Progress towards 'Gigabit Europe' is slow, with UK also lagging
- Reference: 1698136212
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/10/24/progress_towards_gigabit_europe_report/
- Source link:
This is according to [1]analysis by network intelligence outfit Ookla, which largely focuses on the European Commission's [2]Digital Decade policy program and its efforts to improve connectivity across the EU by 2030. The UK, which left the EU in 2020, is also included in some of the comparisons.
One of the EC's Digital Decade objectives is Gigabit connectivity for everyone, which relies on the rollout of fiber-optic networks, especially fiber to the premises (FTTP), providing a fiber connection direct to a subscriber's home.
[3]
Citing data from research company Omdia, Ookla found that many EU countries appear to be doing well on this score, at least in terms of households that fall within FTTP coverage. Romania, for example, has nearly 97.7 percent of households able to access fiber, which is attributed to government-backed fixed infrastructure projects such as RoNet and special attention given to rural and disadvantaged areas.
[4]
[5]
This does not mean that 97.7 percent of Romanian households have a fiber connection, only that this percentage of households lies within areas where it is available. Only two European countries have less than 50 percent of households in areas with FTTP; one is the UK with 42.9 percent, while Germany is at the bottom with just 21.3 percent.
However, the take-up rate tells a different story, with Ookla claiming that only 13.76 percent of households in the EU were subscribed to fixed broadband that should be capable of at least 1Gbps as of 2022.
[6]
The UK's take-up rate, meaning the proportion of households within fiber network coverage actively connected to fiber services, is also relatively low at 20.5 percent. Ookla called for a "required industry focus on selling fiber subscriptions."
However, BT's infrastructure division Openreach already has such a scheme, offering discounts to ISPs that get subscribers to sign up for fiber, and this has [7]met with criticism from other network operators who claim it discourages ISPs from using their infrastructure.
Regardless, it appears the UK, with 20.5 percent fiber take-up, is beating most of Europe on this particular metric, despite having less than half the population able to access it.
[8]
There is also "significant disparity" between different EU nations, with only five countries beating the 13.76 percent EU average. France is leading with 39.94 percent, followed by Hungary at 29.81 percent, Romania at 23.35 percent Denmark at 18.66 percent, and Spain at 14.5 percent.
And to further complicate matters, Ookla claims that in reality, the proportion of users which are actually getting speeds of 1 Gbps is much, much lower; just 1.42 percent in France, 0.54 percent in Hungary, 0.1 percent in Romania, 0.03 percent in Denmark and 0.27 percent in Spain.
One contributing factor highlighted by Ookla is the state of home networking equipment. It claims that in markets where legacy broadband technology (such as DSL or coax cable) is being replaced by advanced cable and fiber connections, Wi-Fi performance can lag behind.
Wi-Fi speeds are typically 30-40 percent that of Ethernet, the company claims, indicating a need to "accelerate adoption of more advanced Wi-Fi technologies" and "optimize the home network environment."
In other words, Ookla is claiming that gigabit broadband users are being stymied by outdated home Wi-Fi that can't match the speed of the fat pipe bringing data in from the outside world, and that service providers need to pay more attention to home networking equipment.
This tallies with what Qualcomm was claiming recently at the launch of its [9]10G Fiber Gateway Platform , which introduces Wi-Fi 7 support and offers service providers more control over the home gateway, in order to optimize its configuration.
In terms of current median download speeds, which Ookla classifies as a standard metric for measuring performance, Denmark comes out best with 196.43 Mbps, followed by Spain with 176.08 Mbps. The UK languishes at second to bottom on 79.08 Mbps, with Italy on 63.05 Mbps.
Ookla highlighted the role of alternative network providers (AltNets) in boosting the adoption of fiber across the EU and surrounding countries (it mentions the EU39 region comprising the EU27, UK, Iceland and others such as Switzerland and Turkey).
It analysed the data to determine if there is a correlation between the number of active ISPs and the speed of the transition to fiber networks, but concluded the relationship is "not straightforward" and varies significantly depending on each country's competitive landscape and government initiatives – as you might expect.
[10]Amazon's Project Kuiper satellites prepare for testing after one late Prime delivery
[11]Net neutrality is back in the Land of the Free – for now
[12]Switch to hit the fan as BT begins prep ahead of analog phone sunset
[13]The home Wi-Fi upgrade we never asked for is coming. The one we need is not
It claims that countries like the UK and Poland, which have many ISPs, are leading the way in AltNet-driven fiber initiatives. In the UK, AltNets delivered the top speed in areas such as London, Glasgow, Liverpool, and Manchester, it said.
Despite progress towards the Digital Decade goals, obstacles remain in convincing consumers to fully transition to fiber services, Ookla said. Ironically, it quoted a survey conducted by Orange in rural areas of France which revealed that 42 percent of users stated their current internet was sufficient for their needs - which does make you wonder who the Digital Decade goals are meant to be for. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.ookla.com/articles/europe-fiber-gigabit-society-q3-2023
[2] https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/europes-digital-decade
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZTeVxNbVmspzoMtZCmdcRAAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZTeVxNbVmspzoMtZCmdcRAAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZTeVxNbVmspzoMtZCmdcRAAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZTeVxNbVmspzoMtZCmdcRAAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/24/uk_regulator_openreach_discount/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZTeVxNbVmspzoMtZCmdcRAAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/21/ee_touts_nextgen_broadband_smart/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/17/project_kuiper_satellites_testing/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/20/net_neutrality_is_back/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/26/bt_begins_big_switchover_ahead/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/25/wifi_7_ee_qualcomm/
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Eh?
Why should everyone upgrade their tech to the faster speeds? Why dont people get what they want and there are some people who choose to have nothing. Not everyone is interested in tech. Not everyone streams, games and wants blazing internet. Some people dont even like smart phones and associated technology.
Re: Eh?
For myself and my wife, VDSL is quite adequate at home. 80mbps is 40mbps each, which is plenty for our use cases. I can see that larger families would need faster connections; we don't.
My view of technology is that it exists to fulfil a purpose. I simply don't see the use case for a smartphone for me personally; I drive, so I can't use the data on the go. If I spent several hours a day on public transport then i'd probably have a different opinion, but there we go.
As I see it, I have a decent internet connection where I am at home or work. That leaves other use cases where i'm somewhere like a social event. My view is that in those cases my attention should be with the social company, not getting diverted by a phone pinging like a sonar system demanding my attention to attempt to entrap me into spending more time on social media than I choose to spend. Therefore, what's the point of the device?
I can see the benefit many other people obtain via tracking my activities via various apps and selling my personal data, but I can't immediately see the benefit I'd get.
Re: Eh?
Don't worry. The UK data is only included as a post-Brexit artifact. No need to panic. We'll be languishing at the bottom for decades to come.
France is leading with 39.94 percent
There's a coil of fibre on the pole near the property boundary (they're doing a massive program in Brittany to replace all the old copper, but most of it in the country will be strung on poles).
When the fibre was being installed in the springtime, the time to begin switchover was August/September. Then it was October. Now it's "maybe next year". I'm guessing somebody might have slightly underestimated what's involved.
I'm looking forward to it because after four and a half kilometres of copper, my speed was around 3.5Mbit. A poor patch job earlier in the year knocked off a megabit. And since the A in ADSL means asymmetrical, my upload rate is about 65K/sec. As you can imagine, uploading videos takes bloody forever.
one is the UK with 42.9 percent
No it isn't. The UK went over 50% [1]a couple of months ago , is currently just shy of 60% and [2]predicted to reach over 90% within a couple of years .
That figure of 42.9% is at least six months out of date, and possibly a year.
One thing the article doesn't mention is customer choice. Most people don't want (or certainly don't need) high speeds. People in the UK aren't buying all that's currently available to them. In the past VM has shuttered its lower tier service and bumped people up for free in order to be able to show a higher average speed. 100% FTTP coverage will not mean that every house has a 1Gb/s connection. Most people will continue to buy the cheapest service available to them.
[1] https://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/9692-ofcom-confirms-uk-is-over-50-full-fibre-coverage
[2] https://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/9729-ofcom-thinks-uk-will-be-at-91-full-fibre-availability-in-may-2026
As usual, apples and oranges
Geography, history and population density play a large role in any country's communication network. Some early adopters of one technology, such as coax in The Netherlands, initially for better TV reception, are at an initial disadvantage compared with other countries, generally ex-Warsaw pact ones, that went straight to fibre. Rolling out fibre to the kerb is okay in residential areas but not so good for high rise buildings because changing the internal cabling needs to be done by the landlord. Only after taking these things into consideration do government policy and market conditions start to figure. France was for years a laggard: huge country with low population density which meant most people were on copper at quite a distance from a cabinet. But the government took the decision for force France Telecom to role fibre out everywhere. But it's still a huge country and it will take its time. Germany went with coax at a time when it was clear fibre was the way to go; there were rumours of corruption. It went with fibre in East Germany after unification but had to step everyone down to DSL due to the lack of equipment. Competition drove DSL and cable services but only in the last few years has there been a concerted effort to roll fibre out. The dominant carrier wanted to be given exemption from common carrier status in order to maximise returns on cable connections…
We've got 1 Gbit/s here but only because I got Gigabit ethernet put it when we moved in. It's still using cable for at least part of the routie so we occasionally get the usual problems with coax when people fuck up their connections. In reality we rarely exceed 200 MBit/s not least because there are few sites out there that want to serve at that speed, but the connection does run at the advertised speed. So, when everybody's here, they can all stream to their heart's content.
"42% of users stated their current internet was sufficient for their needs"
Well yeah. I've got 1Gbps speeds and it is fine. I can have the TV working, my daughter on her laptop and mobile, my wife on her laptop and mobile, and me torrenting, downloading and on Youtube while gaming. Nobody is dragged down by anybody else, so what would I complain about ?
Back when I had ADLS, if I turned on the TV nobody could download anything anymore. And if someone called the landline while watching TV, the image would stall and the sound would be the only thing running. ADSL was a tar pit. Gigabit fiber is a jet. What more could I want ? 10Gbps ? Don't see the need right now. Don't think I'll ever.
Re: "42% of users stated their current internet was sufficient for their needs"
Ordinary users in a household with 2 or 3 people will quite happily make do on a VDSL service - We have 67Mbps down and 18Mbps up and that takes care of all our streaming and video chat / conferencing requirements.
From December this year I will be able to get FTTP and I am tempted to get the full speed connection - not because I (first world) 'need' it - but because I 'want' it. Have worked in IT & Telecoms all my career and remember selling 34Mbps 'High' Speed Internet services for >£100k annual rental. Getting 30x that speed at my house for 1/200th of that cost is mind blowing.
I don't see a mass migration to fibre, in the short to medium term, but in the long term people will appreciate and want it.
For now, it is speed demons and geeks...
Leap
By the time we roll out 1Gbps, the cool kids will already be bored with 10Gbps.
Why do we keep following?
Wi-Fi in practice* is never going to be as fast as Gigabit ethernet. Also in my area of UK you get FTTP with a choice of speed/costs so in my case I went with "up to" 300Mbit rather than "up to" 900Mbit as more than enough and half the cost. So far I see close to max speeds most of the time, suggesting fairly low uptake of the contended segments.
[*] As in through walls and with every other bugger in your (and neighbouring) block of flats also running Wi-Fi.