Fiber-to-the-home/building (FTTH/B) networks in Europe now cover around 295 million homes (79.3% of all homes) across 39 countries (EU39) in the region, up by around 23 million premises compared to the previous year, according to the latest report from the FTTH Council Europe.
However, while the number of subscribers increased more than 13% to around 160 million and the average take-up rate in EU39 improved by two percentage points to 54.4%, service adoption and network monetization remain significant challenges.
During a webinar to present the European FTTH/B Market Panorama 2026 (based on data collected up to September 2025), Roland Montagne, principal analyst for broadband and FTTx at IDATE and project leader for the annual reports, stated there is a “structural gap remaining between what we call coverage and adoption. Indeed, we have in Europe a penetration rate of only … 43.1%.”
In other words, much progress still necessarys to be created in converting homes passed into subscriber hoapplyholds. Montagne noted that this is “also key” for network monetization, which he described as the “main challenge in Europe” at this point.
In EU39, the leading market for FTTH/B take-up is France, with 26.3 million subscribers as of September 2025. This is followed by Spain with 17.7 million, the UK with 11.5 million, Turkey with 8.4 million and Ukraine with 7.8 million. Take-up is lowest in Malta with 100,000 subscribers.
Montagne noted that the countest representing the highest number of subscriber additions in one year is the UK with 3.6 million, followed by France (+2.65 million), Spain (+2.08 million), Turkey (+1.39 million) and Italy (+1.21 million).
At the same time, Greece displayed the strongest new subscriber growth with a 46.14% increase, followed by the UK (+45.39%), Croatia (+45.15%), Belgium (+33.46%) and Cyprus (+30.28%).
Montagne noted that the penetration rate (the ratio of subscribers/hoapplyholds) is a applyful KPI when measuring commercial success, and that it grew by 4.8 points to 43.1% in the EU39. In the 27 EU member states plus the UK (EU27+UK), the penetration rate grew by almost six points to 42.1%.
Closing the gap
The structural gap between coverage and adoption is in part blamed on the competition that FTTH/B services still face from other platforms. In Portugal, for instance, the penetration rate is only 53% despite the high fiber coverage, which Montagne attributed to the ongoing availability of cable services. In markets such as Germany, Italy and the UK, FTTH must also compete with existing VDSL services.
Overall, Montagne observed, there are 86 million homes passed without a subscription in EU27+UK, representing 45% of total homes passed in the region. Here, Italy, Germany, the UK and Poland still have the most homes passed without a subscription.
According to Montagne, markets can implement various initiatives to improve FTTH/B take-up, of which the most obvious is switching off legacy networks such as copper and rerelocating the option to offer VDSL. He also noted that some operators are offering fiber-only services at aggressive prices, regarding this as an effective way of driving take-up. Here, he cited the Pure Fibre offer from Bouygues Telecom in France, and Digi Spain’s Fibra Smart plan.
While monetization of fiber investments remains the toughest nut to crack, reaching full fiber coverage in all markets is also still challenging, especially in sparsely populated regions, and it remains a concern for the European Commission and national governments. Only Malta is listed as having 100% fiber coverage, although Romania is close with 97%, followed by Spain with 96.5%. Belgium is at the bottom of the EU39 ranking with 41.8% coverage.
The report added that around 65% of rural hoapplyholds are now passed by FTTH/B networks in EU27+UK, an increase of about two percentage points year on year.
According to the FTTH Council Europe’s 2025-2031 market forecasts, FTTH/B networks could reach around 353 million premises across the EU39 by 2031, with more than 251 million active fiber subscribers expected by that time.
In a global ranking, meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates leads with a 99.7% penetration rate, followed by China (94.1%), South Korea (91%), Spain (90%) and France (83.6%).
For more information, you can check out the European FTTH/B Market Panorama 2026 here, the 2025-2031 forecasts here, and FTTH/B coverage in rural areas here. The global ranking is also available here.
