Lithuania Europe’s No. 1 in fibre-optic internet penetration

For the sixth year in a row, Lithuania has retained its leading position in Europe in terms of the fiber-optic (FTTH) Internet network penetration. According to the global ranking, our country occupies the eighth place, as the annual report of the FTTH Council Europe shows.

Over the past year, the number of fiber-optic Internet users in Lithuania increased by almost 3 percentage points and reached 34.6 per cent. This is so far the best result among the 39 European countries where a study was conducted at the end of 2014.

Teo has the most developed fiber-optic Internet network in Lithuania. Last year alone, the company’s FTTH Internet customer base increased by more than a tenth and reached over 200 thousand households, or almost two-thirds of the country’s population. Since 2007, Teo has invested EUR 157 million (LTL 543 million) in the next-generation FTTH access network.

“Lithuania’s leadership in Europe in expanding the deployment of the fiber-optic Internet has been the result of active competition in the domestic market and low prices of services. The advanced infrastructure, developed with the help of huge investments, gives competitive advantages to Lithuanian business in the world, and to the people – the opportunities to use smart devices at home and in leisure-time activities”, – Kęstutis Šliužas, General Manager of Teo, says.

Sweden, which is quickly catching up with Lithuania, holds on the second place in the European FTTH ranking of the FTTH Council Europe with almost 33 per cent of its population using the fastest Internet access in 2014. Latvia is in the third place with a penetration rate of 29 per cent. In terms of FTTH penetration in Europe, Estonia is in the 13th place, i.e. 12 per cent of households. With a rate of nearly 70 per cent of FTTH subscribers/homes passed, the United Arab Emirates leads the world in FTTH penetration.

According to the average Internet speed rate, with 45.11 Mbps (megabits per second) Lithuania takes the 4th place in the European Union and the 9th place in the world. In Singapore, which occupies the first place in the global ranking in terms of the Internet speed rate, the average Internet speed rate is 105.17 Mbps, as the results of the studies conducted by Net Index reveal.