This annual report offers the latest data, statistics and analysis on the telecoms markets in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Malta, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Subjects include:National and European Union Regulatory Issues; Telecom Market Liberalisation; National and International Infrastructure; Network Operators - Strategies and Market Analysis; Local Loop Unbundling - Status and Policies; Carrier Preselection and Number Portability; National Competitive Environments; Incumbent Market Shares - Strategic Assessments.Western Europe’s dense and advanced telecommunications network places the region at the forefront of emerging technologies.
The copper networks built by national incumbents have been augmented by substantial private cable and fibre networks constructed since the 1980s.
In addition, new technologies including wireless networks, Broadband Powerline, 3G mobile networks and satellite broadband have increased the reach and versatility of telecoms’ provision.
Effective regulatory controls have enabled rivals to encroach on the incumbents’ market shares in all sectors.A key development during 2005 was the structural separation of British Telecom, which promised to have repercussions for operators and regulators elsewhere in Europe in coming years.
The deployment of Next Generation Networks (NGN), moving infrastructure to an IP packet-based, full service typology, were advanced with British Telecom’s 21CN plans, which will see the end of PSTN lines and the full migration to IP by 2009.
Similar moves by France Telecom with its NeXT strategy will be echoed by other incumbents as media convergence and technology provision sweeps away analogue networks.Europe’s maturing broadband and Internet markets have been a key beneficiary of technological developments, as widespread ADSL2+ and VDSL network upgrades have been undertaken, thus furnishing the means for delivering triple play services including IPTV, VoD and other digital media.
Much of this development has derived from European telecom market liberalisation, and a regulatory environment promoting competition.
The EU’s New Regulatory Framework has directed competition, fixed network and mobile network interconnection issues, Local Loop Unbundling, competition requirements for number portability, licensing regimes, carrier preselection, and the Universal Service Obligation.
These measures have been complemented by the EU’s eEurope 2005 schedule and the strategy for its i2010 program.