Broadband Growth Slows in Western Europe

MONTEREY: Recessionary and competitive pressures have contributed to a "significant" decline in broadband subscriber additions in Western Europe, according to a new report from SNL Kagan. 

The report also looked at subscriber growth over a ten-quarter period, from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the second quarter of 2009. SNL Kagan found that Deutsche Telecom (DT) added more broadband subscribers from Q4 2006 to Q2 2009 than any other ISP in the region, accounting for 22 percent of all top 10 operator net additions. France’s Iliad and SFR were the fastest growing operators during that period, each with a compound quarterly growth rate of 6.7 percent. Germany’s Vodafone and DT followed with a compound quarterly growth rate of 5.2 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively.

“While the rest of the region is still trying to stabilize following the global financial crisis, stronger macro-economic fundamentals and consumer confidence have allowed German and French telcos to achieve the fastest 10-quarter subscriber growth rates as well as maintain some of the highest growth rates in the first half of 2009,” said SNL Kagan senior analyst Ben Reneker.