This Frost & Sullivan research service titled Broadband Market in Europe provides regulatory, technical and market background for all 27 EU countries. The study also examines the various stages of broadband markets across Europe, the market direction as well as strategies adopted by key service providers to extend their broadband offering. Market share estimates are also discussed, particularly illustrating the variances across member states of the European Union. In this research, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysts thoroughly examine the WE and CEE segments of the European market and a variety of technologies used in each country.

　　Bundled Services Driving Demand

　　The European broadband market continue to witness strong growth, thanks largely to the deregulatory initiatives across the region and the ongoing shift towards integrated services such as triple or quad play. The growing demand for highly customised broadband-based services is also a major growth factor, as customers are willing to pay a little extra for high-quality broadband services such as video on demand, pay-per-view TV and other attractive, multimedia content. These apart, e--government initiatives and the EU Commission’s push towards tele-working, as a means to achieve both efficiency and environmental sustainability, are expected to drive the uptake of broadband services across Europe.

　　However, engaging with the right strategic partner in order to provide a richer suite of services is a key challenge for market participants. "For example, fixed service providers will need to sustain their position by offering new compelling services by collaborating with wireless service providers, alternative service providers and content service providers," notes the analyst of this research service. "A sound service level agreement (SLA) will have to form the basis of such alliances, as quality and reliability are important differentiators for service providers."

　　DSL Technology Remains Dominant

　　From a technological point of view, digital subscriber line technology in its different variants (xDSL) remains the leading technology for broadband access. DSL technology has evolved considerably in the past few years with the development of new standards such as asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL+, ADSL2+) and very high bit-rate digital subscriber line (VDSL), which allow for significant increases in bandwidth connectivity. The demand for significantly high bandwidth and new market entrants has also seen a preference for new technologies. Nonetheless, existing cable operators are increasingly adopting data over cable service interface specifications (DOCSIS) technology, which is expected to increase data transmission speeds significantly. This is especially true for DOCSIS3 solutions, which allow download speeds up to 122-200 Mb/s.

　　Overall, the European broadband markets’ growth remains high, but is expected to gradually decline over the forecast period. "Over the period 2006-2008, the growth rate for the CEE segment of the market will exceed 30 percent, while the Western European (WE) segment is expected to grow by 20 percent," says the analyst, "The average compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for 27 EU countries between 2006 and 2013 is forecast at 19.6 percent, 18.9 percent for WE and 25.2 percent for CEE."