INDUSTRY FOCUS FTTH ROLLOUTS
In France fibre broadband wagon was speeding up, with the number of premises made connectable to FTTH increasing by 1.13 million in Q2 2019. This is about 37% more than in the same period the previous year. According to the latest quarterly account from national telecoms regulator l’Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et des Postes (ARCEP), this was the best FTTH quarter recorded so far and, as of June 30, 2019, 15.58 million premises were eligible for FTTH offers, an increase of 32% in one year. Read the full story here . Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC), in September 2019 almost 170,000 new fibre connections were added to the national total. Extrapolating from CNMC figures, the number of Spanish FTTH connections is now fast approaching 10 million. The new additions represent an annual increase of 1.7 million FTTH lines compared to the figure for September 2018. This offsets a reduction in country-wide DSL connections of 1.2 million in the same period. The FTTH market leader with 4.2 million lines, or 43.4% of the total, was the Telefónica-owned Movistar. Earlier in the month, the smaller Spanish FTTH player MasMovil inked an agreement to sell a stake in its FTTH network covering around 940,000 units to a partnership of Macquarie Capital and Aberdeen Standard Investments. The price was €218.5 million. Read the full story here . A report released in October predicted that in 2019 the availability of German broadband Gigabit-capable connections YoY will grow by 73% to 19 million. According to a report published in November, by the Spanish telecommunications regulator
As components of this, the number of subscribers passed by FTTB/FFTH connections will expand by 20% to 4.4 million, while the number of Gigabit- capable ports on cable HFC networks (DOCSIS 3.1) will almost double from 7.4 million in 2018 to 14.7 million by the end of this year. In Germany Gigabit ports are presently only available with FTTB/FTTH and HFC cable networks with DOCSIS 3.1. The new analysis, prepared by Dialog Consult and the industry association, the Verband der Anbieter von Telekommunikations- und Mehrwertdiensten (VATM), also estimates that the private sector will be responsible for financing 92% of the growth. Read the full story here . Also in Germany, Emtelle announced a strategic partnership with Deutsche Glasfaser, a leading FTTH provider, for the supply of a range of tube bundles and fibre cables in a contract worth €63 million. Combining two market leaders in FTTH deployment and solution manufacture, the long-term agreement secures the supply of Emtelle’s complete passive FibreFlow solution; from minicables and microducts from exchange to cabinet, and the distribution of Emtelle’s pre-installed fibre systems and tube bundles from cabinet to home. For the final home connection, a range of customer entry systems, termination boxes and patchcords will complement the entire package. Read the full story here . It’s a rather different story in the UK however. Creeping on to the IDATE report with just 1.5% of combined FTTH/B penetration, UK FTTH/B in 2018 subscriptions grew by 83% compared to September 2017 for a total of 369,250 subscribers, and FTTH/B homes passed
rose to 22.8% reaching 2,817,000, although these figures are from a very low base. By April 2019, around 400,000 UK properties gained access to full-fibre broadband for the first time over the first four months of the year, according to telecoms regulator Ofcom, which gave access to a total of 8% of all premises, marking a one percentage point gain, the watchdog said. The newly-elected government in the UK had already set out a plan for full fibre earlier in 2019, however Prime Minister Boris Johnson was questioned at the time by the industry on the grounds that “ambition alone would not be enough to overcome the scale of the considerable task ahead.” Industry groups also called for the removal of regulatory barriers to speed up provision. Read the full story here . Meanwhile, in the Republic of Ireland , National Broadband Ireland (NBI), established by investment firm Granahan McCourt, has signed a contract with the Irish government to deliver the country’s National Broadband Plan (NBP). The project aims to end the digital divide between urban and rural communities, promising to provide equal opportunities for every home, farm and business in Ireland. “Once the plan is completed 100% of the population will have access to a modern and reliable broadband network, capable of supporting current 146,000km of fibre cable to connect every one of the 537,000 premises in the roll-out area. “The full deployment across 96% of Ireland’s land mass is recognised as one of the most ambitious telecom infrastructure projects globally.” NBI added. Read the full story here . and future generations,” said NBI. The scheme will involve laying
Once the plan is completed 100% of the population will have access to a modern and reliable broadband network, capable of supporting current and future generations
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INDUSTRY FOCUS 2019/2020
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