Brussels, 21/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - Since the previous market panorama in June 2011, Europe+8 has added more than 600,000 new subscribers to broadband fibre optic networks, according to figures revealed by the Fibre to the Home (FTTH) Council on 15 February. Europe+8 is made up of the EU's 27 member states, plus Andorra, Croatia, Iceland, Israel, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey. Despite the unhelpful economic climate, FTTH has been gaining ground across the whole region. In 2011, roll-out progressed at an annual rate of 41% and, at the end of the year, there were more than 5.1 million subscribers and almost 28 million households connected. Lithuania, with a penetration rate of 28.3%, leads the way in FTTH, followed by Norway (14.7%) and Sweden (13.6%). Countries that have progressed most include Norway, in second position after Lithuania, which confirms that Scandinavian countries remain dynamic, Latvia and Turkey, now ahead of Italy. Hungary has slipped back two places, behind Estonia and Portugal. Since the previous edition of the panorama, household penetration in Lithuania has gone up by 3%, in Norway by 2% and in Sweden by just 0.4%. Compared with the previous market panorama, the average increase in the top 10 countries was 1.23%. Although Spain is not included in the FTTH ranking, it is likely to force its way in very soon, given the explosion in growth of 184% in 2011. While welcoming the development of FTTH in Europe despite the economic uncertainty, Director General of FTTH Council Europe Hartwig Tauber says that “additional efforts are required to bring Europe on track to reach the Digital Agenda 2020 ultra-fast broadband targets with fibre-enabled connections”. Luigi Gambardella, who leads ETNO, the association representing the largest European telecoms operators, says that the decline in revenue is discouraging operators from investing more heavily in fibre optic networks. “With the right approach, substantial progress towards high-speed broadband for all could be made already by 2015 rather than 2020 in several member states”, he suggested. The roll-out of high speed broadband is part of the European Union's digital strategy, within the framework of the EUROPE 2020 objectives. Between 2014 and 2020, the European Commission proposes to allocate €9.2 billion to high speed broadband and associated services, €7 billion of which will be investment in infrastructure. (IL/transl.rt)