Members of the FTTH Council Europe are active in every segment of the fibre to the home (FTTH) value chain. The Deployment and Operations (D&O) Committee is the place where technology experts come together to discuss, debate and educate the broader telecom ecosystem and help industry stakeholders understand how to deploy high quality full-fibre networks, addressing the large variety of challenges they face throughout Europe.

From design and planning, to optimal technology selection, roll out of operations, testing and maintenance, our key publication, the FTTH Handbook, brings together state-of-the-art information and recommendations to help every FTTH professional in the industry. Its 9th edition was unveiled on 15th September 2021 during the FTTH Virtual Conference 2021; it is already available for members of the FTTH Council Europe on a complementary basis and can be purchased by the general public here.

5G is fibre’s best friend! The D&O Committee has undertaken two valuable pieces of research to evaluate the potential benefits that are brought about through converged planning of FTTH and 5G backhaul networks.  We presented the results of these studies in a recent webinar, you can access the replay here.

More recently, the Committee has produced a white paper which details the reasons underpinning our position in favour of full-fibre compared to alternative broadband technologies. 

 

 

EU Fibre Market Observatory 2026

May 19, 2026
Reports & Studies | Market Intelligence Committee |

The FTTH Council Europe launches the new EU Fibre Market Observatory — a one-stop, quick-read dashboard of Europe’s full-fibre progress and outlook.

FTTH Council Europe has released the new EU Fibre Market Observatory, a compact report designed to bring together—in a single, fast-to-read view—the most relevant metrics and insights previously published across the Council’s market intelligence outputs. The goal is simple: make it easier for stakeholders to track, at a glance, the pace of FTTH/B rollout, adoption, and the forward-looking trajectory of Europe’s fibre transition, without losing the analytical depth that underpins FTTH Council Europe’s reference publications.

The European FTTH/B market has entered a new stage of development, characterised by high levels of infrastructure deployment and a growing focus on network utilisation. As of September 2025, full-fibre networks pass 295 million homes across EU39 (+23 million vs September 2024), corresponding to a 79% coverage rate. This is the result of more than a decade of sustained investment. At the same time, Europe is moving into a late-stage rollout phase: while deployment continues, the pace of coverage expansion is gradually slowing, and remaining build-outs are becoming increasingly complex and costly.

Developed within the Market Intelligence Committee (MIC)—FTTH Council Europe’s strategic research arm and “official observatory” for the sector—the Observatory consolidates key indicators on deployment, coverage, subscribers, take-up, rural connectivity, historical trends, and forecasts, offering an accessible snapshot for investors, operators, policymakers, and the broader fibre ecosystem.
 

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