Forrester: European broadband penetration to reach 71% by 2013

More users in Europe want fast Internet access. According to a recent report from Forrester research broadband access will reach 71% in Europe by 2013; currently about 44% of European households have broadband access.

by Kristina Knight

That means dial-up providers will see a decline and also indicates that broadband providers need to be on their game so that as more users sign up they are not disappointed.

By 2013 the Netherlands and Denmark will lead broadband penetration with 85% for each. The UK is predicted to have 82% broadband penetration with Germany facing 72% and France expecting to reach 69% broadband penetration.

"The addition of 48 million new broadband connections may seem a healthy opportunity for broadband suppliers, but our forecast reveals the key challenge for ISPs will be managing customer churn," said Forrester Research Analyst Pete Nuthall. "In 2007, we estimate the level of churn to be 20 percent across Western Europe, this will peak in 2012 at 31 percent. Most at risk are incumbents such as BT, France Télécom, Deutsche Telekom, and KPN, due to regulatory action that force them to open up their networks to competition through local loop unbundling (LLU). Incumbents will need to reassess existing retention strategies in the light of increased price-based competition from alternative ISPs."

How is this important for online marketers? As more users sign on for broadband Internet access, marketers can begin to include more high-tech ad sources: more online video, more flash presentations, more pictures. With faster access users can download video, presentations and documents at a faster rate and advertisers won't have to worry about sessions timing out before an ad is viewed.