The latest findings from Jupiter Research, a division of Jupitermedia Corporation, forecast sustained growth in DSL and cable broadband connections throughout Europe fueled by strong consumer interest, wider availability and competitive pricing. The rise of broadband will transform consumer European Internet access over the next five years offering new opportunities for delivering rich broadband content.
By 2007, Europe will overtake the U.S. in the proportion of online households that have broadband with 48% of European online households using broadband, compared to 46% in the U.S. By 2008, 28% of all European households (47 million) will have broadband, making it the most common form of Internet connection in the region.
In contrast, at the end of 2002, 81% of European online households accessed the Internet via a narrowband connection. But consumer interest in broadband is strong and the results of a Jupiter Research consumer survey show that 26% of narrowband Internet users are likely to upgrade to broadband within a year. Yet consumers who are keen to switch are currently hampered by limited broadband availability and poor communication of where the service is available. This has slowed migration from narrowband to broadband. These barriers will drop as improvements in broadband technology ? such as better exchange equipment - will extend the geographical reach of broadband.
Europe is far from a single market for broadband with diverse adoption levels and although these differences will narrow, diversity will persist. At the end of 2002, broadband penetration ranged from 1% of households in Greece to 19% in Belgium. By 2008, these two countries will still represent the extremes of EuropeUs broadband market, with penetration rates of 10% and 42%, respectively.
The bulk of broadband households will be in the largest economies: 12.2 million will be in Germany; 6.6 million in France; and 8 million in the U.K. In Spain, the advance of broadband will be much quicker than across Europe as a whole. By 2004, there will be 2.3 million broadband households in Spain and they will outnumber the 1.9 million with narrowband. For Europe as a whole, it will take until 2008 for this shift in dominance to take place.
Ian Fogg, Analyst at Jupiter Research said; "Internet users are highly price sensitive when adopting broadband. Recent moves by European and U.K. providers to offer cheaper DSL and cable services have proved extremely popular. This will continue to drive increased broadband growth."
The complete findings of this report are immediately available to Jupiter Research clients online at
www.jup.com.
This information from a press release provided by Jupiter Research.
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