Top 20 super-fast fibre optic broadband countries revealed

The FTTH (Fibre To The Home) Council Europe has released a new bunch of stats, including graphs showing the global ranking of countries with significant 'Fibre To The Home' market penetration.

Unfortunately, the UK fails to be featured in the top 20  – worryingly, dwindling behind the likes of Latvia and Russia.

The FTTH Council Europe releases a fresh set of stats twice a year, tracking the level of FTTH in economies where more than 1 per cent of households are connected directly into high speed fibre optic broadband networks.

Asia featured heavily in the list, maintaining a strong ‘Fibre to the Building’ position with South Korea topping the bill at 44 per cent, Hong Kong ranking at 28 per cent, Japan at 27 percent and Taiwan at 12 per cent. It was Japan, though, that ranked the highest in terms of the number of fibre-connect homes, with a figure of around 13.2 million. The United States came a distant second with 6.05 million.

Speaking on the findings, Joeri Van Bogaert, President of the FTTH Council Europe, commented: “It is very encouraging to see four new EU nations joining Russia and Andorra in the new ranking, together nearly doubling Europe’s total representation among the top twenty in the world.” He continued: “It is perhaps more difficult for the largest counties to achieve the ranking, which makes Russia’s inclusion particularly exciting and surprising. Across Europe, we are seeing FTTH penetration figures rise as the benefits of fibre become clearer for all.”

Unfortunately, Europe fairs badly on this list when it comes to a fibre optic broadband subscriber base. It is hoped that, if BT’s £1.5 billion plan to role out super-fast broadband to 10 million homes by 2012 goes ahead, the UK should appear in FTTH's 'Top 20' graph before too long. Down in 20th place, Latvia must be quaking in its super-fast boots.