This annual report presents the latest statistical and analytical overview of Telecoms in Europe, including the ten new European Union (EU) access countries, together with Russia, Belarus, Moldova, and the Ukraine. The report provides important data on telecoms expansion and integraion within the region, encompassing established and vital developing markets. Subjects include:

National and International Infrastructure;
New Generation Networks and IP;
Regulatory issues - EU, national, municipal;
The EU New Regulatory Framework - Policies and Results;
i2010 Action Plan - Goals and Implications;
Overview of Key Players and Providers;
Broadband Markets - DSL, Fibre, Broadband Powerline, Satellite;
Mobile Markes - Statistics, Technologies, Data Services, Mobile TV;
Convergence - Triple Play Models, IPTV, Digital TV.

The European telecom market showed sustained growth and recovery in most areas in 2005. The solid broadband sector saw a sharp rise in adoption, with ADSL providing the bulk of access lines as incumbents pushed the service in an effort to compensate for falling fixed voiced revenue. Digitised cable broadband networks have posed an increasing challenge to incumbents by offering voice to their triple or double play packages. The mobile sector has also been a key driver, with emerging 3G markets buttressed by a multitude of new launches, cheaper data access rates, improved handsets and technical advances in services such as mobile TV. Many of the major telcos have reverted to their core operations, and a number of consolidations and buy-outs have expanded their reach across borders to incorporate and integrate emerging markets in the new European Union (EU) accession countries. The once underdeveloped mobile sector in this important region has grown considerably, and some countries have witnessed penetration levels on a par with their Western neighbours. Converging media, based on triple play and fast ADSL or fibre, has also matured, while the United Kingdom and France emerged as world leaders in developing IP-based New Generation Networks.

The EU’s New Regulatory Framework (NRF), designed to standardise and liberalise the industry within the EU25, has been supplemented by the eEurope 2005 and i2010 initiatives which encourage development in the broadband and telecom markets generally. The new accession countries, together with candidate and potential candidate countries in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, are undergoing continuing transformation to meet EU regulatory requirements. This regulatory umbrella, together with investments from expanding Western telcos, improved infrastructure and market liberalisation, has gone far to integrate and consolidate the larger region, providing an important springboard for technological development, investment and further growth in 2006 and beyond.

This annual report presents the latest statistical and analytical overview of Telecoms in Europe, including the ten new European Union (EU) access countries, together with Russia, Belarus, Moldova, and the Ukraine. The report provides important data on telecoms expansion and integraion within the region, encompassing established and vital developing markets. Subjects include:

National and International Infrastructure;
New Generation Networks and IP;
Regulatory issues - EU, national, municipal;
The EU New Regulatory Framework - Policies and Results;
i2010 Action Plan - Goals and Implications;
Overview of Key Players and Providers;
Broadband Markets - DSL, Fibre, Broadband Powerline, Satellite;
Mobile Markes - Statistics, Technologies, Data Services, Mobile TV;
Convergence - Triple Play Models, IPTV, Digital TV.

The European telecom market showed sustained growth and recovery in most areas in 2005. The solid broadband sector saw a sharp rise in adoption, with ADSL providing the bulk of access lines as incumbents pushed the service in an effort to compensate for falling fixed voiced revenue. Digitised cable broadband networks have posed an increasing challenge to incumbents by offering voice to their triple or double play packages. The mobile sector has also been a key driver, with emerging 3G markets buttressed by a multitude of new launches, cheaper data access rates, improved handsets and technical advances in services such as mobile TV. Many of the major telcos have reverted to their core operations, and a number of consolidations and buy-outs have expanded their reach across borders to incorporate and integrate emerging markets in the new European Union (EU) accession countries. The once underdeveloped mobile sector in this important region has grown considerably, and some countries have witnessed penetration levels on a par with their Western neighbours. Converging media, based on triple play and fast ADSL or fibre, has also matured, while the United Kingdom and France emerged as world leaders in developing IP-based New Generation Networks.

The EU’s New Regulatory Framework (NRF), designed to standardise and liberalise the industry within the EU25, has been supplemented by the eEurope 2005 and i2010 initiatives which encourage development in the broadband and telecom markets generally. The new accession countries, together with candidate and potential candidate countries in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, are undergoing continuing transformation to meet EU regulatory requirements. This regulatory umbrella, together with investments from expanding Western telcos, improved infrastructure and market liberalisation, has gone far to integrate and consolidate the larger region, providing an important springboard for technological development, investment and further growth in 2006 and beyond.