3% 

89.0% 

98.4% 

89.1% 

98.4% 

88.9% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

82.1% 

17.9% 

82.1% 

7.1% 

81.6% 

5.4% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

7.8% 

5.3% 

7.1% 

2.1% 

7.1% 

2.1% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

12.5% 

11.7% 

16.1% 

18.0% 

16.5% 

18.0% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

49.1% 

20.7% 

40.6% 

17.4% 

39.1% 

17.2% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

47.2% 

20.7% 

40.6% 

17.4% 

39.1% 

17.2% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

99.1% 

93.4% 

98.0% 

85.2% 

98.0% 

85.0% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

99.0% 

92.6% 

89.5% 

25.6% 

60.1% 

4.6% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

89.3% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100% 

100% 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

99.7% 

97.8% 

99.3% 

94.8% 

99.3% 

94.8% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

99.1% 

94.2% 

99.2% 

94.7% 

99.2% 

94.7% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

89.2% 

41.5% 

88.8% 

25.9% 

88.2% 

22.4% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

98.6% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

80.3% 

52.9% 

- 

- 

- 

98.5% 

76.9% 

42.3% 

- 

- 

- 

98.4% 

75.9% 

40.8% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA.  

During the 2016 data collection, newly introduced checks of rural coverage estimates, comparing the 
number  of  uncovered  households  on  a  total  level  to  the  number  of  uncovered  rural  households 
identified previously underestimated rural DSL and VDSL coverage levels leading to restatements of 
data reported in previous year. All restatements are highlighted in italics. 

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5.2 Belgium 

5.2.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

As  in  previous  years,  Belgium  outperformed  the  EU  average  in  terms  of  broadband  coverage  for  all 
technology  combination  categories.  Given  the  high  broadband  coverage  levels  achieved  in  previous 
years, it  is unsurprising that there  were no substantial changes in broadband coverage levels during 
the  twelve  months  to  the  end  of  June  2016.  The  only  notable  change  was  a  1.9  percentage  point 
increase in rural NGA coverage, which reached 88.3% of rural homes.  

With  regards  to  fixed  broadband  access  at  a  national  level,  there  were  no  substantial  coverage 
increases reported in the twelve-month period to mid-2016. VDSL coverage increased 2.1 percentage 
points, while DSL, cable and DOCSIS 3.0 coverage remained relatively unchanged.  

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DOCSIS  3.0  continued  to  be  the  key  NGA  technology  in  Belgium,  although  Belgium  was  also  the 
European leader in terms of VDSL coverage, with 92.5% homes passed compared to the EU average 
of 48.2%. As in previous  years, the proportion of homes passed  by FTTP technology remained low. 
However, this is set to change due to substantial investment from the incumbent. In December 2016, 
Proximus revealed plans to invest EUR 3 billion in the next 10 years, in order to cover more than 85% 
of enterprises and more than 50% of all households in Belgium with FTTP networks.11  

Looking at mobile broadband technologies in Belgium, HSPA coverage reached universal levels. LTE 
coverage  increased  14.3  percentage  points  to  reach  99.0%  of  households  by  mid-2016.  Network 
investments  look  set  to  continue  with  the  leading  cable  operator,  Telenet,  committing  to  spend  EUR 
250  million  on  the  mobile  network  it  acquired  from  Base. 12  Meanwhile,  with  near-universal  LTE 
coverage,  mobile  operators  such  as  Orange  (previously  Mobistar)  and  Proximus  looked  towards 
technologies such as 4.5G13 and LTE-A14 to provide network differentiation.  

Due to these high-level investments in LTE networks, average coverage of all LTE networks operators 
reached 94.5% of Belgians by mid-2016. 

DSL  remained  the  main  broadband  access  technology  in  rural  areas,  reaching  96.9%  of  rural 
households.  Rural  cable  coverage  increased  at  a  faster  rate,  rising  by  6.3  percentage  points.  As  a 
result,  Belgium  continued  to  be  characterised  by  relatively  high  rural  cable  coverage,  with  70.9%  of 
rural  homes  passed  compared  to  the  EU  average  of  10.7%.  Consolidation  of  regional  cable 
companies  continues,  with  Telenet’s  acquisition  of  regional  operator,  Coditel.15 In  terms  of  mobile 
broadband  access  in  rural  areas,  LTE  coverage  increased  by  around  61  percentage  points  to  cover 
98.6% of rural households. 

When comparing rural coverage in Belgium with other countries, it is important to note that Belgium is 
the second most urbanised country included in the study (after Malta). 4.1% of households in Belgium 
are classified as rural, compared to the EU average of 14.0%. 

11

12

13

14

15

 https://www.proximus.com/en/news/20161216_Fiber  
 https://press.telenet.be/telenet-versnelt-modernisering-van-zijn-mobiel-netwerk  
 https://www.proximus.com/en/news/proximus-launches-45g-technology-first-belgium  
 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2017/03/08/orange-extends-4g-coverage-to-brussels-metro/  
 https://press.telenet.be/telenet-breidt-haar-kabelaanwezigheid-uit-in-brussel-een-deel-van-wallonie-en-delen-van-het-

groothertogdom-luxemburg-door-de-overname-van-sfr-belux  

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5.2.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Fixed broadband coverage in all Belgian regions exceeded 99% with no substantial changes in fixed 
coverage recorded in any of the regions. 

With regards to NGA technologies, a clear pattern can be observed when comparing the Flemish and 
the Walloon regions. While the former regions reported complete NGA coverage, coverage rates in 
the Walloon regions varied between 94% and nearly 100%. 

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5.2.3 Data tables for Belgium  

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

11,258,434  
2.3 
4.1% 

Belgium 2016 

Belgium 2015 

Belgium 2014 

EU28  2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

99.9% 

96.9% 

99.9% 

98.8% 

99.9% 

98.8% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

92.5% 

73.4% 

90.4% 

71.9% 

90.0% 

69.2% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

0.6% 

0.0% 

0.4% 

0.0% 

0.4% 

0.0% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

14.8% 

2.6% 

15.0% 

3.3% 

15.1% 

3.3% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

96.4% 

70.9% 

96.3% 

64.6% 

96.2% 

60.1% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

96.4% 

70.9% 

96.3% 

64.6% 

96.2% 

60.1% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

100.0% 

99.4% 

97.9% 

81.0% 

97.8% 

77.4% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

99.9% 

98.6% 

85.6% 

38.0% 

67.8% 

28.2% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

94.5% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

100.0% 

99.8% 

99.9% 

99.4% 

99.9% 

99.5% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

99.9% 

98.5% 

99.9% 

99.4% 

99.9% 

99.4% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

98.9% 

88.3% 

98.9% 

86.4% 

98.8% 

84.0% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

99.8% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

98.2% 

96.5% 

- 

- 

- 

99.8% 

98.1% 

96.4% 

- 

- 

- 

99.8% 

98.0% 

96.2% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA.  

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5.3 Bulgaria 

5.3.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

Overall  broadband  and  fixed  broadband  coverage  remained  relatively  unchanged  during  the  twelve 
months  to  mid-2016.  Overall  broadband  coverage  was  universal  at  a  both  national  and  rural  level, 
while  fixed  broadband  coverage  was  below  the  EU  average.  Bulgaria  did  witness  improvements  in 
NGA  availability,  which  increased  by  2.3  percentage  points  at  a  national  level  and  0.6  percentage 
points at a rural level. Despite these improvements, NGA coverage in Bulgaria remained below the EU 
average,  both  nationally  and  in  rural  areas.  Nationally,  little  less  than  three-quarters  (74.1%)  of 
Bulgarian  households  had  access  to  NGA  broadband  services,  yet  only  17.3%  of  rural  homes  were 
passed by NGA networks at the end of June 2016. 

Examining  individual  technologies,  DSL  remained  the  most  widespread  fixed  broadband  technology 
but,  at  85.2%,  remained  below  the  EU  average  of  94.3%.  On  the  other  hand,  Bulgarian  cable 
coverage was above the EU average of 44.4%, passing 65.9% of households. Moreover, in previous 
years, Bulgaria was characterised by high levels of WiMAX coverage. This is no longer the case due 
to  operators  discontinuing  the  service,  in  order  to  reallocate  the  spectrum  to  LTE  networks.  Most 
notable, in November 2015, Max Telecom shut down its WiMAX service and moved customers to its 
LTE network.16  

In  relation  to  NGA  technologies,  VDSL  services  continued  to  be  absent  in  Bulgaria.  DOCSIS  3.0 
passed  63.6%  of  households,  making  it  the  most  prevalent  NGA  technology  in  Bulgaria.  FTTP 
networks  reached  37.1%  of  homes,  an  increase  of  4.9  percentage  points  when  compared  to  the 
previous  year.  The  incumbent,  Vivacom  (brand  name  of  Bulgarian  Telecommunications  Company), 
passed  1.1m  homes  with  its  FTTP  network  as  of  June  2016 17 ,  while  other  providers  such  as 
Bulsatcom and MTel (MobilTel) have also invested in fibre networks in recent years. 

Looking  at  FTTP  coverage,  it  is  important  to  note  one  specific  aspect  of  the  Bulgarian  broadband 
market:  In  many  areas,  fibre  optic  cable  is  rolled  out  very  near  to  individual  properties  or  blocks  of 
flats, with coaxial cable used in the distance from the last amplifier to the customers’ homes. While this 
FTTLA  (fibre-to-the-last-amplifier)  architecture  is  sometimes  described  as  FTTB,  in  the  case  of 
Bulgaria this coverage was classified as DOCSIS 3.0 rather than FTTP. This classification was applied 
by Point Topic in 2012 and maintained in subsequent analysis. Given that both FTTP and DOCSIS 3.0 

16

 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2015/11/03/max-to-discontinue-wimax-services-in-november/ 

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technologies  are  combined  in  the  NGA  broadband  coverage  category,  this  classification  does  not 
impact the total NGA coverage levels. 

Bulgaria was late to launch LTE services, with the first LTE network deployed by Max Telecom in May 
2014. 18 Bulsatcom  followed  in  early  2015,  while  Telenor  Bulgaria  introduced  their  LTE  service  in 
December  2015. 19  Network  operators  proceeded  with  their  LTE  deployment,  as  LTE  coverage 
continued to increase, rising by 28.4 percentage points in the twelve months to the end of June 2016. 
However, despite this considerable increase, LTE coverage in Bulgaria at 76.5% remained below the 
EU average of 96.0%.  

The fact that Bulgarian mobile network operators have begun to deploy LTE networks relatively late, 
also has an impact in the comparatively low levels of average LTE operator coverage  which reached 
only 65.7% at the end of June 2016. 

In rural areas, DSL services remained the most widespread in terms of coverage, reaching 75.3% of 
rural homes. Cable networks passed 16.9% of rural households, an increase of 0.7 percentage points. 
As mentioned, WiMAX coverage considerably reduced during the twelve months to mid-2016 due to 
operators discontinuing the service.  

Rural  DOCSIS  3.0  and  FTTP  continued  to  be  the  only  NGA  technologies  available  to  rural 
households,  though  the  latter  was  available  to  only  0.7%  of  rural  homes.  All  cable  networks  in  rural 
areas  were  upgraded  to  DOCSIS  3.0,  meaning  the  technology  passed  16.9%  of  homes,  which  was 
above the EU average of 10.7%. 

This  edition  of  the  study  marked  the  first  time  that  LTE  services  were  available  in  rural  Bulgaria,  as 
LTE networks reached 18.7% of rural households. HSPA coverage increased 0.4 percentage points, 
becoming universal in rural areas. 

17

18

 https://s2.vivacom.bg/files/financial_reports/74/document/Vivacom_results_presentation_Q2_2016_v1.pdf 
 https://www.maxtelecom.bg/en/about/news/max-telecom-announces-the-commercial-launch-of-the-first-4g-lte-network-in-

bulgaria 
19

 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2015/11/27/telenor-bulgaria-poised-to-launch-lte-on-1-

december/ 

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61  

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5.3.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Fixed broadband coverage in Bulgaria ranged between 81% and 100% across individual regions, with 
eight  regions  (Gabrovo,  Silistra,  Varna,  Shumen,  Burgas,  Sliven,  Blagoevgrad,  and  Smolyan) 
recording complete coverage.  

In mid-2016, NGA coverage in Bulgaria remained very varied, with coverage levels ranging from  only 
12% coverage in Vidin to nearly complete NGA coverage in the capital Sofia.  

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5.3.3 Data tables for Bulgaria  

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

7,202,198  
2.4 
19.5% 

Bulgaria 2016 

Bulgaria 2015 

Bulgaria 2014 

EU28  2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

85.2% 

75.3% 

85.1% 

76.0% 

85.1% 

69.4% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

37.1% 

0.8% 

32.2% 

0.7% 

28.3% 

0.2% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

64.6% 

12.3% 

64.6% 

12.3% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

65.9% 

16.9% 

64.9% 

16.2% 

64.5% 

15.1% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

63.6% 

16.9% 

62.9% 

16.2% 

61.4% 

15.1% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

100.0%  100.0% 

99.9% 

99.6% 

99.6% 

97.9% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

76.5% 

18.7% 

48.1% 

0.0% 

36.1% 

0.0% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

65.7% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.9% 

99.9% 

99.3% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

95.2% 

80.8% 

95.2% 

81.2% 

95.1% 

80.0% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

74.1% 

17.3% 

71.8% 

16.7% 

69.4% 

15.1% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

94.9% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

71.3% 

18.6% 

- 

- 

- 

94.9% 

68.4% 

15.7% 

- 

- 

- 

94.8% 

66.5% 

15.1% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

During the 2016 data collection, newly introduced checks of rural coverage estimates, comparing the 
number  of  uncovered  households  on  a  total  level  to  the  number  of  uncovered  rural  households 
identified  previously  underestimated  rural  cable  and  DOCSIS  3.0  coverage  levels  leading  to 
restatements of data reported in previous year. All restatements are highlighted in italics. 

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5.4 Croatia 

5.4.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

At the end of June 2016, Croatia continued to lag behind the EU average in all coverage combination 
categories on both national and rural levels. The difference in Croatian coverage compared to the EU 
average was negligible in terms of the overall broadband and fixed broadband combinations, but more 
notable  when  NGA  broadband  availability  was  examined.  By  mid-2016,  59.9%  of  all  Croatian 
households  and  10.1%  of  rural  Croatian  households  had  access  to  NGA  broadband  services. While 
this  represented  a  considerable  improvement  at  a  total  level,  equivalent  to  around  8  percentage 
points, rural NGA coverage remained relatively unchanged when compared to the previous edition of 
this study.  

Looking  at  individual  technologies,  DSL  was  the  most  widespread  fixed  broadband  technology, 
reaching 94.9% of Croatian homes. While Croatian DSL coverage was slightly above the EU average 
of 94.3%, cable network coverage in the country was below the EU average of 44.4%. At  34.3%, the 
availability of cable networks in  Croatia increased 1.6 percentage points during the twelve months to 
the end of June 2016. 

In terms of NGA broadband access, VDSL services witnessed the biggest improvement with regards 
to total coverage. VDSL networks passed 44.2% of households, increasing by 8.3 percentage points, 
as the incumbent T-Hrvatski Telekom continued to upgrade its copper network. T-Hrvatski Telekom is 
also exploring other ways to increase the speeds of its existing infrastructure, including G.fast.20 The 
other two NGA technologies examined in this study, DOCSIS 3.0 and FTTP, also recorded increases 
in their respective coverage levels. FTTP coverage reached 15.6% of households at the end of June 
2016,  a  5.5  percentage  point  improvement,  while  DOCSIS  3.0  networks  passed  26.9%  of  Croatian 
homes,  a  3.9  percentage  point  increase.  Despite  this  increase  in  DOCSIS  3.0  coverage,  the 
proportion of cable networks upgraded to DOCSIS 3.0 remained lower than all other study countries.  

As  was the case  in the previous edition of this study, Croatian mobile  operators T-Hrvatski Telekom 
and VIPNet continued to deploy their LTE networks throughout the period. In addition, Tele2 launched 
their  nationwide  4G  network  in  February  2016.21 As  a  consequence  of  these  investments,  total  LTE 
coverage increased by 21.2 percentage points, reaching 90.1% of homes, but remained below the EU 
average of 96.0%. 

20

 http://www.t.ht.hr/en/Press/press-releases/3379/Hrvatski-Telekom-paves-the-way-to-digital-future-amongst-the-first-in-

Europe-to-present-superfast-Internet-technologies-LTE-A-Pr.html 
21

 http://www.tele2.com/media/press-releases/2016/tele2-croatia-launches-4g/ 

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Due to the fact that Croatian mobile network operators are still in the process of deploying their LTE 
networks, the average LTE operator coverage was recorded to be relatively low at 66.7% at the end of 
June 2016. 

In  rural  areas,  DSL  was  the  most  prevalent  broadband  access  technology,  passing  86.4%  of  rural 
homes at the end of June  2016.  As  in the previous  edition  of the study, the availability  of cable  and 
DOCSIS 3.0 networks remained stable in rural areas. Standard cable networks passed 11.0% of rural 
households, while DOCSIS 3.0 networks covered 9.8% of rural homes. As a consequence, rural cable 
coverage  was  slightly  above  the  EU  average  (10.7%)  and  rural  DOCSIS  3.0  coverage  was  slightly 
below the  EU average (10.1%). DOCSIS 3.0 continued to be the key NGA broadband technology  in 
rural areas, with minimal FTTP and VDSL coverage in rural Croatia. 

There  was  considerable  growth  in  the  coverage  of  LTE  networks  in  rural  Croatia  during  the  twelve 
months to the end of June 2016. At 56.0%, rural LTE availability increased by 45.3 percentage points, 
but  remained  below  the  EU  average  (79.7%).  Coverage  of  HSPA  networks  also  continued  to  grow, 
increasing 5.4 percentage points to 96.4% of rural homes. 

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5.4.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Looking  at  regional  coverage  patterns,  all  regions  reported  fixed  broadband  coverage  levels 
exceeding  90%  with  the  exception  of  the  Krapinsko-zagorska  region  (84.0%)  and  the  Virovitičko-
podravska region (83.3%). 

NGA coverage remained very varied, ranging from less than 23.7% in Krapinsko-zagorska region to 
over nearly 87% in Zagreb. 

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5.4.3 Data tables for Croatia  

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

4,246,809  
2.8 
22.1% 

Croatia 2016 

Croatia 2015 

Croatia 2014 

EU28  2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Total 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

94.9% 

86.4% 

94.7% 

86.1% 

94.6% 

84.9% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

44.2% 

0.2% 

35.9% 

0.0% 

31.4% 

0.0% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

15.6% 

0.2% 

10.1% 

0.0% 

8.8% 

0.0% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

2.0% 

3.2% 

2.0% 

3.2% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

34.3% 

11.0% 

32.7% 

10.9% 

31.0% 

10.2% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

26.9% 

9.8% 

23.0% 

9.8% 

21.8% 

9.7% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

99.2% 

96.4% 

98.0% 

91.0% 

97.7% 

89.9% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

90.1% 

56.0% 

68.9% 

10.7% 

58.1% 

7.5% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

66.7% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

99.6% 

98.3% 

99.1% 

95.9% 

99.0% 

95.4% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

97.0% 

89.2% 

96.9% 

89.2% 

96.6% 

88.0% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

59.9% 

10.1% 

52.0% 

9.8% 

47.5% 

10.2% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

96.4% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

52.3% 

25.3% 

- 

- 

- 

96.1% 

49.1% 

22.0% 

- 

- 

- 

95.8% 

54.3% 

21.8% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

During the 2016 data collection, newly introduced checks of rural coverage estimates, comparing the 
number  of  uncovered  households  on  a  total  level  to  the  number  of  uncovered  rural  households 
identified  previously  underestimated  rural  DSL  coverage  levels  leading  to  restatements  of  data 
reported in previous year. All restatements are highlighted in italics. 

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5.5 Cyprus 

5.5.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

Since  2012,  Cyprus  has  attained  complete  overall  and  fixed  broadband  coverage  at  a  national  and 
rural  level.  Therefore  the  focus  in  terms  of  broadband  coverage  improvement  is  to  increase  the 
availability  of  NGA  technologies  across  Cyprus.  By  mid-2016,  NGA  broadband  coverage  in  Cyprus 
was  above  the  EU  average  at  both  a  national  and  rural  level,  as  both  measurements  increased  by 
around 3.5 percentage points during the twelve-month period to the end of June 2016 to reach 87.5% 
of households nationally and 60.0% of household in rural areas. 

Looking  at  individual  broadband  technologies,  DSL  services  were  available  to  all  homes  in  Cyprus, 
while  cable  networks  passed  68.7%  of  households  by  mid-2016,  an  11  percentage  point  increase 
compared to the previous year. Cable networks continued to compete on speed, demonstrated by the 
main cable operator (Cablenet) increasing its download speeds to 120Mbps22, and all cable networks 
being upgraded to DOCSIS 3.0. Despite this, VDSL services were the most prevalent with regards to 
NGA  broadband  access,  as  the  incumbent  CYTA  continued  to  upgrade  its  copper  infrastructure.23  
VDSL  networks  increased  by  7.0  percentage  points  during  the  twelve-month  period  to  mid-2016, 
reaching  75%  of  households.  FTTP  coverage  increased  at  a  slower  pace,  at  2  percentage  points  in 
the year to the end of June 2016, passing over a half (51.2%) of Cypriot households. 

Examining  mobile  broadband  technologies,  there  is  near-universal  coverage  of  HSPA  networks  in 
Cyprus.  This  is  in  contrast  to  LTE  networks,  which  reached  74.3%  of  households  by  mid-2016,  and 
remained below all study countries in terms of coverage. This is  because Cyprus was  late to launch 
LTE  services,  with  the  first  LTE  networks  in  Cyprus  not  deployed  until  March  2015. 24 Therefore, 
despite considerable growth in the last two years, Cyprus remained behind in this area. 

The  lower  availability  of  LTE  services  is  also  confirmed  when  looking  at  the  average  LTE  operator 
coverage, which reached only 64.2% at the end of June 2016. 

22

23

 http://cablenet.com.cy/home-services-2/cable-triple-play/3play-premium-120m/   
 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2015/10/19/cyta-nearing-completion-of-network-

modernisation-project/ 
24

 http://in-cyprus.com/mtn-primetel-launch-4g-networks/   

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By  mid-2016,  DSL  broadband  provided  complete  rural  coverage  in  Cyprus.  Given  that  neither  FTTP 
nor  DOCSIS  3.0  networks  were  present  in  rural  areas,  VDSL  was  the  only  NGA  access  technology 
available to rural households. Rural VDSL coverage grew by 3.4 percentage points during the twelve-
month period to mid-2016, reaching 60.0% of rural households. 

In terms of mobile broadband availability, Cyprus continued to be the only study country without rural 
LTE coverage. Yet, rural HSPA coverage, at 99.0%, remained above the EU average. 

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5.5.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology25 

25

 Please note that even though the map depicts the area of the whole island, the data on broadband coverage concern only the 

areas under the effective control of the Republic of Cyprus. 

70  

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5.5.3 Data tables for Cyprus  

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

847,008 
2.8 
11.6% 

Cyprus 2016 

Cyprus 2015 

Cyprus 2014 

EU28  2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

75.0% 

60.0% 

68.0% 

56.6% 

60.2% 

51.0% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

51.2% 

0.0% 

49.3% 

0.0% 

48.8% 

0.0% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

68.7% 

0.0% 

57.5% 

0.0% 

56.3% 

0.0% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

68.7% 

0.0% 

57.5% 

0.0% 

56.3% 

0.0% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

99.0% 

99.0% 

99.0% 

99.0% 

99.0% 

99.0% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

74.3% 

0.0% 

60.2% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

64.2% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

87.5% 

60.0% 

84.0% 

56.6% 

80.1% 

51.0% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

100.0% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

84.3% 

84.3% 

- 

- 

- 

100.0% 

78.7% 

78.7% 

- 

- 

- 

100.0% 

78.1% 

78.1% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA.  

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5.6 Czech Republic 

5.6.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

As  of  mid-2016,  99.5%  of  Czech  homes  were  passed  by  at  least  one  fixed  broadband  technology, 
slightly above the EU average of 97.5%. In rural areas, 96.5% rural households had access to fixed 
broadband services. With regards to NGA technologies, on a national level three-quarters (75.1%) of 
Czech households were able to connect to high-speed broadband at the end of June 2016, yet despite 
a 2.2 percentage point increase, total NGA coverage was slightly below the EU average of 75.9%. 

On  the  other  hand,  rural  NGA  coverage  experienced  a  significant  growth  over  the  twelve  months  to 
mid-2016. Increasing by 25.2 percentage points, rural NGA coverage reached over a half (51.9%) of 
rural households at the end of June 2016, above the EU average of 39.2%. 

DSL  and  WiMAX  were  the  two  dominant  fixed  broadband  technologies  in  the  Czech  Republic,  with 
DSL  and  WiMAX  networks  passing  97%  and  83.7%  of  Czech  homes,  respectively.  The  Czech 
broadband market is characterised by a large number of small local fixed wireless providers, which is 
reflected in the relatively high total WiMAX coverage figure based on the combined coverage offered 
by these providers (some of which also offer services within both licenced and unlicensed bands). 

Cable  coverage  increased  by  4.6  percentage  points  compared  to  mid-2015  with  cable  broadband 
services being available to 38.3% of Czech households. As cable companies have traditionally limited 
their  presence  to  big  cities  across  the  Czech  Republic,  vast  majority  of  the  households  covered  by 
cable networks were located in urban areas.   

The most significant developments were recorded in terms of NGA coverage. Following the structural 
separation  of  the  incumbent  O2  Czech  Republic  in  2015,  the  now  independent  infrastructure 
incumbent,  CETIN,  continued  roll-out  of  VDSL,  albeit  at  a  slightly  slower  pace  than  in  the  previous 
years.  Nationally,  VDSL  coverage  increased  by  1.1  percentage  points,  with  53.1%  of  Czech 
households having access to VDSL services by mid-2016. Cable companies, such as UPC or Nej.cz, 
also continued with improvement works on their networks resulting near complete upgrade of all cable 
networks  in  the  Czech  Republic  to  the  DOCSIS  3.0  standard  in  a  4.5  percentage  year-on-year 
increase to a total of 37.7% of households having access to high-speed cable broadband services.  

At  the  end  of  June  2016,  FTTP  networks  were  estimated  to  pass  about  a  third  (35.0%)  of  Czech 
households following a 17.7 percentage  point increase compared to mid-2015.  Most of this increase 
can be attributed to smaller and local operators rolling out these networks.  

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By mid-2016 LTE coverage increased by 4.5 percentage points to a near universal coverage level with 
99.4%  of  homes  passed  by  at  least  one  LTE  network,  above  the  EU  average  of  96.0%.    When 
average  coverage  of  all  LTE  network  operators  is  considered,  on  average  94.3%  of  Czechs  had 
access to LTE services at the end of June 2016. 

While VDSL coverage growth remained limited on a national level, availability of rural VDSL services 
increased significantly since June 2015 with 47.0% of rural homes being passed by VDSL networks by 
mid-2016, an estimated 23.5 percentage point growth.  

Yet the biggest coverage increase in rural areas was recorded for LTE technology, which grew by 39.5 
percentage  points  and  at  the  end  of  June  2016,  LTE  services  were  available  to  95.8%  of  rural 
households across the Czech Republic.  

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5.6.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Fixed  broadband  coverage  levels  in  all  regions  of  the  Czech  Republic  exceeded  98%  although  no 
region reported complete coverage. 

Regional  NGA coverage recorded more varied levels  ranging from around  59% in the  Vysočina  and 
Středočeský regions to more than 94% in the capital, Prague. 

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5.6.3 Data tables for Czech Republic 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

10,538,275 
2.4 
14.3% 

Czech Rep. 2016  Czech Rep.  2015  Czech Rep.  2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

97.0% 

80.2% 

97.0% 

80.8% 

97.0% 

80.8% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

53.1% 

47.0% 

52.0% 

23.6% 

45.7% 

0.0% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

35.0% 

7.7% 

17.3% 

5.7% 

13.9% 

4.0% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

83.7% 

83.5% 

70.6% 

69.9% 

70.6% 

70.0% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

38.3% 

3.1% 

33.7% 

1.5% 

33.4% 

1.4% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

37.7% 

2.0% 

33.3% 

0.6% 

31.9% 

0.6% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

97.0% 

84.9% 

97.0% 

79.2% 

97.0% 

79.2% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

99.4% 

95.8% 

93.8% 

56.3% 

91.9% 

43.4% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

94.3% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

99.8% 

99.2% 

99.2% 

94.4% 

99.2% 

94.4% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

99.5% 

96.5% 

98.5% 

90.4% 

98.5% 

90.3% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

75.1% 

51.9% 

72.9% 

26.7% 

67.3% 

4.5% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

98.5% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

73.9% 

44.5% 

- 

- 

- 

98.0% 

72.7% 

43.3% 

- 

- 

- 

98.0% 

60.4% 

39.4% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

During the 2016 data collection, newly introduced checks of rural coverage estimates, comparing the 
number  of  uncovered  households  on  a  total  level  to  the  number  of  uncovered  rural  households 
identified  previously  underestimated  rural  cable  and  DOCSIS  3.0  coverage  levels  leading  to 
restatements  of  data  reported  in  previous  year.  Moreover,  new  data  available  from  CETIN  led  to  a 
restatement of 2015 rural VDSL coverage. All restatements are highlighted in italics.  

75  

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5.7 Denmark 

5.7.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

By  mid-2016,  Denmark  reported  above-average  coverage  levels  for  all  broadband  combination 
categories.  With  high  coverage  recorded  already  in  previous  years,  the  coverage  levels  for  all 
combination  categories  remained  relatively  unchanged  in  the  twelve-month  period  to  mid-2016.  This 
was  with  the  exception  of  the  rural  NGA  combination  category,  which  increased  by  4.6  percentage 
points to reach 59.3% of rural homes.  

With regards  to fixed broadband technologies, DSL  remained the dominant  access  technology. DSL 
networks  reached  96.8%  of  homes,  exceeding  the  EU  average  of  94.3%.  With  the  exception  of 
WiMAX, all broadband technologies outperformed the EU average in terms of coverage levels.  

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VDSL  services  passed  61.3%  of  Danish  households  by  mid-2016,  while  FTTP  networks  were 
available  to  57.8%  of  homes.  The  biggest  coverage  increase  in  the  twelve-month  period  was  in 
DOCSIS  3.0 coverage,  which increased 2.7  percentage  points  to  cover 67.7%  of households.  Since 
the  majority  of  cable  networks  in  Denmark  have  been  upgraded  to  DOCSIS  3.0,  the  incumbent 
operator (TDC) has started to deploy DOCSIS 3.1 technology via its subsidiary YouSee. DOCSIS 3.1 
enables  1Gbps  downloads  speeds,  and  TDC  intends  to  deploy  the  technology  to  1.4  million 
households by the end of 2017.26  

Denmark was an early adopter of LTE, with the first commercial network launched as early as 2010, 
and  remains  one  of  the  leaders  in  Europe  with  regards  to  mobile  broadband  technologies.  In  2015, 
Denmark  had  already  reached  near-universal  LTE  coverage  (99.0%).  In  the  twelve-month  period  to 
mid-2016,  coverage  increased  by  a  percentage  point  to  reach  100%  of  households.  Given  the 
universal  reach  of  HSPA  and  LTE  coverage  in  Denmark,  in  2015  advanced  LTE-A  services  were 
launched by TDC27, Telenor28, and Telia29. 

In addition, a ubiquitous LTE network coverage is provided by all mobile network operators meaning 
that average LTE operator coverage also reaches 100%.  

Examining  rural  coverage  in  Denmark,  DSL  was  the  most  widespread  fixed  broadband  technology, 
reaching 93.5% of rural households. The proportion of DSL networks upgraded to VDSL in rural areas 
remained low. Rural VDSL coverage reached 15.8%, below the EU average of 26.6%. As a means to 
improve VDSL speeds in rural areas,  TDC intends to deploy  VPlus technology to its existing VDSL2 
vectoring  network.30 In  terms  of  other  NGA  technologies,  DOCSIS  3.0  coverage  remained  limited  in 
rural areas.  FTTP remained the key NGA technology for rural areas, passing 49.0% of rural homes, a 
3.0 percentage point increase.  

Denmark remained the leading study country in terms of rural access to mobile broadband, with 100% 
coverage of both HSPA and LTE technologies in rural areas. 

26

 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2016/05/20/tdc-begins-docsis-3-1-rollout-to-offer-1gbps-

speeds/  
27 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2015/07/06/tdc-starts-4g-network-deployment/  
28 http://www.telenor.com/media/articles/2015/a-string-of-network-innovations-in-denmark/ 
29 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2015/08/10/telia-embarks-on-lte-a-deployment/   
30

 http://www.nokia.com/en_int/news/releases/2016/11/28/tdc-group-and-nokia-increase-danish-broadband-speeds-to-deliver-

better-customer-experience  

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5.7.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

All regions in Denmark reached similarly high fixed broadband coverage levels with more than 99% of 
households having access to at least one fixed broadband service in each region. 

Regional  NGA  coverage  was  more  varied  with  two  regions  (Fyn  and  Vest-og  Sydsjælland  in  central 
Denmark) recording NGA coverage between 84% and 85% of households and four regions reaching 
NGA  coverage  levels  higher  than  95%.  Nearly  all  homes  in  Copenhagen  were  passed  by  NGA 
networks. 

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5.7.3 Data tables for Denmark 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

5,659,715 
2.1 
10.9% 

Denmark 2016 

Denmark 2015 

Denmark 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

96.8% 

95.3% 

98.0% 

94.0% 

98.2% 

95.0% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

61.3% 

15.8% 

63.0% 

16.0% 

65.8% 

20.6% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

57.8% 

49.0% 

57.0% 

46.0% 

51.6% 

42.0% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

2.9% 

5.6% 

3.0% 

4.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

67.7% 

5.1% 

65.0% 

6.0% 

63.1% 

6.5% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

67.7% 

5.1% 

65.0% 

6.0% 

63.1% 

6.5% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

100.0%  100.0% 

99.0% 

99.0% 

99.0% 

99.0% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

100.0%  100.0% 

99.0% 

99.0% 

99.0% 

99.0% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

100.0% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

100.0%  100.0% 

99.5% 

99.5% 

99.5% 

99.5% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

99.3% 

96.8% 

99.0% 

97.0% 

99.1% 

97.5% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

93.3% 

59.3% 

91.7% 

54.7% 

91.7% 

53.7% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

98.9% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

93.3% 

88.9% 

- 

- 

- 

99.0% 

92.0% 

87.0% 

- 

- 

- 

99.0% 

92.0% 

85.0% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

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5.8 Estonia 

5.8.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

Estonian  broadband  coverage  levels  have  been  restated  for  2015  and  2014  due  to  more  accurate 
data  now being collected by  the NRA. Therefore, coverage  levels in this study are different to  those 
reported  in  previous  editions  the  BCE  study  report.  By  mid-2016,  overall  broadband  coverage  was 
slightly  behind  the  EU  average,  but  above  EU  average  levels  in  rural  areas  was.  Fixed  broadband 
coverage  was  also  lower  than  the  EU  average,  both  on  a  national  and  rural  level,  despite  a  4.1 
percentage  point  improvement  in  national  coverage.  There  was  also  progress  in  terms  of  NGA 
coverage.  By  mid-2016,  NGA  coverage  in  Estonia  reached  79.1%  of  total  households  and  36.0%  of 
rural homes.  

Looking at the coverage of individual technologies, at 73.7%, Estonia reported one of the lowest levels 
of  DSL  coverage  among  the  study  countries.  In  comparison,  cable  coverage  was  above  the  EU 
average with cable networks passing 54.4% of homes at the end of June 2016. The majority of these 
cable networks were upgraded to DOCSIS 3.0, which covered 51.7% of households. DOCSIS 3.0 was 
the second most widespread NGA technology after VDSL networks. VDSL coverage reached 55.2% 
of  homes  increasing  by  2.6  percentage  points  during  the  twelve  months  to  mid-2016,  while  FTTP 
networks passed 48.5% of households.  

During  the  twelve  months  to  June  2016,  LTE  coverage  in  Estonia  increased  by  14.5  percentage 
points,  reaching  near-universal  levels.  This  is  unsurprising  given  that  Estonia  was  one  of  the  early 
adopters  of  LTE,  launching  LTE  services  already  in  2010.  Mobile  operators  have  moved  onto 
providing LTE-Advanced services, with Tele2 deploying the technology in 2015.31  

In  terms  of  average  LTE  operator  coverage,  it  reached  94.5%  by  mid-2016,  confirming  the  general 
trend of LTE coverage saturation. 

Estonia,  along  with  Latvia  and  Lithuania,  remained  only  partially  covered  by  satellite  broadband 
services  –  with  significant  limitations  on  addressable  market  in  a  number  of  areas  due  to  the  orbital 
slots of the relevant satellites and the subsequent local requirements for larger dishes to receive the 
satellite signals. 

31

 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2015/11/26/tele2-eesti-prepares-375mbps-lte-a-launch/   

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In rural areas, at 36.6% DSL coverage remained well below the EU average. WiMAX availability was 
also  lower  than  the  EU  average,  as  coverage  reduced  by  27.6  percentage  points  during  the  year  to 
mid-2016  as  a  result  of  operators  redistributing  spectrum  for  LTE  services.  Cable  coverage  in  rural 
areas was above EU average levels, with cable broadband networks passing 14.9% or rural homes. 

Examining  NGA  technologies,  by  mid-2016,  rural  VDSL  networks  had  the  highest  reach,  passing 
20.9% of rural homes. FTTP and DOCSIS 3.0 networks  covered 15.5% and 11.9% of rural Estonian 
households, respectively.   

Rural LTE coverage increased by 15.4 percentage points during the twelve months to mid-2016, and 
reached  96.0%  of  rural  homes.  During  2016,  Telia  Estonia  (formerly  TeliaSonera)  installed  399  new 
mobile  base  stations,  offering  a  fixed-mobile  solution32 to  exploit  the  near-universal  LTE  coverage  in 
rural areas.   

32

 http://www.teliacompany.com/en/news/news-articles/2017/estonia-port/ 

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5.8.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

There  were  considerable  differences  in  fixed  broadband  coverage  in  Estonia’s  five  regions,  with 
coverage  in the  Põhja-Eesti region exceeding  99.9%,  while coverage in the Kesk-Eesti region being 
lower than 80%. 

Regional  NGA  coverage  patterns  reflected  those  for  fixed  broadband,  with  three  regions  reporting 
coverage under 80% and only in the Põhja-Eesti NGA coverage reached nearly 87% of households. 

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5.8.3 Data tables for Estonia 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

1,313,271  
2.2 
21.3% 

Estonia 2016 

Estonia 2015 

Estonia 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

73.7% 

36.6% 

73.6% 

35.9% 

72.1% 

35.8% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

55.2% 

20.9% 

49.6% 

18.8% 

44.6% 

16.9% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

48.5% 

15.5% 

47.5% 

15.2% 

44.6% 

13.7% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

3.3% 

15.5% 

9.4% 

43.1% 

8.7% 

40.0% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

54.4% 

14.9% 

54.0% 

14.5% 

51.7% 

13.8% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

51.7% 

11.9% 

51.7% 

11.6% 

46.5% 

11.0% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

98.8% 

98.0% 

98.9% 

98.0% 

99.0% 

98.0% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

98.8% 

96.0% 

84.3% 

80.6% 

79.2% 

74.7% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

94.5% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

75.4% 

75.4% 

75.4% 

75.4% 

75.4% 

75.4% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

99.5% 

99.9% 

99.5% 

99.4% 

99.7% 

99.1% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

90.9% 

73.0% 

86.8% 

73.0% 

86.0% 

70.0% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

79.1% 

36.0% 

78.1% 

33.8% 

75.1% 

30.7% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

86.8% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

76.9% 

58.7% 

- 

- 

- 

86.8% 

76.3% 

58.3% 

- 

- 

- 

86.0% 

72.0% 

54.1% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

As  mentioned,  previously  reported  coverage  trends  and  values  reported  for  Estonia  have  been 
restated in light of new and more accurate data shared by the NRA. All restatements are highlighted in 
italics.  

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5.9 Finland 

5.9.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

As in the previous year, Finland recorded complete broadband coverage at a national and rural level 
while fixed broadband coverage was slightly below the EU average, both nationally and in rural areas. 
With  regards  to  NGA  broadband,  total  NGA  coverage  was  at  74.6%  also  slightly  below  the  EU 
average  of  75.9%.  In  rural  areas,  NGA  services  were  available  to  only  8.2%  of  rural  homes,  a 
coverage level considerably below the EU average of 39.2%. 

Coverage  levels for the majority of  individual technologies  remained largely unchanged compared to 
2015.  DSL  remained  the  most  widespread  fixed  broadband  technology,  covering  94.0%  of  Finnish 
households,  while  cable  networks  passed  37.8%  of  homes.  In  mid-2016,  no  WiMAX  coverage  was 
recorded in Finland, as a consequence of WiMAX spectrum being reallocated towards LTE networks. 

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Examining  NGA  broadband  technologies,  VDSL  services  continued  to  have  the  widest  coverage  in 
Finland and were available to 48.4% of homes. Telia Company (formerly TeliaSonera), Elisa and DNA 
have all invested considerably in FTTP deployment in recent years. As such,  FTTP networks passed 
37.5%  of  households  by  mid-2016.  DNA  has  also  launched  a  1Gbps  fibre-optic  broadband  service, 
which  at  launch  was  available  to  half  of  the  600,000  households  covered  by  its  existing  HFC 
broadband network.33 As of mid-2016, Finnish cable networks were fully upgraded to DOCSIS 3.0 with 
DOCSIS 3.0 services passing 37.8% of households.  

As  was  the  case  in  the  previous  edition  of  the  study,  HSPA  networks  were  available  to  100%  of 
households. Similarly, LTE networks across Finland reached universal coverage, as a  result of a 7.9 
percentage point increase during the twelve-month period to the end of June 2016.  

When considering an average coverage of all LTE network operators, on average LTE services were 
available to 97.0% of Finns at mid-2016. 

Improving  rural  broadband  coverage  is  an  important  part  of  the  Finnish  Government’s  “Broadband 
2015” project, which provides state aid for the construction of high speed broadband networks in areas 
deemed  less  attractive  by  the  operators. 34  By  mid-2016,  rural  DSL  coverage  increased  by  1.5 
percentage points to 81.7%, but remained below the EU average (86.0%). As in previous years, there 
was  an  absence  of  DOCSIS  3.0  and  VDSL  networks  in  rural  areas.  Therefore,  FTTP  was  the  sole 
contributor to rural NGA access, passing 8.2% of rural households. 

Since  2015,  mobile  network  operators  Telia  Company  and  DNA  have  deployed  a  shared  network  in 
order to improve mobile broadband coverage in the north-eastern areas of Finland35. Finland reported 
a considerable increase  in  LTE coverage  in rural areas  during the twelve-month period to mid-2016, 
increasing  39.9  percentage  points,  as  Finland  recorded  universal  rural  coverage  for  both  LTE  and 
HSPA services.  

33

34

35

 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2016/05/10/dna-finland-launches-gigabit-broadband/ 
 https://www.viestintavirasto.fi/en/steeringandsupervision/broadband2015subsidies.html   
 http://telecoms.com/278851/teliasonera-dna-to-share-network-in-rural-finland/ 

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5.9.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

As  in  the  previous  year,  in  most  regions  in  Finland  fixed  broadband  coverage  reached  levels  above 
95%,  with  only  four  (Etelä-Savo,  Pohjois-Karjala,  Kainuu,  and  Pohjois-Pohjanmaa  regions)  of  the 
nineteen  regions  falling  below  this  threshold.  Lowest  fixed  broadband  coverage  was  recorded  in  the 
Kainuu  region  at  90.8%,  while  near  universal  (99.9%)  coverage  was  registered  for  the  Pohjanmaa 
region. 

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NGA coverage varied more considerably, with the lowest coverage level reported in the Åland region 
(46%) and highest in the  Pohjanmaa region (82.6%) and Helsinki (over 80%). Most regions reported 
no significant coverage changes in the twelve months to the end of June 2016.  

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5.9.3 Data tables for Finland 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

5,451,753 
2.1 
18.7% 

Finland 2016 

Finland 2015 

Finland 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

94.0% 

81.7% 

94.0% 

80.2% 

94.0% 

79.4% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

48.4% 

0.0% 

48.4% 

0.0% 

48.4% 

0.0% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

37.5% 

8.2% 

37.4% 

8.2% 

37.7% 

8.1% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

2.3% 

1.1% 

2.3% 

1.1% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

37.8% 

0.0% 

44.4% 

0.0% 

44.3% 

0.0% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

37.8% 

0.0% 

44.4% 

0.0% 

44.3% 

0.0% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.5% 

97.2% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

100.0%  100.0% 

92.1% 

60.1% 

92.1% 

56.3% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

97.0% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.8% 

98.6% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

97.0% 

84.0% 

97.0% 

83.9% 

97.0% 

83.2% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

74.6% 

8.2% 

75.1% 

8.2% 

75.1% 

8.1% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

96.5% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

66.7% 

32.5% 

- 

- 

- 

96.5% 

66.8% 

33.7% 

- 

- 

- 

96.5% 

66.8% 

33.7% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

During the 2016 data collection, newly introduced checks of rural coverage estimates, comparing the 
number  of  uncovered  households  on  a  total  level  to  the  number  of  uncovered  rural  households 
identified previously  underestimated rural  DSL and FTTP coverage levels leading to restatements of 
data reported in previous year. All restatements are highlighted in italics. 

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5.10 France 

5.10.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

By  mid-2016,  France  recorded  complete  coverage  for  overall  broadband  and  fixed  broadband,  with 
near-complete coverage for these technology combinations at a rural level. However, the proportion of 
total households passed by NGA technologies remained one of the lowest among the study countries, 
reaching  47.0%  of  households  and  remaining  considerably  below  the  EU  average  (75.9%).  NGA 
availability in rural areas was also below the EU average, despite increasing from 23.0% to 30.9% by 
mid-2016. 

DSL continued to be the most widespread fixed broadband technology in terms of coverage of French 
households, increasing 0.4 percentage points, to reach 99.9% of households. Despite this, VDSL was 
the  least  widespread  NGA  technology  in  France,  as  the  proportion  of  DSL  networks  upgraded  to 
VDSL remained low. By mid-2016, 18.2% of French homes had access to VDSL services, an uplift of 
1.5 percentage points in the twelve-month period to mid-2016.  

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Meanwhile, DOCSIS 3.0 remained the most dominant NGA technology in terms of coverage, although 
the proportion of homes passed by the technology reminded stable at around 28 percentage points for 
the  fourth  consecutive  year.  The  biggest  growth  in  terms  of  NGA  coverage  during  the  year  to  mid-
2016 was from FTTP networks, which increased  by 5.3 percentage points to cover 20.8% of French 
households.  This  growth  is  underpinned  by  the  “Plan  France  Très  Haut  Débit”,  France’s  national 
broadband plan, which focuses on deploying FTTP in urban and highly-populated areas.36  

Looking  at  mobile  broadband  technologies,  the  availability  of  LTE  networks  recorded  a  16.3 
percentage  point  increase  in  the  year  to  mid-2016  to  cover  93.8%  of  households.  Despite  this 
improvement, LTE coverage in France remained below the EU average of 96.0%. When average  of 
availability of LTE services of all mobile network operators is considered, 78.3% of French households 
on average had access to LTE networks.  

By mid-2016, rural DSL coverage in France was near-universal after a 1.1 percentage point increase 
in the year to June 2016. Conversely, the percentage of rural homes passed by cable remained very 
limited at 1.2%, meaning rural DOCSIS 3.0 coverage was also minimal.  

The availability of FTTP networks in rural areas was, at 2.3%, also limited. Nevertheless, rural FTTP 
coverage  can  be  expected  to  increase,  given  the  incumbent’s  deployment  target  of  22  million 
households  reached  by  FTTP  by  2022. 37 In  the  meantime,  VDSL  services  remain  the  key  NGA 
technology  in  rural  areas  in  France.  Rural  VDSL  increased  by  7.8  percentage  points  in  the  twelve-
month period to mid-2016, reaching 28.9% of rural households. 

Improving mobile broadband coverage in rural areas was an important aspect of the economic reforms 
passed in France in February 2015, known as the “Loi Macron”. It required mobile operators to deploy 
2G  networks  in  unserved  areas  by  2016  and  3G/4G  networks  by  2017.38 As  such,  there  have  been 
improvements  in  terms  of  rural  coverage  for  both  HSPA  and  LTE  technologies  in  the  twelve-month 
period to mid-2016. Rural HSPA networks reached 99.0% of rural households, above the EU average 
of  92.2%.  Meanwhile,  deployment  of  LTE  networks  in  rural  areas  of  France  increased  dramatically 
during  the  year  to  mid-2016,  increasing  56.4  percentage  points  to  reach  61.7%  of  rural  homes.  Yet, 
despite this staggering increase, French rural LTE coverage remained below the EU average (79.7%).  

36

37

 http://www.francethd.fr/le-plan-france-tres-haut-debit/qu-est-ce-que-le-plan-france-tres-haut-debit.html   
 https://www.orange.com/en/Press-Room/press-releases-2017/press-releases-2015/Orange-picks-up-speed-with-100-Fibre-

Orange 
38

 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2015/04/20/french-government-approves-amendment-

mandating-rural-mobile-expansion/    

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5.10.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

All  French  regions  reported  fixed  broadband  coverage  rates  of  100%  or  very  close  to  100%  with  no 
region  recording  fixed  broadband  coverage  levels  lower  than  99.9%.  This  is  an  improvement 
compared  to  mid-2015,  when  the  Rhône  region  and  overseas  territories  of  Guadeloupe  and 
Martinique reported coverage rates below 98%. 

However, substantial variations remain in terms of NGA coverage. Although by mid-2016, all French 
regions reported that NGA networks were available, coverage ranged from  9.0% in Guyane to 100% 
in  Paris.  The  only  other  region  to  report  NGA  coverage  exceeding  95%  was  the  Hauts-de-Seine 
region, which constitutes the broader Paris metropolitan area. This shows the considerable disparity in 
NGA coverage between the capital and other regions. 

Only  seven  other  regions  recorded  NGA  coverage  levels  in  the  65%-95%  category  -  Haute-Vienne, 
Calvados,  Bouches-du-Rhône,  Yvelines,  Alpes-Maritimes,  Seine-Saint-Denis,  Bas-Rhin,  and  the 
Rhône  region.  The  Calvados  region  also  registered  the  highest  increase  in  NGA  coverage  over  the 
twelve-month  period  to  the  end  of  June  2016.  Due  to  newly  reported  FTTP  networks  deployment, 
NGA coverage in the region grew by 20.8 percentage pointst to reach 67.2% of households. 

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The following broadband coverage levels were recorded in French regions outside mainland Europe: 

Coverage data for French NUTS 3 areas outside mainland Europe  
NUTS 3 
FR910 
FR920 
FR930 
FR940 

Description  
Guadeloupe  
Martinique  
Guyane  
Réunion  

99.9% 
100.0% 
100.0% 
99.9% 

54.6% 
42.8% 
9.0% 
22.9% 

Overall fixed broadband coverage  NGA broadband coverage 

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5.10.3 Data tables for France 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

66,192,574 
2.2 
15.6% 

France 2016 

France 2015 

France 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

99.9% 

99.6% 

99.5% 

98.6% 

99.5% 

98.4% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

18.2% 

28.9% 

16.7% 

21.1% 

15.5% 

17.7% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

20.8% 

2.3% 

15.5% 

2.0% 

13.6% 

1.7% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

27.9% 

1.2% 

29.5% 

0.7% 

29.2% 

1.3% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

27.8% 

1.2% 

29.5% 

0.7% 

29.2% 

1.3% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

99.9% 

99.0% 

99.8% 

98.7% 

99.8% 

98.6% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

93.8% 

61.7% 

77.5% 

5.3% 

75.4% 

3.9% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

78.3%* 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

100.0% 

99.9% 

100.0% 

99.8% 

100.0% 

99.8% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

100.0% 

99.7% 

99.8% 

99.0% 

99.7% 

99.0% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

47.0% 

30.9% 

44.8% 

23.0% 

42.6% 

20.0% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

97.4% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

50.0% 

33.9% 

- 

- 

- 

97.1% 

41.3% 

28.4% 

- 

- 

- 

97.0% 

40.0% 

26.9% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. The data includes both overseas territories as well as mainland France. 

During the 2016 data collection, newly introduced checks of rural coverage  estimates, comparing the 
number  of  uncovered  households  on  a  total  level  to  the  number  of  uncovered  rural  households 
identified previously  underestimated rural  DSL and FTTP coverage levels leading to restatements of 
data reported in previous year. All restatements are highlighted in italics.  

* An updated value for average LTE operator coverage is reported compared to the DESI (data for 
2015 was published). 

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5.11 Germany 

5.11.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

As in previous years, Germany reported above-average coverage levels for all broadband combination 
categories. While  on  a  national  level  there  were  only  limited  increases  in  fixed  broadband  and  NGA 
broadband coverage (0.3 and 0.4 percentage points, respectively), rural NGA coverage increased by 
12.5 percentage points to reach 48.9% of households at the end of June 2016. 

DSL was the dominant broadband access technology in terms of coverage, passing 97.1% of German 
homes. Standard cable coverage was lower, at 63.7%, although it still exceeded the EU average.  

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In  terms  of  high-speed  cable  broadband,  DOCSIS  3.0  was  available  to  63.5%  of  households  as  it 
remained  the  key  NGA  technology  in  Germany.  With  the  majority  of  cable  networks  upgraded  to 
DOCSIS 3.0, Liberty Global’s Unitymedia plans to start deploying DOCSIS 3.1 technology in parts of 
Germany in early 2018, enabling download speeds of up to 1Gbps.39 Meanwhile, Vodafone revealed 
that  it  had  reached  5  million  households  with  download  speeds  of  up  to  400Mbps  using  the  cable 
networks  it  acquired  from  Kabel  Deutschland,  reflecting  the  speed  advantages  of  cable  networks 
versus copper alternatives.40  

Examining  other  NGA  technologies,  the  most  substantial  coverage  gains  were  reported  for  VDSL 
networks, coverage of which increased by 10.3 percentage points during the twelve-month period and 
at  the  end  of  June  2016  VDSL  services  have  been  available  to  nearly  6  in  10  (58.8%)  of  German 
households. In an attempt to increase the speeds attainable over their legacy copper  networks, both 
the incumbent Deutsche Telekom41 and Vodafone42 have previously announced plans to deploy VDSL 
vectoring. The focus on upgrading existing copper networks partly contributed to the limited availability 
of  FTTP  services.  At  the  end  of  June  2016,  FTTP  networks  were  available  to  only  7.1%  of  German 
households, a negligible 0.5 percentage point increase.  

By mid-2016, Germany was one of two countries with HSPA coverage of below 95%, with coverage of 
the  technology  increasing  0.6  percentage  points  to  cover  92.1%  of  households.  In  terms  of  LTE 
coverage,  Germany  witnessed  growth  of  2.6  percentage  points  in  the  twelve  months  to  the  end  of 
June  2016,  as  coverage  reached  96.6%  of  homes.  In  terms  of  average  LTE  operator  coverage,  by 
mid-2016 LTE networks of all operators were on average available to 86.0% of Germans. 

In  rural  areas,  DSL  continued  to  be  an  important  driver  of  broadband  coverage,  with  87.6%  of  rural 
homes  having  access  to  DSL  services.  Rural  cable  coverage  was,  at  15.2%,  higher  than  the  EU 
average  but  considerably  lower  than  DSL  coverage.  Examining  NGA  technologies,  VDSL  remained 
the most prevalent technology in rural areas. During the twelve-month period to mid-2016, rural VDSL 
coverage  increased  7.8  percentage  points,  passing  36.3%  of  rural  homes.  The  reach  of  other  NGA 
technologies  was  far  lower,  however,  as  both  DOCSIS  3.0  and  FTTP  increased  by  less  than  a 
percentage point to cover 14.9% and 1.7% of rural households, respectively.  

39

40

 http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2017/03/20/liberty-global-starts-docsis-3-1-rollout-in-germany/ 

http://www.vodafone.com/content/dam/vodafone/investors/financial_results_feeds/tradingupdate_31december2016/170102_AI_
Conference_Call_Transcript_FINAL.pdf 
41

 http://www.lightreading.com/gigabit/dsl-vectoring-gfast/dt-expands-its-vectoring-commitments/a/d-id/713968 
 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2014/08/05/vodafone-launches-vdsl-vectoring-offer/   

42

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By  mid-2016,  LTE  networks  were  available  to  87.8%  of  rural  households,  an  increase  of  5.3 
percentage points on the previous year. As rural LTE coverage increases, Deutsche Telekom is using 
its  mobile  network  to  complement  its  fixed  broadband  services,  offering  hybrid  LTE-DSL  access 
connections  aimed  at  rural  households.43 Meanwhile,  Vodafone  launched  “LTE  Zuhause”  in  2015, 
which  aims  to  provide  broadband  access  in  rural  areas  without  DSL  and  cable  infrastructure. 44 
Meanwhile, Germany’s HSPA networks were available to only 61.6% of rural homes in mid-2016. This 
is  the  lowest  out  of  all  of  the  study  countries  and  reflects  the  focus  of  German mobile  operators’  on 
deploying LTE networks in previously underserved rural areas, rather than rolling out HSPA networks 
in these areas.  

5.11.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Examining  regional  patterns  in  fixed  broadband  coverage,  some  significant  differences  could  be 
observed,  with fixed  broadband coverage ranging from just over 88%  in  Vogelsbergkreis to 100% in 
most metropolitan areas. In total, four regions (Vogelsbergkreis, Altmarkkreis Salzwedel, Ludwigslust-
Parchim, and Westerwaldkreis) recorded fixed coverage levels lower than 90%. 

43

44

 http://www.telecompaper.com/news/deutsche-telekom-unveils-hybrid-dsl-lte-home-router--1035238   
 https://www.vodafone.de/unternehmen/presse/pressearchiv2015-302422.html   

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In  the  twelve  months  to  the  end  of  June  2016,  many  regions  across  Germany  witnessed  significant 
improvements in terms of NGA coverage. For instance, the Elbe-Elster and Prignitz regions registered 
coverage  increases  of  more  than  35  percentage  points  each,  and  in  Weimarer  Land,  Neumarkt  i.d. 
OPf., and Limburg-Weilburg, NGA coverage grew by approx. 30 percentage points. Notably, the Elbe-
Elster  region  recorded  the  lowest  coverage  in  mid-2013  when  only  13.6%  of  local  households  had 
access  to  NGA  service,  yet  by  mid-2015  over  a  half  of  homes  in  the  region  were  passed  by  NGA 
networks. 

At  the  end  of  June  2016,  the  lowest  reported  NGA  coverage  was  28.6%  in  the  Jerichower  Land 
region. By comparison, most urban areas recorded NGA coverage levels exceeding 90%.  The city of 
Rosenheim  was  closest  to  reaching  universal  NGA  coverage  with  99.3%  homes  passed  by  NGA 
networks. 

97  

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5.11.3 Data tables for Germany 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

81,196,195 
2.0 
8.6% 

Germany 2016 

Germany 2015 

Germany 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

97.1% 

87.6% 

96.6% 

86.0% 

95.8% 

84.7% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

58.8% 

36.3% 

48.5% 

28.5% 

43.0% 

26.0% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

7.1% 

1.7% 

6.6% 

1.4% 

4.4% 

0.8% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

10.0% 

13.7% 

10.4% 

14.2% 

10.1% 

13.3% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

63.7% 

15.2% 

63.2% 

14.8% 

62.4% 

14.0% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

63.5% 

14.9% 

62.7% 

14.4% 

61.6% 

13.4% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  

(DESI indicator) 

92.1% 

61.6% 

91.5% 

59.6% 

92.5% 

62.5% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

96.6% 

87.8% 

94.0% 

82.5% 

92.1% 

78.8% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

86.0% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

99.9% 

98.8% 

99.9% 

98.8% 

99.8% 

97.7% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

98.6% 

93.8% 

98.3% 

93.0% 

97.9% 

92.4% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

81.8% 

48.9% 

81.4% 

36.4% 

80.8% 

33.1% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

99.9% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

80.7% 

64.9% 

- 

- 

- 

99.9% 

76.7% 

63.5% 

- 

- 

- 

99.8% 

74.6% 

62.1% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

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5.12 Greece 

5.12.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

In mid-2016, Greece maintained stable overall and fixed broadband coverage levels that exceeded the 
EU  average.  However,  despite  a  7.9  percentage  point  increase  in  NGA  coverage,  high-speed 
broadband services were available to only 44.2% of Greek households compared to the EU average 
of 75.9%. Only a marginal progress was recorded in rural NGA coverage, and with just 1.3% of rural 
homes passed by NGA networks at the end of June 2016, the lowest level among all study countries. 

At the end of June 2016, Greece remained as one of the three study countries (along with Iceland and 
Italy) with no cable networks presence. Coupled with very low FTTP and WiMAX coverage (0.4% and 
0.2%  respectively),  the  entire  fixed  broadband  coverage  still  relies  on  a  single  technology,  namely 
DSL, with VDSL serving as the only source of high-speed NGA access.  

Coverage  of  DSL  networks  remained  at  a  near-universal  level  (99.3%),  unchanged  from  previous 
years.  The  incumbent,  OTE,  as  well  as  the  other  alterative  broadband  operators  have  been  heavily 
investing in upgrading its DSL network, contributing to a 7.9 percentage point year-on-year growth in 
VDSL coverage, with VDSL services being available to 44% of Greek households. Yet, despite these 
efforts, VDSL coverage remained below the EU average of 48%. 

Nevertheless,  all  of  Greece’s  main  broadband  providers  OTE,  Vodafone  Greece  and  Wind  have 
begun to take steps to boost both VDSL upgrades as well as substantial FTTP deployments over the 
next  couple  of  years. 45    Additionally,  in  July  2016  Vodafone  Greece  and  Wind  entered  into  an 
agreement  to  cooperate  on  investments  for  the  deployment  of  fibre-optic  networks  (similar  to 
Vodafone’s  agreements  with  other  operators  in  Spain,  Portugal,  Ireland  and  Italy).46 By  sharing  the 
cost  of  network  deployment,  the  operators  hope  to  increase  FTTP  and  overall  NGA  coverage  in 
Greece to the EU levels in the near future. 

Examining mobile networks coverage, HSPA networks maintained a near universal coverage level of 
99.3%, a level reached already in 2013. On the other hand, LTE recorded significant coverage growth 

45

 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2017/02/17/greek-operators-to-spend-on-fibre-and-

supervectoring/ 
46

http://www.vodafone.gr/portal/client/news/pressReleaseClient!pressReleaseDetails.action?pressReleaseId=40424&dateFrom=&
dateUntil= 

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of  13.7  percentage  points  to  93.6%  of  homes  passed  in  mid-2016.  During  the  period  of  the  study, 
Cosmote47 (OTE’s mobile  branch), Vodafone Greece and Wind Hellas48 continued their LTE network 
roll-outs as well as upgrades to LTE-Advanced which contributed to growth of LTE coverage. Yet, on 
average  after  taking  into  account  coverage  of  all  LTE  operators,  79.8%  of  Greeks  were  able  to  use 
LTE services. 

DSL  remained  the  sole  fixed  broadband  access  technology  available  to  rural  households  across 
Greece,  which  provided  broadband  access  to  99.3%  of  rural  households  at  the  end  of  June  2016. 
Despite  high  rural  DSL  coverage,  VDSL  upgrades  in  rural  areas  continued  to  be  extremely  limited 
achieving only 1.3% rural coverage. Thus, rural NGA availability remains very challenging in Greece. 

47

 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2015/03/03/cosmote-greece-rolls-out-300mbps-lte-a-in-

athens-and-thessaloniki/ 
48

 https://www.wind.gr/en/wind/gia-tin-etaireia/newsroom/deltia-tupou/deltio-tupou/?prid=656 

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In terms of rural mobile technologies, HSPA coverage remained unchanged (99.3%) from mid-2015. 
On  the  other  hand,  LTE  coverage  increased  by  34.8  percentage  point  increase  compared  to  mid-
2015, with 70.9% rural homes passed by LTE networks at the end of June 2016. 

5.12.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Most regions recorded fixed broadband coverage rates exceeding 98%. One exception was Evrytania, 
which was the only region with fixed coverage rate lower than 90%. Three other regions with coverage 
levels lower than 95% were Ileia, Fokida, and Lakonia.  

It is also worth noting that the Greek island regions (such as Zakynthos, Lefkada, or Kerkyra) tended 
to report complete or almost complete fixed broadband coverage, while more variation was observed 
in mainland regions. 

NGA coverage was more varied, with most regions recording coverage levels between 19% and 71%. 
At  the  end  of  June  2016,  NGA  coverage  exceeded  50%  in  only  six  regions  (Evros,  Xanthi,  Rodopi, 
Serres,  Grevena,  and  Attiki).  The  highest  NGA  coverage  continued  to  be  reported  in  the  north-east 
regions  of  Xanthi  and  Rodopi  with  the  most  substantial  year-on-year  increase  in  NGA  broadband 
coverage (18 percentage points) registered in Kyklades and Rethymni. 

101  

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102  

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5.12.3 Data tables for Greece 

Statistic 

Population 

Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

10,926,608 

2.5 
20.2% 

Greece 2016 

Greece 2015 

Greece 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

99.3% 

96.3% 

99.3% 

96.3% 

99.3% 

96.3% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

44.0% 

1.3% 

36.1% 

0.5% 

33.8% 

0.5% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

0.4% 

0.0% 

0.4% 

0.0% 

0.4% 

0.0% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

0.2% 

0.8% 

0.1% 

0.5% 

0.1% 

0.4% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage 
(DESI indicator) 

99.3% 

96.6% 

99.3% 

96.7% 

99.3% 

96.6% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

93.5% 

70.9% 

79.7% 

36.1% 

70.2% 

23.1% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

79.8% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

99.9% 

99.4 

99.9% 

99.3% 

99.9% 

99.3% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

99.3% 

96.5% 

99.3% 

96.5% 

99.3% 

96.4% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

44.2% 

1.3% 

36.3% 

0.5% 

34.0% 

0.5% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

99.9% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

80.7% 

64.9% 

- 

- 

- 

99.9% 

76.7% 

63.5% 

- 

- 

- 

99.8% 

74.6% 

62.1% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

During the 2016 data collection, newly introduced checks of rural coverage estimates, comparing the 
number  of  uncovered  households  on  a  total  level  to  the  number  of  uncovered  rural  households 
identified  previously  underestimated  rural  LTE  coverage  levels  leading  to  restatements  of  data 
reported in previous year. All restatements are highlighted in italics. 

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5.13 Hungary 

5.13.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

During  the  twelve  months  to  mid-2016,  overall  broadband  availability  in  Hungary  increased  by  0.5 
percentage  points,  reaching  99.6%  of  homes,  while  fixed  broadband  availability  remained  stable  at 
95.2%.  Examining  rural  broadband  coverage,  98.7%  of  rural  Hungarian  households  had  access  to 
broadband,  an  increase  of  1.4  percentage  points.  There  was  also  a  minimal  0.4  percentage  point 
increase in rural fixed broadband coverage, passing 85.9% of rural homes. As a consequence, at the 
end  of  June  2016,  Hungary  was  below  the  EU  average  for  overall  broadband  coverage  and  fixed 
coverage, both nationally and in rural areas. 

By mid-2016, 80.6% of Hungarian households had access to high-speed NGA broadband, following a 
2.4 percentage point growth. A considerably higher increase in coverage was observed for rural NGA 
coverage,  which  grew  by  9.8  percentage  points,  reaching  46.9%  of  rural  homes.  Consequently, 
Hungary was above the EU average for NGA coverage, both nationally and in rural areas. 

Looking  at  the  individual  technologies,  DSL  continued  to  be  the  most  widespread  fixed  broadband 
technology, available to 90.5% of households.  As of  mid-2016, Hungarian DSL  coverage  was below 
the  EU  average  of  94.3%.  Meanwhile,  cable  networks  passed  68.0%  of  homes  at  the  end  of  June 
2016, which was considerably above the EU average.  

With regards to NGA technologies, VDSL networks witnessed the biggest increase in coverage during 
the period, increasing by 10.1 percentage points during the year. It has been the incumbent telecoms 
provider, Magyar Telekom’s focus to expand its VDSL networks with an aim of its broadband services 
being  available  to  all  households  by  2018.49 However,  given  there  was  only  a  2.4  percentage  point 
increase in total NGA coverage in Hungary, it appears that VDSL services were deployed in areas that 
already  had  a  DOCSIS  3.0  or  FTTP  presence.  Therefore,  DOCSIS  3.0  remained  the  main  driver  of 
NGA  availability  in  Hungary,  reaching  65.0%  of  households,  while  FTTP  networks  increased  by  2.5 
percentage points to pass 24.0% of homes at the end of June 2016. 

Evaluating mobile broadband coverage, LTE coverage increased by 3.6 percentage points during the 
twelve  months  to  mid-2016.  At  98.6%,  LTE  coverage  in  Hungary  remained  slightly  above  the  EU 
average  (96.0%).  Similarly,  Hungarian  HSPA  coverage,  which  remained  stable  at  98.3%  during  the 

49

 http://www.telekom.hu/about_us/press_room/press_releases/2014/february_21   

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period,  was  also  slightly  higher  than  the  EU  average  (98.0%).  With  near-universal  HSPA  and  LTE 
coverage,  the  leading  mobile  network  operators  have  begun  to  focus  on  LTE-Advanced  networks 
deployment  in  selected  areas  of  Hungary.50 Moreover,  when  average  coverage  of  all  LTE  networks 
operators is considered, on average  92.4% of Hungarians had access to LTE services at the end of 
June 2016. 

In  rural  areas,  DSL  remained  the  most  widespread  fixed  broadband  technology  due  to  the  limited 
deployment of cable networks in these areas.  

VDSL  services  increased  7.6  percentage  points  in  the  twelve  months  to  the  end  of  June  2016, 
covering  22.3%  of  rural  households.  In  addition  to  the  incumbent’s  investments,  DSL  and  cable 

50

 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2017/02/06/vodafone-hungary-switches-on-lte-a-in-budapest-

environs/ 

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provider  Invitel  is  also  investing  in  network  deployments  across  Hungary,  with  the  aim  of  increasing 
coverage to 500 thousand households in 98 cities51, supported by EU funding.52  

Examining other broadband technologies, the growth of FTTP technologies in rural areas was limited, 
increasing  by  2.2  percentage  points  during  the  period,  while  rural  DOCSIS  3.0  coverage  remained 
stable at 18.2% of rural homes. Meanwhile, mobile operators continued to expand their LTE networks 
across Hungary. At 96.2%, rural LTE services increased by 12.1 percentage points during the twelve-
month  period,  overtaking  HSPA  networks  in  terms  of  rural  coverage.  Moreover,  given  the  limited 
availability of NGA technologies in rural Hungary, mobile network operator, such as Telenor Hungary, 
continued to deploy LTE solutions as an alternative to fixed broadband technologies in rural areas.53 

51

52

53

 http://www.telecompaper.com/news/invitel-starts-eur-30-mln-network-development-programme--1081287   
 http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2016/09/28/invitel-secures-european-funding/ 
 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2017/02/20/telenor-hungary-expands-150mbps-lte-to-small-

villages 

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5.13.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

On a regional level, fixed broadband coverage was lowest in the Somogy region (92.5%) and highest 
in Budapest (nearly 99%). In addition, five regions out of twenty recorded fixed coverage rates higher 
than 95%, compared to only three at the end of 2014. 

Regional NGA coverage continued to vary greatly in 2016 and ranged between nearly 63% in Somogy 
and close to 93% in Budapest. 

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5.13.4 Data tables for Hungary 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

9,830,485 
2.2 
31.8% 

Hungary 2016 

Hungary 2015 

Hungary 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

90.5% 

74.0% 

90.5% 

73.8% 

88.7% 

71.9% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

38.1% 

22.3% 

28.0% 

14.7% 

26.1% 

9.4% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

24.0% 

6.4% 

21.5% 

4.2% 

20.8% 

4.0% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

68.0% 

19.9% 

66.1% 

19.8% 

64.3% 

19.2% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

65.0% 

18.2% 

63.2% 

18.2% 

60.4% 

17.4% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

98.3% 

94.7% 

98.3% 

94.6% 

98.2% 

94.2% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

98.6% 

96.2% 

95.0% 

84.1% 

73.0% 

14.9% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

92.4% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

99.6% 

98.7% 

99.1% 

97.3% 

99.1% 

97.1% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

95.2% 

85.9% 

95.2% 

85.5% 

94.4% 

83.3% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

80.6% 

46.9% 

78.2% 

37.1% 

75.6% 

30.8% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

94.8% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

78.2% 

68.4% 

- 

- 

- 

94.8% 

76.9% 

67.7% 

- 

- 

- 

93.9% 

74.8% 

65.4% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

During the 2016 data collection, newly introduced checks of rural coverage estimates, comparing the 
number  of  uncovered  households  on  a  total  level  to  the  number  of  uncovered  rural  households 
identified  previously  underestimated  rural  VDSL  coverage  levels  leading  to  restatements  of  data 
reported in previous year. All restatements are highlighted in italics. 

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5.14 Iceland 

5.14.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

Iceland continued on its path towards universal overall and fixed broadband coverage in 2016, overall 
and fixed broadband both increased by 0.4 percentage points, with 99.8% homes being passed by at 
least one fixed or mobile network and 98.5% households having access to fixed broadband services. 
NGA coverage experienced a 4.9 percentage point increase by mid-2016 with NGA broadband being 
available to 95.7% of Icelandic homes, a coverage level significantly above the EU average of 75.9%. 
In  rural  areas,  following  a  13.4  percentage  point  increase,  NGA  coverage  reached  87.7%  of  rural 
households, more than twice the EU average (39.2%).  

With cable connections absent in Iceland and WiMAX coverage limited, at just 4%, DSL and FTTP are 
the two technologies driving fixed broadband coverage in the country. 

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In the twelve month period to the end of June 2016, VDSL and FTTP coverage experienced growth, 
which  contributed  to  the  substantial  increases  in  NGA  coverage.  VDSL  registered  a  6.3  percentage 
point increase to 90.2% whilst, FTTP increased by 9.4 percentage points to reach 62.8% of Icelandic 
households.  This  growth  can  be  largely  attributed  to  the  continued  investment  of  the  incumbent 
operator,  Siminn,  as  well  as  Reykjavik  Energy’s  subsidiary  GR  (Gagnaveita  Reykjavikur)  in  the 
expansion of their fibre optic networks. 5455 

In terms of availability of mobile broadband technologies, nearly all Icelandic households (98.6%) had 
access  to  at  least  one  HSPA  network.  Availability  of  LTE  grew  substantially  during  the  first  half  of 
2016,  recording  an  11.0  percentage  point  increase  with  LTE  networks  passing  95.9%  of  homes.  In 
terms  of  the  average  LTE  operator  coverage,  LTE  services  were  available  on  average  to  93.2%  of 
Icelanders.  

In  terms  of  rural  technologies,  VDSL  coverage  increased  by  10.7  percentage  points  to  83.9%,  over 
three  times  the  EU  average  (26.6%).  As  a  result,  Iceland  ranked  as  the  second-highest  country  in 
terms of rural VDSL coverage behind Luxembourg. The pace of rural FTTP deployment also picked up 
by mid-216 as coverage experienced a substantial increase of 21.7 percentage points to 24%, whilst 
provision of rural WiMAX services ceased during the same period.  

Rural  HSPA  coverage  increased  by  3.1  percentage  points,  with  HSPA  networks  providing  near 
universal coverage to 99.2% of rural households at the end of 2016. In addition, rural LTE coverage 
recorded  a  substantial  growth  of  31.1  percentage  points  with  nearly  9  in  10  (88.7%)  of  rural  homes 
across Iceland being passed by at least one LTE network by mid-2916.  

54

 https://www.siminn.is/servlet/file/Siminnkynning2016.pdf?ITEM_ENT_ID=17743&COLLSPEC_ENT_ID=3 (Siminn 2016 

Investor Presentation) 
55

 http://www.visir.is/g/2016161009436/tuttugufalt-hradari-tengingar-fra-2007 

110  

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5.14.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Overall  fixed  broadband  coverage  differed  by  nearly  4  percentage  points  between  the  two  Icelandic 
regions,  with  near-complete  coverage  recorded  in  the  more  densely  populated  Höfudborgarsvædi 
region surrounding the capital Reykjavik. 

There  was  quite  a  large  gap  in  NGA  coverage  between  the  two  regions  as  the  Höfudborgarsvædi 
region (i.e. the area around Reykjavik) recorded  an  NGA coverage level of more than 98%,  while  in 
the Landsbyggd region NGA services were available to 90.5% of households. 

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5.14.3 Data tables for Iceland 

Statistic 

National 

Population 
Persons per household 

Rural proportion 

329,100 
2.5 

35.3% 

Iceland 2016 

Iceland 2015 

Iceland 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

97.0% 

94.3% 

96.2% 

90.2% 

96.1% 

89.0% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

90.2% 

83.9% 

85.8% 

73.2% 

84.3% 

69.1% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

62.8% 

24.0% 

53.4% 

2.3% 

52.9% 

2.3% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

4.0% 

0.0% 

4.0% 

7.0% 

4.0% 

7.0% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage 
(DESI indicator) 

99.5% 

99.2% 

98.6% 

96.1% 

97.5% 

93.2% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

95.9% 

88.7% 

85.0% 

57.5% 

72.3% 

46.9% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

93.2% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

99.8% 

99.6% 

99.3% 

98.0% 

98.7% 

97.6% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

98.5% 

95.8% 

98.1% 

93.5% 

98.0% 

93.5% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

95.7% 

87.7% 

90.8% 

71.3% 

89.6% 

70.2% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

99.28% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

91.68% 

75.17% 

- 

- 

- 

98.0% 

89.9% 

53.4% 

- 

- 

- 

98.0% 

89.6% 

52.9% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 
During the 2016 data collection, newly introduced checks of rural coverage estimates, comparing the 
number  of  uncovered  households  on  a  total  level  to  the  number  of  uncovered  rural  households 
identified  previously  underestimated  rural  VDSL  coverage  levels  leading  to  restatements  of  data 
reported in previous year. All restatements are highlighted in italics. 

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5.15 Ireland 

5.15.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

Overall  broadband  coverage  in  Ireland  improved  during  the  twelve-month  period  to  mid-2016,  but 
remained slightly below the EU average on both national and rural level. Fixed broadband coverage in 
Ireland was stable throughout the period, both nationally and in rural areas, and continued to be lower 
than  the  EU  average.  On  the  other  hand,  Ireland  was  above  the  EU  average  for  NGA  broadband 
availability  on  both  at  a  national  and  rural  level.  By  mid-2016,  NGA  coverage  increased  by  1.9 
percentage  points,  with 81.6% of Irish  households having  access to NGA services. Meanwhile, rural 
NGA  coverage  reached  50.3%  of  rural  homes  following  a  5.4  percentage  increase  in  the  twelve 
months to the end of June 2016. 

As in the previous edition of the study, DSL coverage reached 92.5% of households. The incumbent, 
Eircom, continued to upgrade its DSL networks to VDSL technology throughout the year. As a result, 
at  the  end  of  June  2016,  VDSL  networks  covered  80.6%  of  households,  an  increase  of  10.0 
percentage points. VDSL  remained the key NGA technology in Ireland,  with limited  improvements in 
FTTP and DOCSIS 3.0 coverage.  

FTTP networks increased by a percentage point during the period, passing 5.5% of homes at the end 
of June 2016. FTTP coverage can be expected to increase in the next couple of years as Vodafone (in 
partnership  with  the  Electricity  Supply  Board)  and  Eircom  continue  to  deploy  FTTP  networks. 56 
Meanwhile,  cable  and  DOCSIS  3.0  coverage  witnessed  modest  improvements  in  coverage,  both 
reaching 43% of households, as Ireland remained slightly below the EU average for both technologies. 

Examining  mobile  broadband  technologies,  LTE  networks  continued  to  be  deployed  with  LTE 
coverage increasing by 6.6 percentage  points during the period and covering 96.7% of homes as of 
mid-2016. The average LTE operator coverage reached 93.7% in the same period.  

In addition, over the last year, mobile operators, Vodafone and Hutchinson Three, have launched LTE-
Advanced services in parts of Ireland to provide network differentiation.5758 

56

https://www.eir.ie/opencms/export/sites/default/.content/pdf/IR/presentations/2016_2017/quarter1/eir_1st_quarter_results_pre

sentation_FY1617_1.pdf 
57

 http://www.independent.ie/business/vodafone-ireland-announces-1000mbs-phone-speeds-in-45g-dublin-network-trials-

35500174.html 
58

 http://press.three.ie/press_releases/three-irelands-leading-mobile-data-network-introduces-free-4g-for-life/ 

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As of mid-2016, DSL continued to be the most widespread fixed broadband technology in rural areas, 
while  VDSL  remained  the  most  prominent  NGA  technology.  Availability  of  rural  VDSL  services 
increased  by  4.7  percentage  points  during  the  period  and  reached  nearly  a  half  (48.9%)  of  rural 
households across Ireland. This improvement is an indication of Eircom’s pledge to support Ireland’s 
digital  agenda  by  providing  high-speed  internet  access  to  0.3m  households  in  rural  Ireland. 59 
Examining other NGA technologies, FTTP networks were deployed in rural areas for the first time, as 
coverage reached 1.2% of rural households.  

There was a considerable increase in the coverage of mobile broadband technologies during the year 
to  the  end  of  June  2016.  LTE  availability  increased  18.2  percentage  points,  reaching  91.2%  of  rural 
households,  while  HSPA  networks  grew  by  12.5  percentage  points  to  reach  98.0%  of  rural  homes. 
Consequently, coverage in Ireland was above the EU average for HSPA and LTE coverage. 

59

https://www.eir.ie/opencms/export/sites/default/.content/pdf/IR/presentations/2016_2017/quarter1/eir_1st_quarter_results_pre

sentation_FY1617_1.pdf 

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5.15.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Regional fixed broadband coverage in Ireland remained quite varied at the end of June 2016, with all 
households in Dublin having fixed broadband access but 92.1% of households in West Ireland  being 
covered by fixed networks. 

NGA  broadband  services  were  available  to  all  households  in  Dublin  at  the  end  of  June  2016, 
unchanged from the previous year. Outside of Dublin, NGA coverage ranged from little less than 70% 
in West Ireland to 86.1% in the Mid-West. 

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5.15.3 Data tables for Ireland 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

4,605,501 
2.6 
36.8% 

Ireland 2016 

Ireland 2015 

Ireland 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

92.5% 

87.9% 

92.5% 

86.8% 

92.5% 

86.8% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

80.6% 

48.9% 

70.6% 

44.2% 

60.8% 

21.6% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

5.5% 

1.2% 

4.5% 

0.0% 

1.7% 

0.0% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

WiMAX 

26.6% 

20.4% 

26.6% 

20.4% 

26.6% 

20.4% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

Cable 

43.3% 

2.6% 

42.7% 

2.6% 

42.4% 

1.8% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3 

43.1% 

2.4% 

42.0% 

2.4% 

40.7% 

1.7% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

99.2% 

97.9% 

94.6% 

85.4% 

94.6% 

85.3% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

LTE 

96.7% 

91.2% 

90.1% 

73.0% 

87.0% 

64.6% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

93.7% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

99.6% 

99.0% 

97.6% 

95.0% 

97.6% 

95.0% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

96.3% 

93.3% 

96.3% 

93.3% 

96.3% 

93.3% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

81.6% 

50.3% 

79.7% 

44.9% 

70.7% 

22.1% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

95.9% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

77.2% 

44.9% 

- 

- 

- 

95.9% 

69.5% 

43.3% 

- 

- 

- 

95.9% 

54.3% 

40.6% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of June) and 2014 (end of year) figures are drawn from the previous studies conducted by IHS and 
VVA. 

During the 2016 data collection, newly introduced checks of rural coverage estimates, comparing the 
number  of  uncovered  households  on  a  total  level  to  the  number  of  uncovered  rural  households 
identified previously underestimated rural  DSL and  VDSL coverage levels leading to restatements of 
data reported in previous year. All restatements are highlighted in italics. 

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5.16 Italy 

5.16.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

At  the  end  of  June  2016,  overall  broadband  and  fixed  broadband  coverage  remained  relatively 
unchanged  at  a  total  level.  In  rural  areas,  overall  broadband  coverage  increased  by  1.5  percentage 
points,  but  no  increase  in  rural  fixed  broadband  coverage  was  registered  in  the  same  period.  NGA 
broadband  coverage  increased  considerably,  both  nationally  and  in  rural  areas,  rising  by  31.3  and 
12.9 percentage points, respectively. Yet, despite this significant growth, Italy remained below the EU 
average for NGA broadband coverage, both nationally and in rural areas. 

Examining individual technologies,  Italy witnessed considerable growth in VDSL coverage during the 
twelve  months  to  mid-2016.  Availability  of  VDSL  services  increased  from  32.8%  to  66.4%  of 
households,  as  Telecom  Italia  and  an  alternative  broadband  operator,  Fastweb,  continued  their 
investments in the technology.  

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As  cable  networks  are  absent  in  Italy,  FTTP  is  the  only  other  NGA  technology  available  to  Italian 
households.  FTTP  networks  coverage  increased  by  2.4  percentage  points,  reaching  18.8%  of 
households. FTTP services can be expected to continue to grow, with continued investments from a 
number of companies. Enel, an Italian utility firm, aims to pass 9.5 million households by 2021 with its 
wholesale  FTTP  network. 60 Meanwhile,  Telecom  Italia  and  Fastweb  plan  to  form  a  joint  venture, 
subject to regulatory approval, and  plan to  invest  EUR 1 billion to  bring FTTP networks to 29 Italian 
cities.61  

LTE coverage increased by 8.6 percentage points, reaching 98.2% of homes by mid-2016. Following 
the merger of Three and Wind Italia, the French operator Iliad plans to enter the Italian market in 2017 
as  the  fourth  mobile  network  operator.  It  has  signed  a  national  roaming  agreement  with  the  merged 
entity and will receive spectrum and macro sites before deploying its own network.62 In the meantime, 
LTE services of all Italian LTE network operators were available on average to 86.2% of Italians. 

DSL  continued  to  be  the  main  technology  providing  fixed  broadband  access  in  rural  areas,  covering 
89.4%  of  rural  homes  across  Italy.  WiMAX  coverage  remained  relatively  high  and  was  available  to 
nearly a half (45.1%) of rural households.  

Examining  NGA  coverage  in  rural  areas,  VDSL  networks  increased  by  around  12  percentage  points 
during the twelve months to the end of June 2016. At 15.2%, VDSL networks covered a substantially 
higher proportion of rural households than FTTP services (0.8%), which remained primarily available 
in North Italian cities, such as Milan, Bologna and Turin. 

Rural  LTE  coverage  improved  considerably,  increasing  by  58.7  percentage  points.  By  mid-2016, 
85.5%  of  rural  homes  were  able  to  connect  to  the  high-speed  mobile  broadband  network.  HSPA 
coverage in rural areas also increased, rising from 86.3% to 94.9% of rural homes. 

60

61

62

 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2016/07/29/enel-completes-metroweb-buy/ 
 http://www.eurocomms.com/industry-news/12107-tim-fastweb-ftth-joint-venture-comes-under-regulatory-scrutiny 
 https://www.iliad.fr/presse/2016/CP_050716_Eng_.pdf 

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5.16.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

There was relatively little regional variation in terms of fixed broadband coverage in mid-2015 with vast 
majority of regions registering coverage levels higher than 97% (only four out of 110 regions recorded 
lower coverage – Treviso, Pordedone, Udine, and Massa-Carrara).  

NGA  coverage  in  the  individual  regions  continued  to  vary  greatly  with  NGA  networks  absent  in  two 
regions  (Ogliastra  and  Medio  Campidano)  and  one  region  (Enna)  recording  less  than  10%  NGA 
coverage.  However,  this  is  a  considerable  improvement  compared  to  mid-2015,  when  eight  regions 
were  lacking  any  NGA  coverage  and  another  18  regions  had  recorded  NGA  coverage  levels  lower 
than 10%.  

On the other hand, in regions such as Milan, Crotone, and Vibo Valentia NGA services were available 
all households, and in additional six regions, NGA broadband coverage was higher than 99%. Other 
major  urban  areas  such  as  Bologna,  Genoa,  Rome  or  Naples,  also  enjoyed  much  higher  NGA 
availability levels (between 80%-90%). 

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120  

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5.16.3 Data tables for Italy 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

60,795,612 
2.4 
12.2% 

Italy 2016 

Italy 2015 

Italy 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

98.4% 

89.4% 

98.4% 

89.4% 

98.2% 

88.3% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

66.4% 

15.2% 

32.8% 

3.1% 

24.3% 

0.0% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

18.8% 

0.8% 

16.4% 

0.0% 

14.8% 

0.0% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

46.9% 

45.1% 

47.0% 

47.1% 

47.2% 

47.2% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

99.4% 

94.9% 

98.3% 

86.3% 

97.7% 

81.5% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

98.2% 

85.5% 

89.7% 

26.8% 

77.0% 

16.1% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

86.2% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

99.8% 

98.2% 

99.6% 

96.7% 

99.4% 

95.7% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

99.3% 

94.0% 

99.3% 

94.0% 

99.1% 

93.1% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

72.3% 

16.0% 

41.0% 

3.1% 

31.7% 

0.0% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

98.2% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

71.8% 

18.8% 

- 

- 

- 

98.1% 

43.6% 

16.4% 

- 

- 

- 

97.8% 

27.2% 

14.8% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of June) and 2014 (end of year) figures are drawn from the previous studies conducted by IHS and 
VVA. 
During the 2016 data collection, newly introduced checks of rural coverage estimates, comparing the 
number  of  uncovered  households  on  a  total  level  to  the  number  of  uncovered  rural  households 
identified previously underestimated rural  DSL and VDSL coverage levels leading to restatements of 
data reported in previous year. In addition, more accurate data regarding total FTTP coverage became 
available during the 2016 data collection leading to a restatement of 2015 and 2014 FTTP coverage. 
All restatements are highlighted in italics. 

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5.17 Latvia 

5.17.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

Latvia  recorded  slight  improvements  in  terms  of  overall,  fixed  and  NGA  broadband  availability  at  a 
national  level.  Coverage  improved  0.4%  for  both  overall  broadband  and  NGA  broadband,  but  only 
0.1%  for  fixed  broadband.  This  meant  that  Latvia  was  above  the  EU  average  for  overall  broadband 
and NGA broadband coverage, but below in terms of fixed broadband coverage. In rural areas, Latvia 
recorded  complete  coverage  for  the  overall  broadband  category  following  a  1.3  percentage  point 
increase.  The  fixed  broadband  and  NGA  broadband  categories  reported  more  substantial  coverage 
increases, at 5.5 and 9.7 percentage points, respectively. Despite this increase, rural fixed broadband 
coverage  (83.3%)  remained  below  the  EU  average  (92.6%).  Rural  NGA  broadband  coverage,  at 
77.0%, remained well-above the EU average of 39.2%. 

Examining  individual  technologies,  FTTP  was  the  most  widespread  fixed  broadband  access 
technology  in  Latvia.  This  reflects  Latvia’s  long-term  preference  for  fibre-optic  technology  in 
broadband  infrastructure  exemplified  by  the  incumbent  operator,  Lattelecom,  deploying  FTTP 
networks since 200963.  

Consequently, Latvia is one of only two study countries where FTTP coverage greatly exceeds that of 
DSL.  At  the  end  of  June  2016,  DSL  coverage  reached  42.7%  of  households  compared  to  85.2% 
homes  passed  by  FTTP  networks.  In  terms  of  other  NGA  technologies,  VDSL  and  DOCSIS  3.0 
networks passed 17.6% and 29.0% of homes, respectively.  

While  HSPA  services  were  universal  in  Latvia,  LTE  networks  reached  93.0%  of  households,  an 
increase of 4.0 percentage points in the twelve months to mid-2016. LTE coverage can be expected to 
grow in the future, helped by Tele2’s plan to invest EUR 3 million in its mobile network to construct 60 
new base stations64.  

Moreover,  when  average  of  availability  of  LTE  services  provided  by  all  mobile  network  operators  is 
considered, on average 90.7% of Latvians had access to LTE networks at the end of June 2016. 

63

64

 http://www.csimagazine.com/news-30-01-2009-lattelcom.php 
 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2017/03/31/tele2-continues-network-expansion/ 

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In rural areas, DSL networks passed 28.0% of homes, while WiMAX broadband was available to less 
than  a  quarter  (24.7%)  of  rural  households.  As  in  previous  years,  cable  networks  were  absent  from 
rural Latvia. Examining NGA technologies, FTTP services were the most widespread, reaching 69.3% 
of  households,  well-above  the  EU  average  (8.8%).  However,  the  biggest  increase  in  rural  NGA 
broadband  coverage  was  witnessed  in  VDSL  networks,  which  increased  by  17.7  percentage  points 
during the period as a result of Lattelecom’s VDSL rollout programme. This programme aims to deploy 
VDSL  networks  to  around  180,000  households  in  areas,  where  FTTP  networks  deployment  is  not 
feasible.65  

Rural LTE coverage increased by 13.5 percentage points in the year to June 2016, reaching 74.9% of 
rural households. 

65

 https://www.lattelecom.lv/par-lattelecom/jaunumi/lattelecom-uzsak-verienigu-interneta-tikla-modernizaciju-lai-palielinatu-

atrumu 

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5.17.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

There is quite a lot of regional variation in terms of fixed broadband coverage ranging from little over 
80% in the Eastern region of Latgale to near-complete coverage recorded in the capital Riga, 

Riga was also the only region with NGA networks available to more than 99% of households, while in 
the most Eastern region of Latgale high-speed NGA broadband was available to little more than 70% 
of households. 

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5.17.3 Data tables for Latvia 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

1,986,096 
2.6 
28.0% 

Latvia 2016 

Latvia 2015 

Latvia 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

42.7% 

28.0% 

42.3% 

9.0% 

42.3% 

8.2% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

17.6% 

17.7% 

14.8% 

0.0% 

12.7% 

0.0% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

85.2% 

69.3% 

85.0% 

67.3% 

83.9% 

63.6% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

WiMAX 

44.8% 

24.7% 

44.9% 

24.1% 

44.6% 

28.6% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

Cable 

34.7% 

0.0% 

34.5% 

0.0% 

34.3% 

0.0% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

29.0% 

0.0% 

28.8% 

0.0% 

28.6% 

0.0% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

100.0%  100.0% 

99.2% 

97.3% 

99.2% 

97.3% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

93.0% 

74.9% 

89.0% 

61.4% 

65.0% 

4.2% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

90.7% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

20.3% 

20.3% 

20.3% 

20.3% 

20.3% 

20.3% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

100.0%  100.0% 

99.6% 

98.7% 

99.6% 

98.7% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

92.6% 

83.3% 

92.5% 

77.8% 

91.9% 

75.9% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

91.1% 

77.0% 

90.7% 

67.3% 

89.6% 

63.6% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

92.6% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

90.4% 

86.8% 

- 

- 

- 

92.5% 

89.8% 

86.4% 

- 

- 

- 

91.9% 

88.8% 

85.5% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

During the 2016 data collection, newly introduced checks of rural coverage estimates, comparing the 
number  of  uncovered  households  on  a  total  level  to  the  number  of  uncovered  rural  households 
identified  previously  underestimated  rural  WiMAX  coverage  levels  leading  to  restatements  of  data 
reported in previous year. All restatements are highlighted in italics. 

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5.18 Lithuania 

5.18.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

During the 2016 data collection, more accurate data became available after the Ministry of Transport 
and Communications conducted an extensive mapping study of NGA networks in Lithuania. This new 
data suggest that coverage of fibre optic networks has been overestimated in previous iterations of the 
BCE study, leading to restatements of both FTTP and NGA coverage. 

At the end of June 2016, 95.9% of Lithuanian households had access to fixed broadband services. In 
rural areas, fixed broadband  was available to  86.5%  of rural households. On  both national and rural 
level fixed broadband coverage was below the EU average. Fixed NGA networks passed 81.4% of all 
homes across Lithuania with NGA services being available to 38.8% of rural homes.  

As  in  the  other  Baltic  countries,  Lithuanian  telecoms  operators  have  been  traditionally  focused  on 
FTTP deployments rather than upgrades to VDSL, which is absent in the country. As a result, in terms 
of  individual  technologies,  Lithuania  is  characterised  by  relatively  low  DSL  coverage,  with  69.8% 
homes passed by DSL networks compared with an average of 94.3% in the EU as a whole.  

Therefore,  FTTP  is  one  of  the  two  key  fixed  broadband  technologies  providing  fixed  and  NGA 
broadband  access  to  81.4%  of  Lithuanian  households  by  mid-2016,  along  with  WiMAX,  which  was 
available to 9 in 10 (91.0%) households across the country.  

More than a half of households (54.0%) had access to cable broadband services and 46.3% of homes 
were passed by high-speed cable DOCSIS 3.0 networks at the end of June 2016. However, there is a 
significant overlap of DOCSIS 3.0 and FTTP networks, meaning that overall NGA coverage level was 
that of FTTP coverage.  

Both HSPA and LTE mobile networks reached near universal coverage (99.4% for both technologies) 
at the end of June 2016. Moreover, when average availability of LTE services provided by all mobile 
network  operators  is  considered,  on  average  95.7%  of  Lithuanians  had  access  to  LTE  networks  by 
mid-2016. With near-universal HSPA and  LTE coverage, the  leading mobile network operators have 
begun  to  focus  on  LTE-Advanced  networks  deployment  in  selected  areas  of  Lithuania  with  Tele2 
expanding its LTE-A network to around 50% of the population and 33 cities by mid-2016, in addition to 
the LTE-A services being first offered by Telia Sonera’s Omnitel since 2014.66  

66

 http://tele2.lt/privatiems/naujienos/cat/naujienos/post/Tele2-4GPlius-pletra-50proc-gyventoju-gali-naudoti-dar-greitesniu-

internetu/ 

126  

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WiMAX  was  the  key  technology  for  rural  broadband  access  with  70.5%  of  rural  households  having 
access to WiMAX services at the end of June 2016. Given the absence of cable networks and limited 
availability  of  DSL,  which  passed  only  15.7%  of  rural  households,  FTTP  was  the  only  fixed  NGA 
technology  available  in  rural  areas.  By  mid-2016,  38.8%  of  rural  homes  were  passed  by  FTTP 
networks. 

After first becoming available in 2014, rural LTE coverage reached 98.1% of rural households by mid-
2016, increasing by 29.2 percentage points year-on-year. 

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5.18.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Fixed broadband coverage was higher than 95% in all of the ten regions, with little regional difference 
and  fixed  broadband  coverage  ranging  from  95%  in  the  most  rural  region  of  Utenos  to  97%  of 
households covered in the Kaunas region. 

There  was  more  differentiation  in  terms  of  regional  NGA  coverage  with  highest  coverage  levels 
recorded in the Kaunas region and the Vilnius region. 

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5.18.3 Data tables for Lithuania 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

2,921,262 
2.3 
30.4% 

Lithuania 2016 

Lithuania 2015 

Lithuania 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

69.8% 

15.7% 

69.3% 

15.2% 

69.2% 

16.1% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

81.4% 

38.8% 

80.8% 

38.7% 

80.5% 

37.9% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

WiMAX 

91.0% 

70.5% 

90.3% 

69.1% 

90.3% 

69.2% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

Cable 

54.0% 

9.2% 

53.6% 

0.0% 

53.4% 

0.0% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

46.3% 

9.2% 

45.9% 

0.0% 

42.9% 

0.0% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

99.4% 

98.1% 

98.9% 

96.4% 

98.6% 

95.6% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

99.4% 

98.1% 

90.2% 

68.8% 

79.9% 

36.0% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

95.7% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

50.0% 

50.0% 

50.0% 

50.0% 

50.0% 

50.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

99.7% 

99.0% 

99.5% 

98.4% 

99.4% 

98.1% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

95.9% 

86.5% 

95.7% 

86.3% 

95.4% 

85.4% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

81.4% 

38.8% 

80.8% 

38.7% 

80.5% 

37.9% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

97.7% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

91.0% 

81.4% 

- 

- 

- 

97.5% 

85.4% 

80.8% 

- 

- 

- 

97.4% 

82.3% 

80.5% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

As  mentioned,  previously  reported  coverage  trends  and  values  reported  for  Lithuania  have  been 
restated  in  light  of  new  and  more  accurate  data  stemming  from  the  new  NGA  mapping  study 
conducted by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. All restatements are highlighted in 
italics. 

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5.19 Luxembourg 

5.19.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

Luxembourg maintained high levels of broadband coverage during the twelve-month period to the end 
of  June  2016,  reporting  complete  coverage  for  overall  broadband  and  fixed  broadband  on  both 
national  and  rural  level.  Furthermore,  NGA  networks  remained  stable  with  94.4%  of  all  households 
and 94.1% of rural households covered, exceeding both total (75.9%) and rural (39.2%) EU average 
coverage levels. 

Generally, the country benefits from the fact that it covers a geographically small area in comparison 
to its neighbours. Therefore, extending NGA technologies such as FTTP and DOCSIS 3.0 has been 
somewhat easier in Luxembourg than in other European countries.  

Looking at the individual technologies, Luxembourg continues to outperform the EU average levels for 
coverage  of  all  technologies  with  the  exception  of  WiMAX,  which  is  not  present  in  the  country. 
Universal fixed broadband availability is a result of complete DSL coverage, with ongoing upgrades to 
VDSL. Luxembourg ranked third in terms of VDSL coverage after Belgium and Iceland, with 88.8% of 
households having access to VDSL services in mid-2016.  

Cable coverage experienced  a slight increase of  3.4 percentage  points,  bringing  availability  of cable 
broadband services to 78.6% of households. Further increase in cable coverage in Luxembourg can 
be  expected  in  the  future  as  Telenet  announced  an  extension  of  their  cable  network,  following  their 
acquisition of SFR BeLux. 67 Most cable networks in Luxembourg have been already upgraded to the 
DOCSIS 3.0 standard with high-speed cable broadband being available to 74.3% households. 

By  mid-2016,  gains  were  also  observed  in  terms  of  FTTP  coverage,  which  increased  by  4.4 
percentage points to 51.5%, which is more than twice the EU average (23.7%). The high availability of 
FTTP services can be attributed to the activities of both the  incumbent operator, P&T, as well as the 
alternative operator Tango heavily investing in FTTP rollouts already since 2011.  

LTE  coverage  registered  a  1.9  percentage  point  increase  by  mid-2016  with  LTE  networks  passing 
98.1%  of  homes.  In  terms  of  average  LTE  services  availability,  when  average  coverage  of  all  LTE 
network operators is considered, LTE services were available to 95.4% of Luxembourg. Moreover, the 
overall  bandwidth  available  over  the  networks  will  grow  as  mobile  operators  continue  to  shift  their 

67

 http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-altice-m-a-telenet-idUKKBN14B0MW 

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focus  towards  deployment  of  LTE-Advanced  technology  over  their  networks  with  Tango 68  and 
Orange69 upgrading to LTE-A networks during the twelve-month period of this study.  

As in previous years, rural areas in Luxembourg continue to benefit from above EU average coverage 
levels  for  all  technologies  except  for  WiMAX  and  DOCSIS  3.0,  which  remained  unavailable  to  rural 
households.  Rural  FTTP  coverage  recorded  a  5.5  percentage  point  growth  by  mid-2016  with  FTTP 
networks passing 51.5% of rural homes, well above the EU average of 23.7%. 

Rural LTE coverage remained stable with 91.3% rural households across Luxembourg having access 
to mobile LTE broadband services by mid-2016. 

68

 http://www.wort.lu/en/lifestyle/first-quarter-2015-faster-4g-network-for-luxembourg-next-year-says-tango-

548efa080c88b46a8ce48144 
69

 https://corporate.orange.lu/en/page/our-network 

131  

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5.19.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

132  

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5.19.3 Data tables for Luxembourg 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

562,958 
2.5 
11.5% 

Luxembourg 
2016 

Luxembourg 
2015 

Luxembourg 
2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

100.0% 

99.7% 

100.0% 

99.9% 

100.0% 

99.9% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

88.2% 

88.2% 

88.6% 

88.3% 

88.8% 

88.1% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

51.5% 

51.5% 

47.1% 

46.0% 

42.8% 

35.7% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

78.6% 

46.3% 

80.5% 

42.1% 

70.5% 

52.8% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

78.6% 

0.0% 

75.2% 

0.0% 

65.0% 

0.0% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

98.9% 

99.2% 

99.6% 

99.6% 

99.6% 

99.6% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

98.1% 

91.3% 

96.2% 

91.2% 

96.0% 

89.5% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

95.4% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0% 

100% 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

94.4% 

94.1% 

94.4% 

94.1% 

94.4% 

94.0% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

100.0% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

94.1% 

89.7% 

- 

- 

- 

100.0% 

94.4% 

87.6% 

- 

- 

- 

100.0% 

94.4% 

82.5% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

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5.20 Malta 

5.20.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

Malta  continued  to  be  the  only  country  with  virtually  complete  broadband  coverage  across  all  three 
coverage combination categories on both national and rural levels, as was the case in previous years. 

As  noted  in  previous  iterations  of  this  study,  the  fact  that  Malta  is  a  small,  very  densely  populated 
island  with  small  rural  population  (only  1%  of  households  were  identified  as  rural)  presents  an 
undisputable  geographical  advantage  to  reaching  universal  broadband  coverage  above  the  EU 
average.  

Looking  at  the  individual  technologies,  Malta  is  also  the  only  country  to  report  complete  coverage 
across  a  range  of  key  technologies,  namely  DSL  and  cable  as  was  the  case  in  2015.  Provision  of 

134  

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WiMAX  services  ceased  during  the  twelve  months  leading  up  to  June  2016,  as  Vodafone  Malta  the 
sole provider of WiMAX technology turned off its WiMAX service and migrated existing customers to 
fixed broadband services.70 

NGA  coverage  remained  ensured  through  complete  DOCSIS  3.0  coverage,  whilst  FTTP  coverage 
continued  to  increase  at  a  steady  pace.  By  mid-2016,  availability  of  FTTP  services  grew  by  5.4 
percentage points, passing 16% of homes across the island. Future expansion of FTTP networks can 
be expected with the telco  operator GO investing extensively in the fibre optic network.71 In addition, 
VDSL networks passed 72% of households, unchanged from mid-2015. 

LTE coverage in Malta continued to see substantial growth, recording 27.5-percentage point growth to 
pass 99.5% of Maltese households. This brought Malta in line with the EU average for LTE coverage, 
whilst HSPA maintained near universal coverage. By mid-2016, 99.3% of Maltese people on average 
had access to LTE services from all operators.72 

When examining rural broadband coverage in Malta, it is important to keep in mind the generally small 
number (less than 1%) of Maltese households considered to be rural. With this perspective, complete 
rural coverage was observed for DSL, cable, and satellite technologies in rural areas, unchanged from 
2015. Given the absence of VDSL and FTTP networks in rural areas, DOSCIS 3.0 remained the only 
NGA access technology available to rural households, with 99.9% of rural households accessible via 
the technology.  

Vodafone Malta73 and GO continued LTE roll out to rural areas in the twelve months leading up to 
June 2016, with rural LTE coverage rising to 51.5%, from no coverage in mid-2015.  

70

71

72

73

 https://www.vodafone.com.mt/file.aspx?f=11685 
 https://www.go.com.mt/-/go-investing-over-50-million-euros-to-launch-internet-of-the-future#.WNjx1VXyuUk 
 In the DESI, a figure for end 2015 was published. 
 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2015/11/10/vodafone-malta-hits-99-4g-coverage/ 

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5.20.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

136  

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5.20.3 Data tables for Malta 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

429,344 
2.6 
1.02% 

Malta 2016 

Malta 2015 

Malta 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

72.0% 

0.0% 

72.0% 

0.0% 

75.0% 

0.0% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

16.0% 

0.0% 

10.4% 

0.0% 

8.4% 

0.0% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

99.9% 

99.9% 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

99.9% 

99.9% 

100.0% 

99.9% 

100.0%  100.0% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

99.9% 

99.2% 

99.0% 

99.0% 

99.0% 

95.7% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

99.5% 

51.1% 

72.0% 

0.0% 

67.0% 

0.0% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

99.3%* 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

100.0% 

99.9% 

100.0% 

99.9% 

100.0%  100.0% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

99.78% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

99.43% 

99.39% 

- 

- 

- 

99.8% 

99.5% 

99.4% 

- 

- 

- 

99.8% 

99.5% 

99.4% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

* In the DESI, a figure for end 2015 was published. 

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5.21 Netherlands 

5.21.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

Broadband coverage levels for all combination categories in the Netherlands remained unchanged in 
the  twelve  months  to  the  end  of  June  2016.  By  mid-2016,  the  Netherlands  reported  complete 
coverage  in  relation  to  overall  broadband  and  fixed  broadband  at  a  national  and  rural  level. 
Meanwhile, NGA coverage was near-complete with regards to national and rural coverage, at 98.3% 
and  97.9%, respectively.  This ensured  that the Netherlands remained  one of the leaders  among the 
study countries in terms of NGA coverage,  behind only  Malta at  a rural  level and Malta,  Switzerland 
and Belgium at a national level. 

The  Netherlands  exceeded  the  EU  average  for  all  individual  broadband  technologies,  except  for 
WiMAX,  which  is  not  present  in  the  Netherlands.  DSL  remained  the  most  widespread  broadband 
technology,  achieving  universal  coverage.  While  VDSL  coverage  remained  stable  at  69.9%  of 
households, the incumbent KPN has increased the speed of connections over its copper network via a 
range  of  technologies,  including  VDSL  vectoring  and  VPlus.7475 KPN  is  also  the  sole  owner  of  the 
wholesale  fibre  operator  Reggefiber,  which  is  deploying  FTTP  networks  across  the  Netherlands. 
During the twelve-month period to mid-2016, Netherlands witnessed a 1.2 percentage point increase 
in the proportion of households passed by FTTP, reaching 31.2% of households. However, this made 
no difference to the proportion of homes passed by NGA technologies suggesting that FTTP networks 
were deployed in areas that already had a VDSL or DOCSIS 3.0 presence.  

In  terms  of  cable  technologies,  the  availability  of  cable  networks  and  DOCSIS  3.0  remained 
unchanged, at 95.1% of households.  With near-universal coverage of DOCSIS3.0,  the leading cable 
operator  VodafoneZiggo  (formerly  Ziggo)  plans  to  implement  DOCSIS  3.1  standards  in  the  next  few 
years, enabling download speeds of 1Gbps.76 

At  the  end  of  June  2016,  the  Netherlands  continued  to  lead  the  study  countries  in  terms  of  mobile 
coverage. This is unsurprising given the high availability levels reached already in 2014 and 2015. In 
previous  years,  all  major  mobile  networks  operators  including  KPN,  T-Mobile  Netherlands  and 
Vodafone launched their LTE networks. By the end of 2014, the Netherlands reached nearly universal 

74

75

76

 https://www.providers.nl/392/kpn-investeert-in-vdsl-vectoring-techniek/ 
 https://www.providers.nl/3104/kpn-begint-levering-vplus-verbinding-tot-200mbits/ 
 http://www.digitaltveurope.net/205622/upc-netherlands-doubles-upload-speeds-for-broadband/ 

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LTE coverage with 99.6% of homes being passed by the high-speed mobile networks. Yet looking at 
the average coverage of all LTE network operators, LTE services were available on average to 90.6%.  

Broadband coverage in rural areas was relatively unchanged, when compared with the previous year. 
As  was  the  case  in  mid-2015,  99.9%  of  rural  homes  had  access  to  DSL  broadband  services,  while 
92.5%  of  rural  homes  were  passed  by  cable  networks.  In  terms  of  NGA  technologies,  there  were 
minimal increases in VDSL and DOCSIS 3.0 coverage. VDSL coverage increased by 0.2 percentage 
points to reach 64.9% of rural households, while DOCSIS 3.0 improved 0.1 percentage points to pass 
92.5% of rural homes. The most substantial increase during the twelve-month period was in terms of 
rural FTTP availability, which grew by 1.3 percentage points, reaching 28.4% of rural households. 

Mobile  broadband  coverage  in  rural  areas  was  unchanged  in  the  twelve  months  to  the  end  of  June 
2016. Given the high levels of coverage reached in the previous year, at 98.2%,  both HSPA and LTE 
rural coverage in the Netherlands remained above the EU average.  

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5.21.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Fixed  broadband  coverage  remained  unchanged  across  the  individual  regions  with  all  households 
being able to access fixed broadband services at the end of June 2016. 

NGA coverage was slightly more varied in the individual regions. Eighteen regions recorded complete 
NGA  availability,  while  the  lowest  NGA  coverage  continued  to  be  in  Oost-Groningen  region,  where 
nearly 90% of households had access to high-speed broadband. 

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5.21.3 Data tables for Netherlands 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

16,900,726 
2.2 
8.2% 

Netherlands 
2016 

Netherlands 
2015 

Netherlands 
2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

100.0% 

99.9% 

100.0% 

99.9% 

100.0% 

99.9% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

69.9% 

64.9% 

69.9% 

64.7% 

68.9% 

51.1% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

31.2% 

28.4% 

29.7% 

27.1% 

28.2% 

20.5% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

95.1% 

92.5% 

95.1% 

92.4% 

96.8% 

93.2% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

95.1% 

92.5% 

95.1% 

92.4% 

96.8% 

93.2% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

99.6% 

98.2% 

99.6% 

98.3% 

99.6% 

95.5% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

99.6% 

98.2% 

99.6% 

98.3% 

99.6% 

95.5% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

90.6% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

98.3% 

97.9% 

98.3% 

97.8% 

98.4% 

97.7% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

100.0% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

98.2% 

98.2% 

- 

- 

- 

100.0% 

98.2% 

98.1% 

- 

- 

- 

100.0% 

98.4% 

98.2% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

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5.22 Norway 

5.22.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

As of the end of June 2016, Norway was above the EU average for overall broadband coverage, both 
nationally  and in rural areas. On the  other hand,  Norway remained slightly below  the  EU  average in 
terms of fixed broadband coverage  at a total and rural level.  Examining NGA broadband  availability, 
Norway was above the EU average at a total level, as 81% of households were passed by at least one 
NGA technology. However, Norway was below the EU average for rural NGA coverage, with less than 
one-third (32.9%) of rural homes able to access NGA broadband.  

Looking at the coverage levels of individual broadband technologies, DSL coverage improved  by 1.1 
percentage points during the year to reach 90.6% of households by mid-2016, but remained below the 
EU  average.  VDSL  coverage  also  witnessed  an  improvement  during  the  period,  rising  by  2.6 
percentage points, with a half (49.9%) of Norwegian household covered and above the EU average of 
48.2%.  There  was  also  growth  in  the  reach  of  cable  networks,  up  to  51.9%  from  50.6%,  which  was 
higher  than  the  EU  average  (44.4%).  DOCSIS  3.0  coverage  improved  by  1.6  percentage  points  to 
51.9%, meaning that all cable networks were upgraded to DOCSIS 3.0 as of mid-2016.  

The biggest improvement in terms of fixed broadband technologies concerned FTTP coverage, which 
increased  by  5.2  percentage  points.  This  trend  can  be  expected  to  continue,  with  Telenor  aiming  to 
deploy  the  technology  to  a  further  800k  homes  by  2020.77 By  mid-2016,  nearly  a  half  (46.3%)  of 
Norwegian  households  was  covered  by  FTTP  technology,  therefore  exceeding  the  EU  average  of 
23.7%.  

Examining  mobile  broadband  technologies,  HSPA  networks  continued  to  cover  99.0%  of  Norwegian 
homes.  LTE  networks  increased  0.4  percentage  points  during  the  twelve-month  period,  reaching 
universal  coverage  level.  In  addition,  a  ubiquitous  LTE  network  coverage  is  provided  by  all  mobile 
network operators meaning that average LTE operator coverage also reached 100%. 

With complete LTE coverage provided by all operators, mobile network operators have begun to look 
towards  new  technologies  to  provide  further  innovation  and  greater  speeds.  Telenor 78  and  Telia 

77

78

 https://www.telenor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Telenor-CMD-2017-Telenor-Norway.pdf 
 http://telecomist.com/2015/04/telenor-introducing-lte-a-in-more-than-200-municipalities/   

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Company79 (formerly NetCom) launched their LTE-Advanced networks in 2015, with the former’s LTE-
A network covering 91.4% of the Norwegian population as of October 2016. 80 

Although significantly below the EU average (86.0%), DSL remained the most prevalent technology in 
rural areas. DSL networks passed 67.6% of rural homes at the end of June 2016, while the next most 
widespread fixed broadband technology, FTTP, passed 20.5% of rural homes. VDSL  networks were 
the  fastest-growing  broadband  technology  in  rural  areas  in  the  year  to  mid-2016,  rising  by  2.3 
percentage points to 17.9%. At 3.7%, rural DOCSIS 3.0 networks continued to have a marginal impact 
on rural NGA coverage across Norway. 

79

80

 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2015/03/06/netcom-launches-limited-lte-a-offering/   
 https://www.telenor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Telenor-CMD-2017-Telenor-Norway.pdf 

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Norway continued to be one of the leaders in terms of rural mobile broadband coverage, with HSPA 
and LTE coverage considerably above the EU average. HSPA networks reached 95.9% of homes as 
of mid-2016,  while LTE coverage  improved 1.7  percentage  points  during the twelve month-period to 
achieve universal coverage.   

5.22.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Given  the  country’s  size  and  population  distribution,  there  is  a  degree  of  regional  variation  with 
regards  to  fixed  broadband  coverage.  While  nearly  complete  coverage  was  reported  for  the  capital 
Oslo, in three regions (Finnmark, Sogn og Fjordane, and Nord-Trøndelag) fixed broadband coverage 
remained between 90% and 91%. 

There were even greater differences between regions in terms of NGA coverage, which ranged from 
67.7% in Sogn og Fjordane and 68.5% Oppland to around 95% in Oslo. There weren’t any significant 
increases in regional NGA coverage over the twelve months to the end of June 2016. 

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145  

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5.22.3 Data tables for Norway 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

5,166,493 
2.0 
21.4% 

Norway 2016 

Norway 2015 

Norway 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

90.6% 

67.6% 

89.5% 

67.4% 

90.4% 

70.2% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

49.9% 

17.9% 

47.3% 

15.6% 

36.5% 

13.4% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

46.3% 

20.5% 

41.1% 

18.4% 

40.0% 

22.3% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

51.9% 

3.7% 

50.6% 

2.7% 

49.5% 

2.9% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

51.9% 

3.7% 

50.3% 

2.4% 

49.5% 

2.9% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

99.0% 

95.9% 

99.0% 

95.6% 

98.6% 

95.0% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

100.0%  100.0% 

99.6% 

98.3% 

83.0% 

31.7% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

100.0% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

100.0%  100.0% 

99.5% 

97.8% 

99.3% 

97.5% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

95.3% 

79.2% 

94.7% 

77.4% 

95.2% 

81.7% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

81.0% 

32.9% 

79.6% 

32.2% 

78.0% 

31.2% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

100.0% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

82.0% 

78.0% 

- 

- 

- 

95.3% 

78.6% 

39.0% 

- 

- 

- 

95.2% 

75.0% 

28.0% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

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5.23 Poland 

5.23.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

While  Poland  achieved  near-universal  overall  broadband  coverage,  its  fixed  broadband  coverage 
remained  below  the  EU  average  on  both  a  national  and  rural  level.  By  mid-2016,  86.4%  of  Polish 
households had access to at least one fixed broadband technology, a 0.2 percentage point increase. 
This was considerably lower than the EU average of 97.5%. Fixed broadband coverage in rural areas 
was 15 percentage points lower than the EU average, covering 82.5% of rural households. 

NGA  coverage  in  Poland  was  also  below  the  EU  average,  both  nationally  and  in  rural  areas.  At  a 
national level, Poland witnessed a 3.4 percentage point increase in NGA coverage. Yet, with 64.1% of 
households  covered,  it  was  still  lower  than  the  75.9%  average  for  EU  households.  On  a  rural  level, 
NGA  coverage  increased  by  a  similar  amount,  passing  37.2%  of  rural  homes  compared  to  the  EU 
average of 39.2%. 

A  detailed  look  at  coverage  levels  of  the  individual  technologies  explains  Poland’s  shortcomings  in 
fixed broadband availability. As of mid-2016, Poland was one of six study countries with DSL coverage 
of  less  than  80%  of  households  with  DSL  networks  reaching  75.7%  of  Polish  households.  Cable 
networks  covered  43.6%  of  homes,  around  one  percentage  point  below  the  EU  average,  while  all 
cable networks in Poland were upgraded to DOCSIS 3.0 by mid-2016.  

In  terms  of  other  NGA  technologies,  availability  of  VDSL  services  remained  stable  at  41.7%.  In 
contrast,  there  was  a  7.5  percentage  point  growth  in  FTTP  networks,  reaching  16.5%  of  Polish 
households. This was due to the incumbent Orange Polska’s deployment of FTTP services, with the 
operator planning to reach 3.5 million homes by 2018.81 

LTE coverage increased considerably during the twelve months to the end of June 2016, recording a 
21.7  percentage  point  growth.  At  97.6%,  LTE  coverage  was  above  the  EU  average  of  96.0%.  This 
improvement  coincided  with  mobile  operators  Orange  and  T-Mobile  deploying  the  800MHz  and 
2600MHz frequencies that they won in the October 2015 spectrum auction82. Moreover, average LTE 
coverage of all operators reached 90.7% by mid-2016. 

81

82

 https://www.orange.com/en/news/2016/mai/In-Poland-Orange-extends-its-fiber-optic-network 
 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2016/02/09/orange-t-mobile-poland-using-new-lte-bands/ 

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Rural DSL coverage, similar to rural cable availability, remained stable in the twelve months to the end 
of  June  2016.  In  rural  areas,  there  was  growth  in  the  availability  of  FTTP  networks  as  coverage 
increased  5.7  percentage  points  during  the  period.  By  mid-2016,  FTTP  services  reached  11.5%  of 
rural  homes  in  Poland  compared  to  the  EU  average  of  9.4%.  Nevertheless,  VDSL  remained  the 
primary  NGA  technology  available  in  rural  areas.  It  passed  a  quarter  (25.8%)  of  rural  homes, 
unchanged  from  the  previous  year.  Rural  DOCSIS  3.0  coverage  increased  slightly,  growing  1.2 
percentage points and covering 12.3% of rural households by mid-2016. 

There  was  a  substantial  increase  in  the  availability  of  LTE  services  in  rural  areas  during  the  year  to 
mid-2016. Rural LTE coverage improved 82.7 percentage points to reach 88.4% of households, which 
was above the EU average (79.7%).  

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5.23.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

There were considerable regional differences in terms of fixed broadband coverage in Poland. Urban 
centres, such as Warsaw, Lodz, Krakow, Gdansk, Szczecin, Wroclaw, or Poznan recorded complete 
fixed broadband coverage. But in a number of regions, such as in the Krakowski and Sandomiersko-
jedrzejowski regions, fixed broadband was available to less than 65% of households. 

Large  differences  were  also  recorded  for  NGA  coverage.  Complete  coverage  was  observed  in  the 
capital Warsaw, city of Lódz, Poznan, and in the Trojmiejski urban regions, whereas coverage levels 
did  not  exceed  30%  of  households  in  three  regions  (Krakowski,  Nowosadecki,  and  Sandomiersko-
jedrzejowski). 

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5.23.3 Data tables for Poland 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

38,017,059 
2.8 
20.7% 

Poland 2016 

Poland 2015 

Poland 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

75.7% 

77.2% 

76.2% 

77.0% 

75.6% 

75.3% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

41.7% 

25.8% 

42.7% 

25.8% 

28.5% 

25.1% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

16.5% 

11.5% 

9.0% 

5.8% 

7.3% 

4.3% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

1.8% 

1.4% 

2.4% 

1.8% 

2.5% 

1.4% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

43.6% 

15.2% 

42.0% 

14.9% 

40.5% 

14.7% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

43.6% 

12.3% 

40.0% 

11.1% 

39.5% 

10.8% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

99.5% 

97.8% 

99.5% 

97.8% 

99.5% 

97.8% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

97.6% 

88.4% 

75.9% 

5.7% 

66.7% 

3.4% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

90.7% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

99.9% 

99.8% 

99.8% 

99.5% 

99.8% 

99.3% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

86.4% 

82.5% 

86.2% 

81.5% 

85.4% 

79.9% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

64.1% 

37.2% 

60.7% 

33.8% 

53.4% 

31.1% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

81.8% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

63.7% 

57.2% 

- 

- 

- 

81.0% 

53.5% 

22.0% 

- 

- 

- 

80.2% 

42.2% 

13.5% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

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5.24 Portugal 

5.24.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

As  was  the  case  in  2015,  Portugal  remained  above  the  EU  average  in  all  combination  categories. 
Overall  broadband  and  fixed  broadband  recorded  almost  complete  fixed  broadband  coverage,  with 
99.8%  of  all  Portuguese  households  being  passed  by  at  least  one  fixed  network  and  99.1%  of  rural 
households having access to fixed broadband services in mid-2016.  

With  fixed  broadband  technologies  recording  near  universal  coverage,  it  means  that  progress  in 
broadband  coverage  is  limited  to  availability  of  NGA  technologies.  Over  the  twelve  months  to  mid-
2016,  NGA  coverage  increased  by  4.1  percentage  points  and  with  95.0%  of  households  having 
access to high-speed broadband services exceeded the EU average of 75.9% by a significant margin. 
In  addition,  rural  NGA  coverage  grew  by  9.4  percentage  points,  leading  to  nearly  three-quarters 
(73.5%) of rural households being able to connect to a NGA broadband by the end of June 2016. 

Looking  at  the  coverage  of  individual  technologies,  it  is  possible  to  see  that  while  DSL  coverage  is 
nearly  universal,  DSL  networks  have  not  been  upgraded  to  VDSL.  This  is  due  to  the  long-term 
preference of Portuguese network operators to deploy FTTP networks across the country rather than 
rolling out VDSL upgrades. FTTP coverage already increased dramatically since 2014 and this trend 
continued  into  the  first  half  of  2016.  By  mid-2016,  FTTP  coverage  grew  by  10.7  percentage  points, 
resulting  in  86.1%  of  households  having  access  to  FTTP  services  and  Portugal  being  the  leader  in 
FTTP coverage among the study countries and jumping ahead of the traditionally strong Baltic  States 
for the first time in the history of the BCE study. 

Portugal has been able to benefit from lower labour costs and an underground duct system installed 
over 30 years ago, which both contribute to lowering the costs of FTTP deployment. It has thus been 
feasible  for  the  incumbent  Portugal  Telecom  and  other  network  operators  to  prioritise  FTTP 
deployment.  Additionally,  Portugal  is  one  of  few  countries  (along  with  Spain  and  to  a  lesser  degree 
France), which have seen fruitful cooperation among leading ISPs (Vodafone/Portugal Telecom83 and 
Vodafone/Sonaecom 84 )  with  network  sharing  and  joint  deployment  agreements  contributing  to 
expedited rollout and reduced costs of fibre-optic network deployment. 

In  relation  to  mobile  technologies,  LTE  coverage  experienced  a  4.5  percentage  point  increase  to 
98.8%  of  households  passed  by  the  technology.  HSPA  coverage  rose  by  1.7  percentage  point  to 
98.8%,  bringing  both  mobile  broadband  technologies  in  line  with  the  EU  average.  When  average 

83

84

 http://www.vodafone.com/content/index/media/vodafone-group-releases/2014/vodafone-portugal-fibre-sharing.html 
 http://press.vodafone.pt/en/2009/12/21/sonaecom-and-vodafone-sign-cooperation-agreement-on-ngn/ 

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coverage  of  LTE  networks  of  all  mobile  network  operators  is  considered,  on  average  95.3%  of 
Portuguese had access to LTE services at the end of June 2016. 

In  terms  of  coverage  in  rural  areas,  while  DOCSIS  3.0  remained  unchanged,  rural  FTTP  coverage 
experienced  a  substantial  16.7  percentage  point  growth,  making  it  the  key  NGA  technology  in  rural 
areas,  with  46.9%  of  rural  homes  passed  by  FTTP  networks  (five  times  the  EU  average).  This  is  a 
result  of  continued  rural  FTTP  deployment  by  regional  indirect  access  providers,  dstelecomand 
Fibroglobal.85 

Rural LTE networks also observed significant growth, increasing by 25 percentage points to pass 92% 
of rural homes by mid-2016. In addition, rural HSPA availability increased by 7.3 percentage points to 
cover 91.8% of rural households.  

85

 http://www.norte.dstelecom.pt/noticias/dstelecom-distinguida-como-operador-europeu-que-melhor-contribuiu-para-reforco-

de-fibra-otica/?year=&start= 

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5.24.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

In  terms  of  fixed  broadband  coverage  there  were  not  any  substantial  differences  between  the 
individual regions.  Nine regions recorded complete fixed broadband coverage  while in the remaining 
15 regions between 98% and 99% of households had access to fixed broadband services. 

There was much more regional variation in terms of NGA coverage. Complete coverage was observed 
in six regions (the Lisbon and Porto metropolitan areas, Algarve, Cávado, Ave, and the Beira Baixa 
region), while only in Alto Minho less than 65% of households had access to NGA services and in 
other two regions (Médio Tejo and Alentejo Litoral) was NGA coverage lower than 80%. 

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The following broadband coverage levels were recorded in Portuguese regions outside mainland 
Europe: 

Coverage data for Portuguese NUTS 3 areas outside mainland Europe  

NUTS 3 

P200 

P300 

Description  
Região Autónoma dos 
Açores 
Região Autónoma da 
Madeira 

Overall fixed broadband 
coverage 

NGA broadband 
coverage 

99.98% 

99.98% 

99.8% 

86.3% 

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5.24.3 Data tables for Portugal 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

10,472,159 
2.6 
15.1% 

Portugal 2016 

Portugal 2015 

Portugal 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

99.2% 

94.7% 

99.1% 

97.3% 

99.1% 

97.1% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

86.1% 

46.9% 

75.4% 

30.2% 

65.8% 

23.0% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

79.1% 

42.1% 

79.4% 

43.9% 

80.1% 

40.4% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

79.1% 

42.1% 

79.4% 

43.9% 

80.0% 

40.4% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

98.8% 

91.8% 

96.8% 

84.5% 

96.7% 

78.0% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

98.8% 

92.0% 

94.3% 

67.0% 

94.2% 

63.8% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

95.3% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100% 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

99.9% 

99.1% 

99.8% 

98.9% 

99.8% 

99.0% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

99.8% 

98.4% 

99.8% 

98.8% 

99.8% 

98.6% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

95.0% 

73.5% 

90.9% 

64.1% 

89.1% 

57.4% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

98.85% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

93.75% 

89.48% 

- 

- 

- 

98.1% 

90.9% 

88.0% 

- 

- 

- 

99.1% 

86.6% 

86.1% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

During the 2016 data collection, newly introduced checks of rural coverage estimates, comparing the 
number  of  uncovered  households  on  a  total  level  to  the  number  of  uncovered  rural  households 
identified  previously  underestimated  rural  FTTP,  Cable,  DOCSIS  3.0  and  HSPA  coverage  levels 
leading to restatements of data reported in previous year. All restatements are highlighted in italics. 

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5.25 Romania 

5.25.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

In mid-2016, Romania continued to lag behind the EU average in terms of fixed broadband coverage 
on  both  national  and  rural  level,  but  it  once  again  performed  better  than  the  European  average  with 
regards to NGA availability. At the end of June 2016, 88.6% of Romanian households had access to 
fixed  broadband  services  compared  to  the  EU  average  of  97.5%.  In  rural  areas,  fixed  broadband 
networks passed 82.3% of rural homes, while in the EU as a whole 92.7% of rural households were 
able  to  connect  to  fixed  broadband.  NGA  broadband  coverage  increased  by  1.1  percentage  points 
during the  twelve months to the  end of June 2016 and reached  71.7%  of all Romanian households. 
Furthermore, NGA broadband services were available to a third (33.6%) of rural households, following 
a 4.1 percentage point increase. 

Romania’s below-average fixed broadband coverage can be explained with a closer look at coverage 
levels  of  the  individual  technologies,  which  shows  limited  availability  of  both  DSL  and  cable 
technologies.  DSL  services  were  available  to  65.9%  of  homes,  which  was  below  the  EU  average  of 
94.3%.  Meanwhile,  cable  networks  passed  32.3%  of  households,  a  1.5  percentage  point  increase 
compared to the previous study, but still considerably behind the EU average of 44.4%.  

Examining NGA availability, both the incumbent Telekom Romania and RCS&RDS continued to invest 
in  FTTP  services 86 and  by  the  end  of  June  2016,  FTTP  networks  in  Romania  passed  59.7%  of 
households,  making  it  the  key  driver  of  NGA  technologies  in  Romania.  Elsewhere,  VDSL  services 
remained  relatively  stable  at  11.0%  of  households,  while  DOCSIS  3.0  coverage  reported  a  1.7 
percentage point increase to reach 30.6% of households. UPC Romania and RCS&RDS remained the 
two largest cable operators in Romania. 

Although LTE coverage continued  to  improve during the  twelve months to mid-2016,  growing by  9.1 
percentage points to cover 75.2% of homes, it remained below the EU average of 96.0%. Coverage is 
expected  to  continue  to  improve,  partly  due  to  continued  investment  from  Orange  Romania,  who 
announced a three year network investment plan, worth EUR 500 million, in 2015.87 Orange Romania, 
along with Vodafone Romania, are deploying LTE-Advanced networks, enabling greater speeds to be 

86

87

 https://www.telekom.ro/about-us/media/news/telekom-romania-announces-financial-indicators-for-q2-2016/article93323 
 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2015/03/20/orange-romania-investing-half-a-billion-euros-in-

three-years/ 

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achieved  over  LTE  networks 88.  At  the  end  of  June  2016,  average  LTE  coverage  of  all  network 
operators was limited with LTE services being available on average to 44.7% of Romanians. 

In  rural  areas,  DSL  remained  the  most  prevalent  broadband  technology,  passing  65.7%  of  rural 
homes, followed by WiMAX broadband,  which passed a third (33.5%) of households. The next most 
widespread broadband technology was FTTP, which increased by 1.7 percentage points to 26.7% of 
rural  homes.  This  growth  was  supported  by  the  RO-Net  project  which,  supported  by  EU  funds, 
deployed  fibre  in  over  200  localities,  mostly  in  rural  parts  of  Romania. 89 In  terms  of  other  NGA 
technologies, rural  VDSL coverage remained  limited (2.1%)  while DOCSIS 3.0  passed 9.7% of rural 
households.  This  was  slightly  lower  than  the  overall  reach  of  cable  networks  in  rural  areas,  which 
equalled 11.7% of rural homes.  

While  rural  HSPA  coverage  was  near-universal,  LTE  networks  reached  less  than  a  half  (49.5%)  of 
rural  households.  Even  though,  there  was  a  substantial  increase  in  LTE  availability  of  around  16 
percentage  points  during  the  twelve  months  to  mid-2016,  rural  LTE  coverage  continued  to  be  lower 
than the EU average (79.7%). 

88

 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2016/09/06/vodafone-romania-launches-dual-carrier-lte-a-in-

372-localities-orange-expands-quad-play-packages-nationwide/ 
89

 http://www.business-review.eu/news/ro-net-internet-broadband-project-completed-in-over-200-white-areas-111478 

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5.25.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Fixed  broadband  coverage  across  the  Romanian  regions  ranged  from  less  than  80%  in  Vaslui  and 
Vâlcea to complete coverage in the capital Bucharest. 

Regional NGA coverage also remained very varied as it ranged from little less than 35% in the Vâlcea 
region  to  nearly  98%  in  Bucharest.  Bucharest  also  continued  to  be  the  only  region  to  record  NGA 
coverage levels higher than 96%. 

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159  

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5.25.3 Data tables for Romania 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

19,870,647 
2.7 
21.0% 

Romania 2016 

Romania 2015 

Romania 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

65.9% 

65.7% 

68.3% 

63.7% 

71.4% 

63.3% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

11.0% 

2.1% 

11.8% 

1.8% 

13.7% 

1.8% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

59.7% 

26.7% 

58.2% 

25.0% 

58.0% 

22.7% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

WiMAX 

67.4% 

33.5% 

65.5% 

31.2% 

67.4% 

33.2% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

Cable 

32.3% 

11.7% 

30.9% 

9.3% 

32.7% 

10.4% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

30.6% 

9.7% 

28.9% 

7.3% 

29.3% 

7.4% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

100.0%  100.0% 

99.8% 

99.5% 

99.7% 

99.3% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

75.2% 

49.5% 

66.1% 

33.8% 

55.8% 

17.8% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

44.7% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

100.0%  100.0% 

99.9% 

99.7% 

99.8% 

99.6% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

88.6% 

82.3% 

88.8% 

80.5% 

89.4% 

80.2% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

71.7% 

33.6% 

70.4% 

29.5% 

69.2% 

27.4% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

100.0% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

80.9% 

80.1% 

- 

- 

- 

99.9% 

73.0% 

72.2% 

- 

- 

- 

89.3% 

64.8% 

60.2% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

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5.26 Slovakia 

5.26.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

At the end of June 2016, Slovakia continued to lag behind the EU average in all coverage combination 
categories  on  both  national  and  rural  levels.  As  in  the  previous  edition  of  the  study,  NGA  coverage 
levels  increased  considerably,  growing  by  8.4  percentage  points  on  a  national  level  and  by  14.9 
percentage points in rural areas. By mid-2016, 75.5% of all Slovakian households and 38.4% of rural 
households had access to high-speed broadband services. 

As  was  the  case  in  previous  years,  DSL  and  cable  availability  in  Slovakia  were  considerably  below 
their respective EU averages. DSL networks passed 72.5% of homes, compared with the EU average 
of  94.3%,  while  cable  broadband  services  were  available  to  30.4%  of  households  in  Slovakia 
compared to 44.4% of households across the EU. Meanwhile, Slovakia was one of only five countries 
to report WiMAX availability equal to or above 50%.  

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Examining  NGA  technologies,  VDSL  networks  passed  28.7%  of  Slovakian  households,  increasing 
11.8  percentage  points  during  the  year  to  mid-2016  as  a  result  of  the  incumbent  Slovak  Telekom’s 
decision to invest in upgrades of its legacy copper network. Slovak Telekom is also investing in FTTP 
networks, along with Orange Slovakia. Overall, FTTP networks reached 53.7% of Slovakian homes by 
mid-2016,  making  it  the  most  widespread  NGA  technology  in  Slovakia.  DOCSIS  3.0  coverage  also 
increased during the period, rising by 2.6 percentage points to 27.9% of households. In mid-2016 the 
main cable  operator  in  Slovakia, UPC,  was offering download speeds of up to  500 Mbps  in  order to 
compete with Slovak Telekom’s and Oranges FTTP offerings.90 

LTE networks were not launched on a large scale in Slovakia until 2014. Consequently, despite a 29.1 
percentage  point  increase  in  LTE  coverage  during  the  period,  Slovakia  remained  at  90.3%  slightly 
below the EU average of 96.0%. Improved coverage was as a result of continued investment from all 
of  the  mobile  network  operators,  including  O2  Slovakia’s  launch  of  LTE  services  during  the  study 
period.9192  The lower availability of LTE services is also confirmed when looking at the  average LTE 
operator coverage, which reached only 79.5% at the end of June 2016.  HSPA availability, at 90.7%, 
was also below the EU average (98.0%). 

In rural areas, DSL and WiMAX remained the two most widespread fixed broadband technologies. At 
the  end  of  June  2016,  71.2%  of  rural  homes  were  passed  by  DSL  networks,  an  increase  of  5.2 
percentage  points.  The  incumbent  continued  to  upgrade  these  networks  to  VDSL  throughout  the 
period, with the technology reaching 27.7% of rural homes by mid-2016. WiMAX coverage was stable 
at  50.0%,  considerably  above  the  EU  average,  while  FTTP  coverage  in  rural  areas  remained 
unchanged  at 12.5%  of households.  The availability  of cable services and DOCSIS  3.0 continued to 
be negligible in rural areas.  

As mentioned, mobile network operators continued to deploy LTE networks across Slovakia during the 
twelve-month period to mid-2016. The coverage of LTE services in rural areas increased considerably, 
rising by 57.9 percentage points to 66.4% of rural households. Moreover, there was also a slight rise 
in  the  coverage  of  HSPA  networks  in  rural  areas,  growing  6.8  percentage  points  to  reach  78.5%  of 
rural homes. 

90

91

92

 http://www.libertyglobal.com/pdf/press-release/LG-Earnings-Release-Q2-16-FINAL.pdf 
 http://www.gtigroup.org/news/ind/2015-05-12/6247.html   
 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2016/01/20/o2-slovakia-outlines-2016-plans/ 

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5.26.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Besides  the  area  surrounding  the  capital  Bratislava,  fixed  broadband  coverage  in  individual  regions 
remained between 80% and 94%. In the capital Bratislava, fixed broadband services were available to 
more than 98% of households. Lowest coverage was registered in the Presovsky region, where a little 
over 8 in 10 homes were passed at the end of June 2016. 

NGA coverage across the Slovak regions ranged from little less than 65% in Presovsky region to over 
95% in Bratislava and 83% in Kosicky region. In addition, in  Trenciansky region, which recorded the 
lowest  NGA  coverage  in  the  previous  year,  availability  of  NGA  services  increased  by  more  than  16 
percentage points to 66.1% home passed by NGA networks at the end of June 2016. 

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5.26.3 Data tables for Slovakia 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

5,421,349 
2.8 
28.8% 

Slovakia 2016 

Slovakia 2015 

Slovakia 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

72.5% 

71.2% 

71.2% 

66.0% 

70.9% 

50.1% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

28.7% 

27.7% 

16.9% 

11.9% 

11.7% 

0.0% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

53.7% 

12.5% 

50.4% 

12.2% 

48.0% 

4.3% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

50.0% 

50.0% 

50.0% 

50.0% 

50.1% 

50.4% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

30.4% 

0.8% 

28.8% 

0.6% 

28.4% 

0.4% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

27.9% 

0.4% 

25.3% 

0.0% 

25.4% 

0.0% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

90.7% 

78.5% 

91.8% 

71.7% 

91.1% 

69.3% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

90.3% 

66.4% 

61.2% 

8.5% 

52.2% 

0.0% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

79.5% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

95.9% 

91.6% 

95.9% 

91.6% 

95.9% 

89.1% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

88.0% 

91.1% 

86.3% 

83.0% 

86.8% 

76.6% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

75.5% 

38.4% 

67.1% 

23.5% 

62.5% 

4.3% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

87.6% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

75.1% 

64.1% 

- 

- 

- 

86.3% 

66.1% 

57.0% 

- 

- 

- 

86.5% 

61.5% 

54.5% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

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5.27 Slovenia 

5.27.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

Slovenian  broadband  coverage  levels  have  been  restated  for  2015  and  2014  due  to  more  accurate 
data  now being collected by  the NRA. Therefore, coverage  levels in this study are different to  those 
reported in previous editions the BCE study report.  

In mid-2016, Slovenia was slightly below the EU average in terms of overall broadband coverage but 
above  the  EU  average  for  fixed  broadband  and  NGA  broadband  coverage.  The  proportion  of 
households covered by at least one fixed  broadband technology increased by 2.2 percentage  points 
during the twelve months to reach 97.7% of households the end of June 2016, while NGA broadband 
coverage increased by 0.8 percentage points during the same period with 81.6% of Slovenian homes 
passed by NGA networks.  

When rural broadband availability is considered, Slovenia was above the EU average with regards to 
overall broadband coverage and NGA broadband coverage in rural areas, which reached over a half 
(50.2%)  of  households.  However,  Slovenia  was  slightly  below  the  EU  average  for  fixed  rural 
broadband availability despite a 2.1 percentage point increase to 92.2% in the twelve-month period. 

At  the  end  of  June  2016,  DSL  was  the  most  widespread  fixed  broadband  technology  with  DSL 
networks  covering  95.9%  of  households.  Meanwhile,  cable  broadband  services  were  available  to  of 
Slovenian homes.  

Examining  NGA  technologies,  the  Slovenian  Government’s  Digital  Slovenia  2020  strategy  aims  to 
cover  96%  of  households  with  download  speeds  of  at  least  100  Mbps  by  2020 93   and  network 
operators have been investing in a mix of technologies to achieve this goal. FTTP services recorded 
the highest growth in coverage from July 2015 to the end of June 2016, expanding by 5.4 percentage 
points  and  reaching  50.4%  of  households.  In  terms  of  other  NGA  technologies,  VDSL  networks 
covered  53.4%  of  households.  DOCSIS  3.0  had  a  similar  reach,  passing  53.7%  of  homes,  as  the 
majority of Slovenia’s cable infrastructure was upgraded to the technology.  

LTE  coverage  remained  above  the  EU  average,  increasing  by  1.7  percentage  points  and  reaching 
97.4% of households. In addition, by mid-2016, 90.1% of Slovenians on average had access to LTE 
services from all operators.94 

93

94

 http://www.mju.gov.si/fileadmin/mju.gov.si/pageuploads/DID/Informacijska_druzba/pdf/DSI_2020_3-2016_pic1.pdf 
This is an updated figure compared to the value originally reported in the DESI. 

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In  rural  areas,  DSL  coverage  reached  86.7%  of  rural  households  and  at  21.5%,  the  reach  of  cable 
networks in rural areas remained considerably above the EU average (10.7%). Although DOCSIS 3.0 
coverage was also high, at 18.8%, FTTP networks were the most widespread NGA technology in rural 
Slovenia.  FTTP  services  passed  23.5%  of  households,  an  increase  of  3.3  percentage  points.  Rural 
VDSL  coverage  increased  by  a  similar  amount,  3.1  percentage  points,  and  reached  19.4%  of  rural 
homes. 

Rural  LTE  coverage  recorded  a  9.7  percentage  point  increase,  covering  90.9%  of  rural  homes, 
remaining  well-above  the  EU  average  of  81.2%.  Meanwhile,  HSPA  networks  passed  93.1%  of  rural 
homes, following a 1.6 percentage point increase from mid-2015. 

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5.27.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Fixed  broadband coverage in  Slovenia remained relatively stable  across the twelve regions, ranging 
from a little over 95% in the Spodnjeposavska region to over 99% in the Gorenjska region. 

NGA  coverage  ranged  from  73.6%  in  the  Jugovzhodna  Slovenija  region  to  nearly  86%  in  the 
Osrednjeslovenska region. In ten out of twelve regions NGA coverage recorded NGA coverage levels 
higher than 75%. 

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5.27.3 Data tables for Slovenia 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

2,061,292 
2.5 
23.1% 

Slovenia 2016 

Slovenia 2015 

Slovenia 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

95.9% 

86.7% 

90.9% 

82.3% 

90.8% 

81.9% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

53.4% 

19.4% 

52.8% 

16.3% 

52.5% 

15.2% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

50.4% 

23.5% 

45.0% 

20.2% 

42.2% 

18.3% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

WiMAX** 

2.6% 

4.8% 

0.3% 

1.1% 

0.3% 

1.1% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

Cable 

58.6% 

21.5% 

58.4% 

21.5% 

58.3% 

21.4% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

53.7% 

18.8% 

52.4% 

18.3% 

51.1% 

17.9% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

98.1% 

93.1% 

98.0% 

91.5% 

97.9% 

91.1% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

97.4% 

90.9% 

95.7% 

81.2% 

87.7% 

72.4% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

90.1%* 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

99.8% 

99.3% 

99.7% 

99.1% 

99.6% 

98.5% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

97.7% 

92.2% 

95.5% 

90.1% 

95.4% 

88.2% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

81.6% 

50.2% 

80.8% 

49.8% 

80.2% 

45.8% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

99.8% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

98.4% 

72.2% 

- 

- 

- 

99.3% 

92.7% 

68.7% 

- 

- 

- 

98.3% 

83.5% 

67.3% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. As mentioned, 
previously  reported  coverage  trends  and  values  reported  for  Slovenia  have  been  restated  in  light  of 
new and more accurate data shared by the NRA. All restatements are highlighted in italics. 

*An updated value for average LTE operator coverage is reported compared to the DESI. 

**There  is  no  national  WiMAX  provider  present  in  Slovenia  and  WiMAX  technology  is  only  used  in 
small, mostly rural areas as part of an Open Access Network initiative aimed at increasing coverage of 
white spot areas. 

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5.28 Spain 

5.28.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

At  the  end  of  June  2016,  overall  broadband  and  fixed  broadband  coverage  in  Spain  remained 
relatively  unchanged, on both  national and rural  levels, compared to mid-2015.  NGA coverage grew 
by 4.2 percentage  points passing 80.8% of households,  thus exceeding the EU average  by nearly  5 
percentage  points.  On  the  other  hand,  rural  NGA  coverage  continued  to  fall  behind  the  EU  average 
due  to  slower  pace  of  NGA  deployment  in  rural  areas.  Rural  NGA  coverage  increased  by  3.8 
percentage points passing 27.7% of rural households, 12.1 percentage points behind the EU average 
of 39.2%.  

Examining  coverage  of  the  individual  technologies,  all  technologies  with  the  exception  of  FTTP 
experienced marginal change or remained the same in comparison to mid-2015 coverage levels. DSL 
remained as the main fixed broadband technology in Spain,  although at 90.1% it falls behind the EU 
average  of  94.3%.  However,  FTTP  continued  to  be  the  technology  of  choice  in  terms  of  increasing 
broadband  availability  across  Spain.  Over  the  twelve  month  period  to  the  end  of  June  2016,  FTTP 
coverage grew by 10.0 percentage points and by mid-2016, 62.8% of Spanish households had access 
to  FTTP  services.  Moreover,  the  increasing  availability  of  FTTP  services  also  impacts  the  speeds 
available to Spanish households and results in Spain being ahead by nearly 30 percentage points in 
terms of availability of services capable of achieving at least 100 Mbps download broadband speeds 
(79.1% vs. the EU average of 50.8%). 

This  reflects  the  strategy  of  major  Spanish  operators,  such  as  the  incumbent  Telefonica  Espan͂ a, 
Vodafone Spain, Orange Spain and Jazztel, to prioritise FTTP networks deployment over upgrades of 
their legacy networks to VDSL. Moreover, in the last couple of years the operators have also entered 
into a number of network sharing agreements in order to reduce cost  and expedite the rollout.  Most 
recently,  Orange  Spain  entered  into  joint  network  rollout  agreement  with  Grupo  MASMOVIL  and 
Telefonica entered into a wholesale agreement with Vodafone Spain. 9596 

With  no  plans  to  upgrade  existing  copper  infrastructure  to  VDSL  or  VDSL2  vectoring,  in  favour  of 
FTTP, VDSL covered only 11.8% of households. Availability of DOCSIS 3.0 services also remained at 

95

 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2016/07/25/orange-espana-and-grupo-masmovil-ink-ftth-

rollout-deal/ 
96

 https://www.telefonica.com/en/web/press-office/-/telefonica-and-vodafone-sign-a-commercial-agreement-for-wholesale-

access-to-fibre-optics 

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its previous levels with high-speed cable broadband networks passing about a half (48.8%) of Spanish 
households at the end of June 2016. 

In  terms  of  mobile  technologies,  HSPA  coverage  remained  stable  at  near-universal  coverage  level. 
Over  the  twelve  months  to  mid-2016,  LTE  coverage  experienced  a  considerable  growth  of  15.3 
percentage points, with 94.4% of homes passed by LTE networks at the end of June. Yet despite this 
increase, Spain’s LTE coverage remained below the EU average by 1.6 percentage points. Moreover, 
when  average  coverage  of  LTE  networks  of  all  mobile  network  operators  is  considered,  on  average 
85.9% of people in Spain had access to LTE services at the end of June 2016. 

As in 2015, DSL remained as the key fixed broadband technology available to rural households with 
83.9%  of  rural  homes  passed  by  DSL  networks.  WiMAX  also  remained  considerably  high  reaching 
over half (51.5%) of rural households, above the EU average (18%).  

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By  mid-2016,  only  15.2%  of  rural  households  had  access  to  VDSL.  Whilst  only  10.6%  of  rural 
households  had  access  to  DOCSIS  3.0  cable  broadband  services.  Similarly,  due  to  FTTP  network 
deployment having been limited to mainly urban areas, FTTP services have reached little less than 1 
in  10  (9.7%)  of  rural  households.  This  left  VDSL  as  the  most  wide-spread  NGA  technology  in  rural 
Spain, despite a deployment freeze in the last years. 

This is due to change, as the regulator CNMC seeks to introduce competition in rural areas affected 
by  low  coverage.97 By  regulating  wholesale  pricing  of  Movistar’s  fibre  optic  networks  and  allowing 
alternative operators to build-out FTTP networks in areas,  which CNMC classes as non-competitive, 
the regulator hopes to boost rural NGA coverage in the country. As a result, Orange Spain has now 
begun a series of investments and FTTP network deployment in several rural areas. 9899  

Rural  LTE  coverage  increased  considerably  by  46.5  percentage  points,  reaching  73.3%  of  rural 
households by the end of June 2016, yet still remained below the EU average of 79.7%.  

97

 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2017/01/19/cnmc-approves-wholesale-fibre-offer-revises-

wholesale-broadband-pricing/ 
98

99

 http://acercadeorange.orange.es/UpImages/files/2295/.._ftth_arcos_de_la_frontera_9638336e3778948b65edbb5e7.pdf 
 http://acercadeorange.orange.es/UpImages/files/2252/.._ftth_cunit_e1ce3dd241b107bb921f400ce.pdf 

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5.28.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Fixed broadband coverage levels continued to vary quite significantly between the individual regions, 
ranging  from  around  53%  in  El  Hierro  to  complete  coverage  in  Menorca  (due  to  100%  WiMAX 
coverage across the island). 

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In terms of NGA coverage, the northern regions continue to lead along with the coastal regions. Three 
regions  recorded  NGA  coverage  higher  than  95%  -  Bizkaya,  Barcelona,  and  Madrid.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  Teruel,  only  a  third  of  households  had  access  to  NGA  services.  In  addition,  the  overseas 
provinces and the Mediterranean Islands also recorded lower availability of NGA services. 

The following broadband coverage levels were recorded in Spanish regions outside mainland Europe: 

Coverage data for Spanish NUTS 3 areas outside mainland Europe  
NUTS 3 
ES630 
ES640 
ES703 
ES704 
ES705 
ES706 
ES707 
ES708 
ES709 

Overall fixed broadband coverage  NGA broadband coverage 
98.5% 
92.4% 
100.0% 
100.00% 
6.0% 
53.4% 
18.6% 
95.7% 
86.8% 
90.8% 
17.2% 
63.6% 
10.4% 
83.6% 
65.5% 
94.0% 
79.0% 
93.7% 

Description  
Ceuta (ES) 
 Melilla (ES) 
 El Hierro 
 Fuerteventura 
 Gran Canaria 
 La Gomera 
 La Palma 
 Lanzarote 
 Tenerife 

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5.28.3 Data tables for Spain 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

    46,771,341 
2.6 
18.5% 

Spain 2016 

Spain 2015 

Spain 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

90.1% 

83.9% 

88.5% 

80.5% 

88.5% 

80.5% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

11.8% 

15.2% 

11.0% 

14.1% 

11.0% 

14.1% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

62.8% 

9.7% 

52.8% 

5.6% 

44.8% 

5.0% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

54.2% 

51.5% 

57.1% 

49.8% 

57.1% 

49.8% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

48.8% 

10.6% 

47.8% 

9.8% 

47.8% 

9.8% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

48.8% 

10.6% 

47.8% 

9.8% 

47.8% 

9.8% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

99.7% 

98.7% 

99.7% 

98.4% 

99.7% 

98.4% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

94.4% 

73.3% 

79.1% 

26.8% 

76.3% 

20.1% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

85.9% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

99.9% 

99.4% 

99.8% 

99.2% 

99.8% 

99.2% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

95.5% 

92.1% 

95.1% 

91.1% 

95.1% 

91.6% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

80.8% 

27.7% 

76.6% 

23.9% 

73.2% 

23.6% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

95.5% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

80.8% 

79.1% 

- 

- 

- 

95.1% 

76.6% 

74.2% 

- 

- 

- 

95.1% 

73.2% 

70.5% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

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5.29 Sweden 

5.29.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

As in  previous  years, Sweden  was above the EU average  with regards to total broadband coverage 
across  each  of  the  combination  categories.  However,  when  rural  coverage  was  examined,  Sweden 
was  below  the  EU  average  for  fixed  and  NGA  broadband  access.  Despite  a  7.5  percentage  point 
increase in rural NGA coverage, at 21.5% availability of NGA services in rural areas remained  below 
the EU average of 39.2%.  

DSL continued to be the most widespread fixed broadband technology, reaching 98.0% of households 
by mid-2016. Examining NGA technologies, FTTP remained the most prevalent in terms of coverage, 
increasing  by  4.4  percentage  points  in  the  year  to  the  end  of  June  2016,  to  reach  60.8%  of 
households.  Swedish  network  operators,  Telia  Company  and  Telenor,  remain  committed  to  the 
technology and the former aims to connect 1.9 million households to its FTTP network by 2018.100 

With  regards  to  other  NGA  technologies,  DOCSIS  3.0  networks  passed  over  a  third  (36.2%)  of 
Swedish homes by mid-2016. Overall cable coverage remained stable during the period, meaning that 
the proportion of cable networks upgraded to DOCSIS 3.0 increased by 8 percentage points to equal 
96% in total. VDSL remained the NGA technology with the lowest coverage, passing 21.9% of homes, 
following an increase of 3.6 percentage points during the twelve-month period to mid-2016. 

As in the previous edition of the study, HSPA and LTE coverage was near-universal, surpassing 99% 
coverage  for  both  technologies.  In  addition,  a  very  nearly  ubiquitous  LTE  network  coverage  is 
provided by all mobile network operators meaning that average LTE operator coverage also reached 
100%.101 

Consequently,  with  complete  LTE  coverage  provided  by  all  mobile  network  operators,  Hutchinson’s 
Three  Sweden  has  started  to  deploy  LTE-Advanced  networks  in  parts  of  the  country102,  in  order  to 
differentiate its network from competitors.  

100

101

 http://www.telia.se/media/2014/10/05/telia-satsar-nio-miljarder-p-fiber/066cb492-9c96-4d31-8eb5-144da57ee8af   
 It is important to note that a small number of households might be lacking coverage even when data indicates universal LTE 

availability. 
102

 http://www.mobileeurope.co.uk/press-wire/three-debuts-td-lte-advanced-in-sweden 

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With  regards  to  rural  broadband  coverage,  in  June  2015  the  European  Commission  approved 
Sweden’s  rural  broadband  programme  for  the  period  2014-2020.  As  part  of  this  programme,  the 
government  plans  to  invest  EUR  350  million  towards  high  speed  internet  expansion  across 
underserved  regions  where  the  deployment  of  next-generation  networks  is  not  commercially 
feasible.103 However,  with  this  programme  still  in  its  initial  stages,  rural  NGA  coverage  in  Sweden 
remained  limited  at  21.5%  of  households.  Moreover,  the  reach  of  VDSL  and  DOCSIS  3.0  in  rural 
areas continued to be less than 1%. 

As  in  the  previous  year,  rural  areas  across  Sweden  benefitted  from  near-universal  coverage  of  LTE 
networks. LTE networks covered very nearly 100% of rural households, increasing from 98.0% in the 
previous year. Rural LTE coverage is a focus area for the telecommunications regulator, given the low 
rural  NGA  availability  in  Sweden.  In  2015,  the  regulator  ordered  a  joint  venture  between  Tele2  and 

103

 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2015/06/11/usd393m-rural-broadband-strategy-approved-

national-secretariat-to-support-regions/ 

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Telenor,  named  Net4Mobility  (N4M),  to  roll  out  LTE  technology  to  a  list  of  specific  rural  locations 
identified as lacking broadband access.104 

5.29.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Overall  fixed  broadband  coverage  in  Sweden  was  high  across  all  regions,  ranging  from  95.3%  in 
Jämtlands  län  and  Västerbottens  län  to  99.9%  in  Örebro  län.  In  Stockholm,  99.7%  of  households  in 
the  Swedish  capital  had  access  to  fixed  broadband  services.  While  no  region  reported  complete 
coverage, 10 out of the 21 regions recorded fixed broadband coverage levels exceeding 99%. 

NGA coverage across regions was more varied, with the lowest NGA coverage recorded in Jämtlands 
län (66.4%) while two regions, Stockholm and Västerbottens reported NGA coverage close to 90%. 

The  biggest  year-on-year  increase  in  NGA  coverage  compared  to  mid-2015  was  recorded  for  the 
Gotlands län region, where availability of NGA services grew by 20.0 percentage points to nearly 87% 
of households covered by the end of June 2016.  

104

 https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2015/01/16/pts-reiterates-800mhz-coverage-order-to-tele2-

telenor/ 

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178  

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5.29.3 Data tables for Sweden 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

9,747,355 
2.1 
9.7% 

Sweden 2016 

Sweden 2015 

Sweden 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

98.0% 

86.6% 

97.9% 

89.0% 

97.9% 

89.0% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

21.9% 

0.8% 

18.3% 

0.5% 

18.3% 

0.5% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

60.8% 

20.8% 

56.4% 

13.7% 

56.4% 

13.7% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

37.9% 

0.6% 

38.8% 

0.1% 

38.8% 

0.1% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

36.2% 

0.6% 

34.0% 

0.0% 

34.0% 

0.0% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

99.9% 

99.2% 

99.1% 

96.5% 

99.1% 

96.5% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

100.0%  100.0% 

99.2% 

98.0% 

99.2% 

98.0% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

100.0% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

100.0%  100.0% 

99.5% 

98.2% 

99.5% 

98.2% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

99.0% 

91.1% 

99.0% 

93.6% 

99.0% 

93.6% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

79.4% 

21.5% 

76.4% 

13.9% 

76.4% 

13.9% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

100.0% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

88.4% 

68.7% 

- 

- 

- 

99.0% 

76.4% 

57.5% 

- 

- 

- 

99.0% 

76.4% 

57.5% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

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5.30 Switzerland 

5.30.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

As  in  the  previous  years,  research  on  broadband  coverage  in  Switzerland  was  included  in  the  BCE 
study  thanks  to  additional  funding  provided  by  Glasfasernetz  Schweiz,  a  Swiss  fibre  optic  industry 
association. 

Switzerland  continued  to  be  one  of  the  leaders  in  Europe  in  relation  to  broadband  coverage.  As  in 
previous  years,  Switzerland  reported  above-average  coverage  levels  for  all  coverage  combination 
categories.  Given  the  high  broadband  coverage  levels  achieved  in  previous  years,  it  is  unsurprising 
that there were no substantial changes in broadband coverage levels in the twelve-month period to the 
end of June 2016.  

By  mid-2016,  Switzerland  recorded  universal,  or  near-universal,  coverage  for  the  overall  broadband 
combination  category  on  a  national  and  rural  level  (100.0%  and  99.8%,  respectively),  as  well  as  for 
the  fixed  broadband  combination  category  (99.8%  and  99.0%,  respectively).  Similarly,  NGA 
broadband availability was near-universal (99.0%) at a national level. At a rural level, NGA broadband 
services were available to 92.9% of rural households. 

Switzerland continued to rank ahead of the EU average in terms of total coverage for each broadband 
technology with the exception of WiMAX, which is absent in the Swiss market. Moreover, Switzerland 
remained one of four countries with cable coverage above 80% of total households. In previous years, 
cable  operators,  led  by  UPC  (formerly  Cablecom),  have  been  investing  substantially  in  cable 
deployment, with this activity set to continue in the next couple of years.105 By mid-2016, Switzerland’s 
entire  cable  infrastructure  was  upgraded  to  DOCSIS  3.0,  meaning  that  cable  networks  serve  as  the 
key NGA technology in the country. 

Examining other NGA technologies, Switzerland was one of six countries to record VDSL coverage of 
above 80%. Over the twelve-month period, VDSL coverage increased by 6.5 percentage points and at 
the end of June 2016, 88.0% of Swiss households had access to VDSL broadband services.   

Growth  in  FTTP  coverage  was  slower  compared  to  VDSL,  nevertheless,  following  a  1.7  percentage 
point  increase,  FTTP  networks  passed  28.6%  of  homes  by  mid-2016  and  remained  above  the  EU 
average (23.7%). These increases can be attributed to the continued large-scale deployment of both 
VDSL and FTTP technologies by the incumbent operator Swisscom, launched partly in reaction to the 

105

 https://www.upc.at/ueber-upc/presse/pressearchiv/upc-startet-millionen-investitionsprogramm-autostrada/ 

180  

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increasing competition from cable providers. In addition, Swisscom was also one of the first European 
network operators to  launch commercial deployment  of G.fast technology  in September 2016,  which 
will allow the company to offer download speeds to up to 500 Mbps over its copper network.106  

With  regards  to  mobile  broadband  technologies,  98.3%  of  Swiss  homes  were  passed  by  LTE 
technology,  an  increase  of  6.0  percentage  points  compared  to  mid-2015.  Following  widespread 
adoption of LTE, Swisscom and Sunrise have both introduced speed-tiered plans that offer customers 
the chance to upgrade to advanced LTE plans. 

During  the  twelve-month  period  to  mid-2016,  Switzerland  remained  one  of  the  leaders  in  Europe  in 
terms  of  rural  cable  coverage.  Cable  networks  passed  78.2%  of  rural  households  with  all  of  cable 
networks  upgraded  to  DOCSIS  3.0.  Looking  at  other  NGA  technologies,  at  the  end  of  June  2016, 

106

 https://www.swisscom.ch/en/about/medien/press-releases/2016/10/20161018-MM-Gfast.html 

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VDSL services were available to 55.5% of rural households in Switzerland. Meanwhile, 7.3% of rural 
households had access to FTTP broadband.  

Examining mobile broadband access in rural areas, Switzerland was above the EU average for HSPA 
coverage by mid-2016, reaching 98.7% of rural homes. Rural LTE coverage was also above the EU 
average of 79.7%.  

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5.30.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Eighteen out of the 26 Swiss regions reported virtually complete fixed broadband coverage, with fixed 
coverage in all of the remaining regions exceeding 96%. Lowest coverage was recorded in the Jura 
and Uri regions, reaching 96.1% of households. 

Complete  NGA  coverage  was  recorded  in  Geneva  and  Basel,  with  over  95%  of  homes  passed  by 
NGA networks in majority of the remaining regions.  In five regions - Valais, Jura, Obwalden, Uri, and 
Graubünden  –  NGA  coverage  was  lower  than  95%,  yet  no  region  recorded  less  than  90%  NGA 
coverage. 

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5.30.3 Data tables for the Switzerland 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

8,233,842 
2.3 
12.7% 

Switzerland 2016  Switzerland 2015  Switzerland 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

99.5% 

97.4% 

99.5% 

97.4% 

99.4% 

97.4% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

88.0% 

55.5% 

81.5% 

39.7% 

79.7% 

38.7% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

28.6% 

7.3% 

27.0% 

6.6% 

25.9% 

6.2% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

84.3% 

78.2% 

84.1% 

78.0% 

83.9% 

77.6% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

84.3% 

78.2% 

84.1% 

78.0% 

83.9% 

77.6% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

99.5% 

98.7% 

99.4% 

97.6% 

99.0% 

96.1% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

98.3% 

93.8% 

92.3% 

72.2% 

91.8% 

69.9% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

96.3% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

100.0% 

99.8% 

99.9% 

99.6% 

99.9% 

99.6% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

99.8% 

99.0% 

99.8% 

99.0% 

99.8% 

99.0% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

99.0% 

92.9% 

98.9% 

92.7% 

98.8% 

91.6% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

99.8% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

98.9% 

98.5% 

- 

- 

- 

99.8% 

98.9% 

98.4% 

- 

- 

- 

99.8% 

98.7% 

98.3% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

Due  to  new  and  more  accurate  data  on  cable  broadband  coverage,  previously  reported  coverage 
trends  and  values  reported  for  Switzerland  have  been  restated.  All  restatements  are  highlighted  in 
italics. 

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5.31 United Kingdom 

5.31.1 National coverage by broadband technology 

As in the previous edition of the study, the United Kingdom recorded universal broadband coverage at 
a  national  level  and  near-universal  broadband  coverage  at  a  rural  level.  Moreover,  fixed  broadband 
coverage  recorded  near  identical  levels  as  overall  broadband.  With  regards  to  NGA  coverage,  the 
proportion  of  homes  passed  by  NGA  networks  increased  by  1.8  percentage  points  to  reach  92.3%, 
substantially  higher  than  the  EU  average  (75.9%).  Growth  of  NGA  technologies  in  rural  areas  was 
more  dramatic,  where  coverage  increased  by  30.8  percentage  points,  covering  78.2%  of  rural 
households at the end of June 2016. 

Looking  in  more  detail  at  coverage  levels  of  the  individual  technologies,  UK  broadband  coverage 
continued to be driven by  DSL technology,  with  VDSL maintaining  its position as the dominant NGA 
technology. The UK remained one of the leaders in Europe in terms of VDSL, with coverage levels of 
nearly double the EU average.  As was the case in the previous editions of the study, VDSL was the 
only  fixed  broadband  technology  to  register  a  notable  increase  in  coverage.  The  number  of 
households covered by VDSL increased by 2.2 percentage points in the twelve-month period to mid-
2016, reaching 85.0% of UK households. The continued VDSL coverage increases can be attributed 
to investments made primarily by the  incumbent telecommunications  group, BT,  which reached over 
25 million premises with its VDSL-based next-generation access infrastructure by mid-2016.107 

With  the  incumbent  maintaining  its  focus  on  upgrading  its  legacy  copper-based  network,  there  was 
limited expansion of FTTP networks in the UK. Consequently, in the twelve-month period to mid-2016, 
the proportion of homes passed by FTTP increased by only 0.3 percentage points. This had led to the 
Government pledging over EUR 800 million across the next four years to support the rollout of FTTP 
networks in the UK.108  

As  was  the  case  with  FTTP  coverage  in  the  UK,  DOCSIS  3.0  coverage  increased  by  less  than  a 
percentage  point  by  mid-2016,  with  the  planned  network  expansion  of  the  UK’s  leading  cable 
company, Virgin Media, still in its early stages.109 

Examining mobile broadband technologies, LTE technologies continued to expand at a similar rate to 
the previous edition of the study, increasing by 10 percentage points to 99.5%, above the EU average 

107

108

109

 http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/tech-news/openreach-fibre-network-passes-25-million-uk-premises-11364050797620  
 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-statement-2016-documents/autumn-statement-2016  
 http://www.libertyglobal.com/pdf/presentations/Liberty-Global-Group-Q4-2016-Investor-Call-Presentation-FINAL.pdf  

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of 96.0%. In terms of average coverage of all LTE network operators, on average LTE services were 
available to 92.5% of UK premises at the end of June 2016. 

At  the  end  of  June  2016,  rural  areas  continued  to  depend  on  DSL  technology  to  receive  broadband 
access, as rural cable coverage remained negligible, while rural WiMAX coverage  was  non-existent. 
With  near-universal  DSL  coverage,  as  per  mid-2015,  the  twelve-month  period  to  mid-2016  saw  a 
substantial  proportion  of  DSL  networks  upgraded  to  VDSL.  As  a  result,  rural  VDSL  coverage 
increased  by  around  32  percentage  points  in  the  year  to  mid-2016,  reaching  76.0%  of  rural 
households.  In  contrast,  rural  FTTP  coverage  remained  low  at  2.5%.  Yet,  as  the  efforts  of  local 
companies and initiatives, such as B4RN or Gigaclear continue, rural FTTP availability is expected to 
slowly begin to improve.  

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The UK witnessed a substantial increase in rural LTE coverage during the twelve-month period to the 
end  of  June  2016.  The  proportion  of  rural  areas  covered  by  the  technology  increased  by  around  85 
percentage points, reaching 95.3% of  rural  households, due  to the efforts of UK mobile  operators to 
tackle rural blackspots. In particular, mobile operator EE (part of the BT Group) is focussing on rural 
areas, vowing to report in only geographic coverage from 2017.110 

5.31.2 Regional coverage by broadband technology 

Complete fixed broadband coverage was reported in almost all of the regions in the UK, with only  six 
out  of  139  regions  having  lower  coverage.  In  Kingston  upon  Hull,  East  Sussex,  West  Sussex, 
Cambridgeshire,  and  Hampshire,  fixed  broadband  coverage  reached  between  98%  and  99.9%  of 
households.  The Western Islands (Eilean Siar) were the only region, where fixed broadband coverage 
was less than 90%. 

Regional NGA coverage was much more varied and while most regions reached NGA coverage levels 
above 80%, a number of rural regions in Wales, Yorkshire and Scotland show much lower availability 
of NGA services. On the other hand, a state-funded infrastructure investment in Northern Ireland has 
resulted in near-complete coverage of the whole province, despite its vast rural areas. 

110

 http://newsroom.ee.co.uk/ee-calls-on-industry-to-get-clear-on-coverage-as-it-covers-5000-square-kilometres-of-4g-not-

spots-overnight 

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Lowest  NGA  broadband  coverage  was  recorded  in  Kingston  upon  Hull  (less  than  35%)  and  Eilean 
Siar (Western Isles), where NGA services were available to approx. 40% of households. In the remote 
regions  of  Lochaber,  Skye  &  Lochalsh,  Arran  &  Cumbrae  and  Argyll  &  Bute,  Orkney  Islands,  and 
Shetland Islands between 56%-63% of households had access to NGA broadband at the end of June 
2016. 

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5.31.4 Data tables for the United Kingdom 

Statistic 
Population 
Persons per household 
Rural proportion 

National 

64,641,461 
2.3 
8.7% 

UK 2016 

UK 2015 

UK 2014 

EU28 2016 

Technology 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

Total 

Rural 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

WiMAX 

Cable 

100.0% 

99.7% 

100.0%  99.7% 

100.0%  99.7% 

94.3% 

86.0% 

85.0% 

76.0% 

82.8% 

43.9% 

78.9% 

42.4% 

48.2% 

26.6% 

1.8% 

2.5% 

1.4% 

0.9% 

1.4% 

0.8% 

23.7% 

8.8% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

4.2% 

2.7% 

4.2% 

2.7% 

17.8% 

18.0% 

47.8% 

2.3% 

46.9% 

2.4% 

46.8% 

2.4% 

44.4% 

10.7% 

DOCSIS 3.0 

47.8% 

2.3% 

46.9% 

2.4% 

46.8% 

2.4% 

43.9% 

10.1% 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE average 
operator 
coverage  
(DESI indicator) 

99.0% 

88.9% 

99.0% 

88.8% 

99.0% 

88.8% 

98.0% 

92.2% 

99.5% 

96.3% 

89.5% 

10.1% 

84.0% 

9.4% 

96.0% 

79.7% 

92.5% 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

84.4% 

- 

Satellite 

100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  100.0%  99.4% 

99.4% 

Overall 
broadband 

Overall fixed 
broadband 

NGA 
broadband 

100.0% 

99.9% 

100.0%  99.9% 

100.0%  99.9% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

100% 

99.8% 

100.0%  99.8% 

100.0%  99.8% 

97.5% 

92.6% 

92.3% 

78.2% 

90.5% 

47.4% 

88.5% 

45.9% 

75.9% 

39.2% 

At least 2 Mbps 

95.1% 

At least 30 
Mbps 

At least 100 
Mbps 

84.4% 

23.6% 

- 

- 

- 

95.0% 

82.7% 

23.0% 

- 

- 

- 

95.0% 

81.0% 

22.9% 

- 

- 

- 

96.7% 

75.1% 

50.8% 

- 

- 

- 

Note: The 2016 figures represent state of broadband coverage as of end of June 2016. The 2015 (end 
of  June)  and  2014  (end  of  year)  figures  are  drawn  from  the  previous  studies  conducted  by  IHS  and 
VVA. 

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6.0 Appendices 

6.1 M2M applications 
With  M2M  connectivity  becoming  increasingly  important  in  terms  of  M2M  applications’  reliance  on 
availability  of  universal  and  uninterrupted  broadband  connectivity,  the  Tender  of  Specification  of 
SMART  2016/0043  asked  for  the  research  team  to  provide  additional  insight  into  the  Machine-to-
Machine  (M2M)  communications  needs.  The  analysis  below  outlines  the  existing  M2M  applications 
currently deployed in the Member States, their connectivity needs and future outlook. 

6.1.1 IoT and M2M Definitions 

Internet of Things (IoT) is not a specific device or technology – it is a conceptual framework, driven by 
the idea of embedding connectivity and intelligence in a wide range of devices. IHS Markit defines an 
IoT device  as a device  which has some form of embedded connectivity that allows the  device to be 
directly connected to the internet (i.e. IP addressable), or allows the device to connect (tether) to an IP 
addressable device. 

Machine-to-machine (M2M) is communication between machines, devices, and equipment with little or 
no  direct  human  interaction.  The  transmission  of  the  data  and  information  between  these  machines 
and devices can occur over a wired, wireless, or hybrid network. As such, M2M represents a sub-set 
of IoT.  

In the context of this report, IHS Markit is referring to M2M delivered over a cellular network “cellular 
IoT”,  based  on  standardised  technologies.  Typically  cellular  connectivity  is  enabled  through  a 
connectivity module (modem) embedded into a device, such as an electricity meter or a video camera. 

6.1.2 M2M Connectivity and Technologies 

Like  smartphones,  M2M  modules  typically  connect  to  public  mobile  networks  run  by  mobile  network 
operators  (MNOs).  IHS  Markit  segments  M2M  across  the  following  9  types  of  2G,  3G  and  4G/LTE 
connectivity.  Many  connectivity  modules  integrate  more  than  one  form  of  connectivity.  This  is  to 
enable  connectivity  in  areas  where  3G  or  4G  is  not  available.  “LTE  Only”  refers  to  connectivity 
modules that only support LTE connectivity. 

  2G - GSM/GPRS/EDGE 
  2G - CDMA 1xRTT 
  3G - WCDMA/HSPA 
  3G - CDMA EV-DO 
  4G - Highspeed LTE 
  4G - LTE Only 
  4G - LTE Cat-1 
  4G - LTE Cat-M 
  4G - NB-IoT 

The latter two connectivity types (LTE Cat-M and NB-IoT) were standardised in June 2016 with 3GPP 
Release  13.  These  address  a  range  of  Low  Power  Wide  Area  Network  (LPWAN)  applications  that 
have  significantly  different  requirements  from  those  enabled  by  legacy  cellular  networks  such  as 
WCDMA or Highspeed LTE. These are: 

  Very  low  data  rates  and  therefore  the  ability  of  supported  devices  to  transmit  over  long 

distances; 

  Long-battery life (5-10 years) for supported devices; 
  Very low cost of deployment and ongoing ownership; 
  The ability to reach deep into indoor areas such as basements. 

These two technologies were developed for a range of reasons. Firstly  - to give mobile operators an 
option  to  migrate  their  M2M  customers  (for  instance  utility  companies)  from  2G  networks,  which  are 
set  to  be  switched  off  in  the  next  few  years.  Secondly  -  to  open  up  new  revenue  opportunities  for 

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operators. Thirdly - to address the growing competitive threat of unlicensed LPWAN technologies like 
SIGFOX and LoRaWAN.  

Given  their  immaturity,  neither  NB-IoT  nor  Cat-M1  has  been  deployed  widely  in  Europe,  although  a 
range  of  operators  have  announced  their  plans.  At  Mobile  World  Congress  2017,  nine  leading 
operator  groups  (including  European  players  KPN,  Orange  and  Telefónica)  came  out  in  support  for 
Cat-M  and  Deutsche  Telekom  and  Vodafone  are  backing  NB-IoT.  Deployment  of  both  NB-IoT  and 
Cat-M1 will begin from 2017 onwards.  

In October 2016 Vodafone said that it would launch commercial NB-IoT networks in Germany, Ireland, 
the Netherlands and Spain in the first three months of 2017 and cover the rest of its global footprint by 
2020.  To  date  (early  April  2017)  Vodafone  had  launched  commercial  NB-IoT  in  Spain  (in  January 
2017), but had yet to do so in the other three countries.  

Unlicensed  technologies  such  as  SIGFOX  and  LoRaWAN  pose  a  potential  competitive  threat  to 
mobile  operators  in  the  LPWAN  space.  Increasingly,  mobile  operators  are  choosing  to  engage  with 
these technologies, which are well placed to compete on price with NB-IoT and Cat-M. Among those 
mobile operators that have decided to deploy LoRaWAN are: Bouygues Telecom (France), KPN (the 
Netherlands),  Orange  (France)  and  Swisscom  (Switzerland).    Telefónica  (Spain)  and  Telia  (Estonia) 
are partnering with SIGFOX.  

6.1.3 M2M Applications 

There are a wide range of M2M use cases and applications. Their requirements, in terms of bandwidth 
and latency, vary greatly. For instance, video surveillance (Security) requires much lower latency than 
smart metering (Energy & Utilities). IHS Market currently puts these into eight application segments 
(see the table below).  

Application Segments 

Description 

Asset Management 

Embedded cellular connectivity for monitoring and/or controlling fixed and 
mobile non-vehicular assets. 

Automotive 

Digital Signage 

OEM and aftermarket embedded cellular connections in cars and light 
trucks, targeting consumer use-cases. 

Embedded cellular connectivity for providing content to remote digital 
signage displays. 

Energy & Utilities 

Embedded cellular connectivity for enabling utility smart grid infrastructure 
deployments, specifically for electricity, gas, and water services. 

Healthcare 

Embedded cellular connectivity for healthcare-related services offered 
remotely as opposed to on-site in a medical facility. 

Retail & Payments 

Embedded cellular connectivity for enabling for enabling payment 
processing and self-service retail applications. 

Security 

Embedded cellular connectivity used as either a primary or secondary 
connection for home and small business security alarms, managed home 
automation services, and video surveillance. 

Transportation 

OEM and aftermarket embedded cellular connections in fleet vehicles, 
tractor-trailers, and public transportation. 

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As  indicated  in  the  chart  below,  the  largest  application  areas  by  number  of  M2M  connections  in 
Europe are: Asset Management; Automotive; Transportation and Energy & Utilities.  

Taking the example of one leading M2M operator in Europe, Deutsche Telekom, common use cases 
across these 4 areas include: 

  Asset management: providing real-time data on the location of trucks and the condition of 

containers and goods. 

  Automotive: enablement of in-car mobile internet access, allowing information on traffic 

conditions and entertainment to be provided on route. 

  Transportation: relay of data on the location of a vehicle as well as information on fuel 

consumption and mileage to fleet managers. 

  Energy & Utilities: smart meters enabling consumers to monitor and adjust their energy 

consumption. 

6.1.4 Outlook 

By lowering the cost of connectivity and expanding its reach into hitherto uncovered areas, NB-IoT and 
Cat-M1  carry  the  potential  to  drive  tens  of  millions  of  new  M2M  connections.  These  will  largely  be 
massive  IoT:  this  use  case  is  characterized  by  a  very  large  number  of  connected  devices  typically 
transmitting a relatively low volume of non-delay-sensitive data. 

While NB-IoT and Cat-M1 are nascent technologies, there have been a range of trials and pilots. For 
instance: 

 

In December 2016, the Swedish operator Telia launched a smart farming service to monitor 
irrigation systems. Sprinklers are equipped with sensors that can monitor position via GPS, 
provide alerts in the case of falling pressure and report status updates on the irrigation 
systems (which are also equipped with sensors). The sensor unit is connected to the mobile 
network and onward to the client server via a NB-IoT module.  

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 

 

In November 2016, Sonera in Finland announced that it had completed a trial during which a 
pilot NB-IoT network communicate information on temperature, humidity and air pressure over 
Sonera's commercial 4G network in the Finnish capital, Helsinki. 

In October 2016, Vodafone Spain demonstrated a smart parking space solution powered by 
NB-IoT.  A sensor was buried in a space within the Vodafone Plaza in Madrid. The sensor 
communicated to a smartphone app whether the space was occupied or free. 

The core application opportunities for NB-IoT and Cat-M1 are follows: 

  Logistics  and  Asset  Management  –  It  includes  applications  such  as  asset  tracking,  asset 
management, package tracking, material and feedstock management, factory automation, and 
a variety of other applications. 

  Smart Metering – Includes gas, water, and electric communicating meters. 

 

Infrastructure and Environmental Monitoring – Includes applications related to smart cities, 
civil  infrastructure,  and  environmental  monitoring.  Examples  include  street  lighting,  waste 
management,  parking  management,  traffic  monitoring,  emergency  management,  public 
transportation management, and environmental monitoring, including agriculture applications. 
  Security  and  Smart  Buildings  –  Covers  applications  related  to  intelligent  building 
automation, including HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), energy management, 
security, lighting, and room automation. 

  Energy  Production  –  Covers  all  applications  related  to  energy  exploration,  production,  and 
distribution; also includes energy segments such as oil and gas, solar, wind, and hydroelectric. 

These opportunities will also be targeted by providers using unlicensed LPWAN technologies such as 
SIGFOX  and  LoRaWAN.  These  providers  include  both  existing  mobile  operators  and  a  range  of 
alternative operators which are rolling out SIGFOX or LoRaWAN networks across Europe. Examples 
of these alternative operators are Arquiva in the UK (SIGFOX) and Unidata in Italy (LoRaWAN).  

Whether  enterprises  select  a  standardised  cellular  technology  such  as  NB-IoT  or  Cat-M  or  an 
unlicensed  to  support  their  IoT  applications  depends  on  a  range  of  factors  such  as  costs,  attitudes 
towards  unlicensed  spectrum  and  the  ability  to  provide  over-to-air  (OTA)  updates  to  devices  in  the 
field.  In  these  respects,  the  four  technologies  have  different  characterises.  SIGFOX  and  LoRaWAN 
modules  are  currently  cheaper  than  NB-IoT  and  Cat-M,  but  rely  on  rely  on  unlicensed  rather  than 
dedicated licensed spectrum. Currently, SIGFOX devices in the field cannot be updated over-the-air. 

Before  choosing  which  technology  to  use,  customers  must  also  be  satisfied  that  it  meets  their 
coverage  requirements  through  extensive  testing.  For  many  applications,  deep  indoor  coverage, 
extending  to  basements  and  far  into  buildings,  is  required.  The  current  way  of  measuring  mobile 
coverage  (%  of  population  or  landmass  covered)  is  insufficient  to  demonstrate  that  a  specific 
technology can meet requirements for IoT.  

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6.2 Broadband coverage definitions 

6.2.1 Technology definitions 
The table below indicates the definitions of the individual broadband access technologies studied by 
this project. These definitions were included in the survey questionnaire.  

Please note that the definitions are not designed to be rigorous definitions from an engineering point 
of view, but rather are intended to reflect practical definitions used by NRAs and ISPs. 

Technology 

Technology definition 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

DSL (for Digital Subscriber Line) is the basic technology used to provide 
broadband over conventional telephone lines. The types of DSL used for 
standard fixed broadband (mainly ADSL or ADSL2+) deliver download speeds 
of at least 2 Mbps.  Not all DSL connections are capable of download speeds of 
2Mbps and higher, these connections should not be reported in the survey, but 
we ask you to note this fact in STEP 4 - Technology definitions of the survey. 

VDSL (also called FTTC+VDSL for example) is a "Very-high-speed" version of 
DSL. VDSL is usually provisioned from a street cabinet which has fibre 
backhaul or directly from the telephone exchange in areas which are close to 
the exchange. Actual VDSL download speeds can vary and we ask you to note 
the typical VDSL connection speeds in STEP 4 - Technology definitions of the 
survey. This definition does not include implementations where fibre is 
provisioned to a large building, such as a block of flats, and the final 
connections are provided by VDSL within the building, which are defined as 
FTTP.  

FTTP (fibre-to-the-premises) is broadband provided over fibre optic cables 
going all the way to the home or business premises. This definition also 
includes "FTTB", where fibre terminates at a large building and broadband 
distribution within the building, to different flats for example, is by a different 
non-fibre technology such as VDSL. 

WiMAX 

WiMAX is a wireless service using one of the IEEE standards 802.16d, for fixed 
users and 802.16e for mobile. 

Cable 
Modem 

Cable Modem broadband is delivered over a fixed cable TV network using 
coaxial cable according to the earlier cable broadband standards such as 
DOCSIS 1, usually providing download speeds up to about 20Mbps. 

DOCSIS 3.0  DOCSIS 3.0 broadband is delivered over a fixed cable TV network using coaxial 

cable according to the DOCSIS 3.0 standard, providing download speeds of 
30Mbps and above.  

HSPA 

LTE 

HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) is the upgraded version of 3G mobile 
networks capable of providing mobile broadband at a maximum download 
speed of at least 21.1Mbps. 

LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the next-generation mobile service standardised 
by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project which requires separate spectrum 
from 3G mobile and which supports maximum downstream speeds up to at 
least 100Mbps. 

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6.2.2 Coverage definitions 

The definitions included in the table below were used to determine whether households are within the 
coverage reach of the individual broadband technologies. These definitions were included in the 
survey questionnaire.  

Please note that the definitions are not designed to be rigorous definitions from an engineering point 
of view, but rather are intended to reflect practical definitions used by NRAs and ISPs. 

Technology 

Coverage definition 

DSL 

VDSL 

FTTP 

A household has DSL coverage if it is a telephone exchange area fully enabled 
for DSL. 

A household has VDSL coverage if it is close enough to a VDSL-enabled 
cabinet or exchange to get a high-speed broadband signal. 

A household has FTTP coverage if it can be connected now to a fibre service 
without requiring the construction of new fibre infrastructure. 

WiMAX 

A household has WiMAX coverage for broadband if it can receive at least 
2Mbps downstream from an existing service without requiring the construction 
of new WiMAX infrastructure. 

Cable Modem 

A household has cable modem coverage if it can be connected now to a 
broadband service without requiring the construction of new cable TV network 
infrastructure. 

DOCSIS 3.0 

A household has DOCSIS 3.0 coverage if it can be connected now to a 
DOCSIS 3.0 service without requiring the construction of new cable TV network 
infrastructure. 

HSPA 

LTE 

LTE 
Average 
operator 
coverage 

A household has HSPA coverage if it is in the stated coverage area for at least 
one HSPA-upgraded 3G mobile network. 

A household has LTE coverage if it is in the stated coverage area for at least 
one LTE mobile network. 

A simple average of LTE coverage of all mobile network operators active in a 
study country. 

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6.3 Broadband coverage data tables  

6.3.1 Total and rural coverage by combination categories for each country 
RURAL 

TOTAL  

Overall 
broadband 
coverage 
99.7% 

Overall fixed 
broadband 
coverage* 
99.1% 

Overall 
NGA 
coverage** 
89.2% 

Overall 
broadband 
coverage 
97.8% 

Overall fixed 
broadband 
coverage* 
94.2% 

Overall 
NGA 
coverage** 
41.5% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

99.6% 

100.0% 

99.8% 

100.0% 

99.5% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

99.9% 

99.9% 

99.6% 

99.8% 

99.6% 

99.8% 

99.7% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

99.9% 

99.9% 

100.0% 

95.9% 

99.8% 

99.9% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

99.9% 

99.9% 

95.2% 

97.0% 

100.0% 

99.5% 

99.3% 

90.9% 

97.0% 

100.0% 

98.6% 

99.3% 

95.2% 

98.5% 

96.3% 

99.3% 

98.5% 

92.6% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

95.3% 

86.4% 

99.8% 

88.6% 

88.0% 

97.7% 

95.5% 

99.0% 

99.8% 

100.0% 

97.5% 

98.9% 

74.1% 

59.9% 

87.5% 

75.1% 

93.3% 

79.1% 

74.6% 

47.0% 

81.8% 

44.2% 

80.6% 

95.7% 

81.6% 

72.3% 

97.7% 

91.1% 

94.4% 

100.0% 

98.3% 

81.0% 

64.1% 

95.0% 

71.7% 

75.5% 

81.6% 

80.8% 

79.4% 

99.0% 

92.3% 

76.0% 

99.8% 

100.0% 

98.3% 

100.0% 

99.2% 

100.0% 

99.9% 

100.0% 

99.9% 

98.8% 

99.4% 

98.7% 

99.6% 

99.0% 

98.2% 

99.1% 

100.0% 

99.9% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

99.8% 

99.1% 

100.0% 

91.6% 

99.3% 

99.4% 

100.0% 

99.8% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

98.5% 

80.8% 

89.2% 

100.0% 

96.5% 

96.8% 

73.0% 

84.0% 

99.7% 

93.8% 

96.5% 

85.9% 

95.8% 

93.3% 

94.0% 

95.7% 

83.3% 

99.9% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

79.2% 

82.5% 

98.4% 

82.3% 

91.1% 

92.2% 

92.1% 

91.1% 

99.0% 

99.8% 

92.7% 

88.3% 

17.3% 

10.1% 

60.0% 

51.9% 

59.3% 

36.0% 

8.2% 

30.9% 

48.9% 

1.3% 

46.9% 

87.7% 

50.3% 

16.0% 

92.4% 

77.0% 

94.1% 

99.9% 

97.9% 

32.9% 

37.2% 

73.5% 

33.6% 

38.4% 

50.2% 

27.7% 

21.5% 

92.9% 

78.2% 

39.8% 

AT 

BE 

BG 

HR 

CY 

CZ 

DK 

EE 

FI 

FR 

DE 

EL 

HU 

IS 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LV 

LU 

MT 

NL 

NO 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SK 

SI 

ES 

SE 

CH 

UK 

EU 28 

* Fixed broadband coverage includes DSL, VDSL, FTTP, DOCSIS 1.0/2.0, DOCSIS 3.0, WiMax 
** NGA coverage includes VDSL, FTTP, DOCSIS 3.0 

196  

IHS Markit 

 
 
 
 
 
6.3.2 Total coverage by technology for each country 

AT 

BE 

BG 

HR 

CY 

CZ 

DK 

EE 

FI 

FR 

DE 

EL 

HU 

IS 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LV 

LU 

MT 

NL 

NO 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SK 

SI 

ES 

SE 

CH 

UK 

DSL*** 

VDSL 

FTTP  WiMAX  Cable*** 

DOCSIS 
3.0 

HSPA 

LTE 

Satellite 

98.3% 

82.1% 

99.9% 

92.5% 

7.8% 

0.6% 

85.2% 

0.0% 

37.1% 

94.9% 

44.2% 

15.6% 

100.0% 

75.0% 

51.2% 

12.5% 

14.8% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

97.0% 

53.1% 

35.0% 

83.7% 

96.8% 

61.3% 

57.8% 

73.7% 

55.2% 

48.5% 

94.0% 

48.4% 

37.5% 

99.9% 

18.2% 

20.8% 

97.1% 

58.8% 

99.3% 

44.0% 

7.1% 

0.4% 

90.5% 

38.1% 

24.0% 

97.0% 

90.2% 

62.8% 

2.9% 

3.3% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

10.0% 

0.2% 

0.0% 

4.0% 

49.1% 

96.4% 

65.9% 

34.3% 

68.7% 

38.3% 

67.7% 

54.4% 

37.8% 

27.9% 

63.7% 

0.0% 

68.0% 

0.0% 

47.2% 

99.1% 

99.0% 

100.0% 

96.4% 

100.0% 

99.9% 

100.0% 

63.6% 

100.0% 

76.5% 

100.0% 

26.9% 

99.2% 

90.1% 

100.0% 

68.7% 

99.0% 

74.3% 

100.0% 

37.7% 

97.0% 

99.4% 

100.0% 

67.7% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

51.7% 

98.8% 

98.8% 

75.4% 

37.8% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

27.8% 

99.9% 

93.8% 

100.0% 

63.5% 

92.1% 

96.6% 

100.0% 

0.0% 

99.3% 

93.5% 

100.0% 

65.0% 

98.3% 

98.6% 

100.0% 

0.0% 

99.5% 

95.9% 

0.0% 

92.5% 

80.6% 

5.5% 

26.6% 

43.3% 

43.1% 

99.2% 

96.7% 

100.0% 

98.4% 

66.4% 

18.8% 

46.9% 

69.8% 

0.0% 

95.5% 

91.0% 

42.7% 

17.6% 

85.2% 

44.8% 

100.0% 

88.2% 

51.5% 

100.0% 

72.0% 

16.0% 

100.0% 

69.9% 

31.2% 

90.6% 

49.9% 

46.3% 

75.7% 

41.7% 

16.5% 

99.2% 

0.0% 

86.1% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

1.8% 

0.0% 

65.9% 

11.0% 

59.7% 

67.4% 

72.5% 

28.7% 

53.7% 

50.0% 

95.8% 

53.4% 

50.4% 

2.6% 

90.1% 

11.8% 

62.8% 

54.2% 

98.0% 

21.9% 

60.8% 

99.5% 

88.0% 

28.6% 

100.0% 

85.0% 

1.8% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

54.0% 

34.7% 

78.6% 

99.9% 

95.1% 

51.9% 

43.6% 

79.1% 

32.3% 

30.4% 

58.6% 

48.8% 

37.9% 

84.3% 

47.8% 

44.4% 

0.0% 

99.4% 

98.2% 

100.0% 

46.3% 

99.4% 

99.4% 

50.0% 

29.0% 

100.0% 

93.0% 

20.3% 

74.3% 

98.9% 

98.1% 

100.0% 

99.9% 

99.9% 

99.5% 

100.0% 

95.1% 

99.6% 

99.6% 

100.0% 

51.9% 

99.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

43.6% 

99.5% 

97.6% 

100.0% 

79.1% 

98.8% 

98.8% 

100.0% 

30.6% 

100.0% 

75.2% 

100.0% 

27.9% 

90.7% 

90.3% 

100.0% 

53.7% 

98.1% 

97.4% 

100.0% 

48.8% 

99.7% 

94.4% 

100.0% 

36.2% 

99.9% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

84.3% 

99.5% 

98.3% 

100.0% 

47.8% 

99.0% 

99.5% 

100.0% 

43.9% 

98.0% 

96.0% 

99.4% 

EU 28 

94.3% 

48.2% 

23.7% 

17.8% 

*** DSL figures include VDSL coverage; Cable figures include DOCSIS 3.0 coverage 

197  

IHS Markit 

 
 
 
 
 
6.3.3 Rural coverage by technology for each country 

DSL*** 

VDSL 

FTTP  WiMAX  Cable*** 

DOCSIS 
3.0 

HSPA 

LTE 

Satellite 

89.0% 

17.9% 

96.9% 

73.4% 

75.3% 

86.4% 

0.0% 

0.2% 

100.0% 

60.0% 

80.2% 

47.0% 

5.3% 

0.0% 

0.8% 

0.2% 

0.0% 

7.7% 

11.7% 

2.6% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

83.5% 

93.5% 

15.8% 

49.0% 

5.6% 

20.7% 

70.9% 

16.9% 

11.0% 

0.0% 

3.1% 

5.1% 

20.7% 

93.4% 

92.6% 

100.0% 

70.9% 

99.4% 

98.6% 

100.0% 

16.9% 

100.0% 

18.7% 

100.0% 

9.8% 

0.0% 

2.0% 

96.4% 

56.0% 

100.0% 

99.0% 

0.0% 

100.0% 

84.9% 

95.8% 

100.0% 

5.1% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

36.6% 

20.9% 

15.5% 

15.5% 

14.9% 

11.9% 

98.0% 

96.0% 

75.4% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

1.2% 

0.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

1.2% 

99.0% 

61.7% 

100.0% 

13.7% 

15.2% 

14.9% 

61.6% 

87.8% 

100.0% 

0.8% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

20.4% 

45.1% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

1.4% 

0.0% 

81.7% 

0.0% 

99.6% 

28.9% 

87.6% 

36.3% 

96.3% 

1.3% 

74.0% 

22.3% 

8.2% 

2.3% 

1.7% 

0.0% 

6.4% 

94.3% 

83.9% 

24.0% 

87.9% 

48.9% 

89.4% 

15.2% 

1.2% 

0.8% 

15.7% 

0.0% 

89.8% 

70.5% 

28.0% 

17.7% 

69.3% 

24.7% 

99.7% 

88.2% 

51.5% 

100.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

99.9% 

64.9% 

28.4% 

67.6% 

17.9% 

20.5% 

77.2% 

25.8% 

11.5% 

94.7% 

65.7% 

0.0% 

2.1% 

46.9% 

26.7% 

33.5% 

71.2% 

27.7% 

12.5% 

50.0% 

86.7% 

19.4% 

23.5% 

4.8% 

83.9% 

15.2% 

9.7% 

51.5% 

86.6% 

0.8% 

20.8% 

97.4% 

55.5% 

99.7% 

76.0% 

86.0% 

26.6% 

7.3% 

2.5% 

9.4% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

19.9% 

0.0% 

2.6% 

0.0% 

9.2% 

0.0% 

46.3% 

99.9% 

92.5% 

3.7% 

15.2% 

42.1% 

11.7% 

0.8% 

21.5% 

10.6% 

0.6% 

78.2% 

2.3% 

0.0% 

96.6% 

70.9% 

100.0% 

18.2% 

94.7% 

96.2% 

100.0% 

0.0% 

2.4% 

0.0% 

9.2% 

99.2% 

88.7% 

0.0% 

97.9% 

91.2% 

100.0% 

94.9% 

85.5% 

100.0% 

98.1% 

98.1% 

50.0% 

0.0% 

100.0% 

74.9% 

20.3% 

0.0% 

99.2% 

91.3% 

100.0% 

99.9% 

99.2% 

51.1% 

100.0% 

92.5% 

98.2% 

98.2% 

100.0% 

3.7% 

95.9% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

12.3% 

97.8% 

88.4% 

100.0% 

42.1% 

91.8% 

92.0% 

100.0% 

9.7% 

100.0% 

49.5% 

100.0% 

0.4% 

78.5% 

66.4% 

100.0% 

18.8% 

93.1% 

90.9% 

100.0% 

10.6% 

98.7% 

73.3% 

100.0% 

0.6% 

99.2% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

78.2% 

98.7% 

93.8% 

100.0% 

2.3% 

88.8% 

95.3% 

100.0% 

AT 

BE 

BG 

HR 

CY 

CZ 

DK 

EE 

FI 

FR 

DE 

EL 

HU 

IS 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LV 

LU 

MT 

NL 

NO 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SK 

SI 

ES 

SE 

CH 

UK 

EU 28 

18.0% 

10.7% 

10.1% 

92.2% 

79.7% 

99.4% 

*** DSL figures include VDSL coverage; Cable figures include DOCSIS 3.0 coverage 

198  

IHS Markit 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6.3.4 Broadband coverage by speed category for each country 

Broadband 
coverage  
(>2Mbps) 

Broadband 
coverage 
(>30Mbps) 

Broadband 
coverage 
(>100Mbps) 

AT 

BE 

BG 

HR 

CY 

CZ 

DK 

EE 

FI 

FR 

DE 

EL 

HU 

IS 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LV 

LU 

MT 

NL 

NO 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SK 

SI 

ES 

SE 

CH 

UK 

EU 28 

98.6% 

99.8% 

94.9% 

96.4% 

100.0% 

98.5% 

98.9% 

86.8% 

96.5% 

97.4% 

99.9% 

98.1% 

94.8% 

99.3% 

95.9% 

98.2% 

97.7% 

92.6% 

100.0% 

99.8% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

81.8% 

98.8% 

100.0% 

87.6% 

99.8% 

95.5% 

100.0% 

99.8% 

95.1% 

96.7% 

80.3% 

98.2% 

71.3% 

52.3% 

84.3% 

73.9% 

93.3% 

76.9% 

66.7% 

50.0% 

80.7% 

40.9% 

78.2% 

91.7% 

77.2% 

71.8% 

97.2% 

90.4% 

94.1% 

99.4% 

98.2% 

82.0% 

63.7% 

93.8% 

80.9% 

75.1% 

98.4% 

80.8% 

88.4% 

98.9% 

84.4% 

75.1% 

52.9% 

96.5% 

18.6% 

25.3% 

84.3% 

44.5% 

88.9% 

58.7% 

32.5% 

33.9% 

64.9% 

0.4% 

68.4% 

75.2% 

44.9% 

18.8% 

96.9% 

86.8% 

89.7% 

99.4% 

98.2% 

78.0% 

57.2% 

89.5% 

80.1% 

64.1% 

72.2% 

79.1% 

68.7% 

98.5% 

23.6% 

50.9% 

Note: Yellow highlight indicates inclusion of LTE technology in speed category calculations. 

199  

IHS Markit 

 
 
 
 
 
 
6.3.4 Average operator LTE coverage for each country 

Average operator 
LTE coverage 

AT 

BE 

BG 

HR 

CY 

CZ 

DK 

EE 

FI 

FR 

DE 

EL 

HU 

IS 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LV 

LU 

MT 

NL 

NO 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SK 

SI 

ES 

SE 

CH 

UK 

EU 28 

89.3% 

94.5% 

65.7% 

66.7% 

64.2% 

94.3% 

100.0% 

94.5% 

97.0% 

78.3% 

86.0% 

79.8% 

92.4% 

93.2% 

93.7% 

86.2% 

95.7% 

90.7% 

95.4% 

99.3% 

90.6% 

100.0% 

90.7% 

95.2% 

44.7% 

79.5% 

90.1% 

85.9% 

100.0% 

96.3% 

92.5% 

84.4% 

200  

IHS Markit 

 
 
 
 
 
 
European Commission 

Broadband Coverage in Europe 2016 
Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union 

2017 – 201 pages 

ISBN 978-92-79-68961-1 
doi:10.2759/679477 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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doi:10.2759/679477 ISBN 978-92-79-68961-1