LONDON — High-speed Internet connectivity is set to soar in Europe over the next five years, with the region featuring eight of the 10 biggest absolute increases in the latest Broadband Development Index from global analyst firm Ovum. The Index tracks the projected take-up of high-speed fixed and mobile broadband services in 191 countries worldwide from 2013 to 2020.
“In Europe, LTE, fiber and DOCSIS technologies are being rolled out progressively and broadband connectivity is closing the lead held by developed Asia,†said Upin Dattani, senior financial analyst at Ovum.
Emerging Markets Improving their Positions
Elsewhere, between 2015 and 2020 India, Nigeria and Indonesia will significantly improve their positions in Ovum’s Broadband Development Index. In emerging markets mobile is often the primary means of accessing the Internet. However, in practice, countries that score highly for fixed broadband development often do likewise in mobile broadband.
Ovum’s Broadband Development Index combines fixed and mobile broadband penetration, resulting in a maximum score of 1,000. However, significantly greater weighting is given to fast broadband technologies in calculating this score, meaning that the Index highlights the economies with the most advanced data communication networks.
Developed Asia is the Leading Region
The leading region for broadband connectivity is currently developed Asia. South Korea, Singapore, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Japan occupied the top five spots in the Broadband Development Index in 2015.
About Ovum’s Broadband Development Index
In Ovum’s Broadband Development Index, countries score points for connecting people to basic fixed and mobile data networks, with a maximum score of 1,000. The highest scores are for connecting people to fiber, VDSL and DOCSIS 3.0 on the fixed index and to LTE networks in the mobile index. Lesser points are awarded for lower-speed fixed and mobile broadband connections. As such, the Index should be used as a tool for understanding the typical speed of broadband and fast-broadband adoption over time in different countries and regions across the world. The inputs to the Index are taken from Ovum’s online interactive databases, the World Cellular Information Service and the World Broadband Information Service, and from Ovum Research. Ovum defines mobile broadband connections as active mobile connections that use 3G and 4G technologies, such as LTE, W-CDMA (including HSPA), and CDMA 1xEV-DO.
