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FTTP Subscribers in Europe to Reach 157 Million by 2030,with UK to Overtake Spain as the Second-Largest Market

  • Writer: Jolanta Stanke
    Jolanta Stanke
  • 3 hours ago
  • 4 min read

We have produced the latest FTTP (Fibre-to-the-Premises) subscriber forecast for 31 European countries[1]. We expect FTTP subscribers in these markets to reach 157.4 million by 2030, up from 112.4 million at the end of 2025, showing a 40.1% growth rate over five years (7% CARG). Within the 27 EU member states, the equivalent increase is from 96.2 million to 129.6 million, a comparatively lower 34.8% growth between 2025 and 2030 (6.2% CARG). The difference reflects faster growth in the four non-EU countries, particularly the United Kingdom.

Other key points

  • France will remain the largest single market (31.7 million subscribers by 2030). The UK is forecast to overtake Spain as the second-largest market in 2028, and to add more net subscribers than any other country over 2025–2030 (+10.9 million).

  • We expect fastest FTTP subscriber growth (CAGR) in: Austria (+22.5%), Greece (+20.8%), Belgium (+19.4%) and Germany (+16.5%) — all relatively low coverage or low take-up markets today.

  • Slowest FTTP subscriber growth (CAGR) is forecast for Iceland (+1.0%), Spain (+1.6%), Slovakia (+1.8%) and Romania (+2.0%) — markets already close to full coverage and high take-up.

  • FTTP coverage (homes passed as a share of households) across the 31 countries will increase from 76% (2025) to 90.7% (2030). The least-covered markets by 2030 will remain the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Belgium.

  • By 2030, 85 million of the 31-market households (35.1%) will still not be FTTP subscribers; of these, 62.5 million (73.5%) will already be within reach of the network but will not have subscribed.

Our interactive dashboard presents all the figures referenced in this report at the country level. It includes quarterly figures for FTTP subscribers, FTTP coverage and take-up in 2013-2030.

FTTP subscribers to approach 160 million by 2030, with growth slowing from a double-digit historical pace

Figure 1 shows FTTP subscriber growth across the 31 European countries and the EU27 from 2013 to 2030. In the larger sample, the total subscriber base grew from 9.7 million in 2013 to 112.4 million in 2025 — a more than elevenfold increase over twelve years (or a 22.6% CARG), consistent with FTTP moving from a niche technology to the default fixed broadband platform across most of the countries covered.

Growth is forecast to continue but at a materially slower pace: a 2025–2030 CAGR of 7.0% for the 31-market total compares with year-on-year growth still above 13% as recently as 2024–2025. This is consistent with the European FTTP market moving from the steep part of the adoption curve towards its ceiling. (Throughout this report we treat 2025Q4 as the last historical quarter and 2026Q1 as the first forecast quarter).

Within the EU27, subscribers rise from 96.2 million (2025) to 129.6 million (2030), an increase of 33.5 million (+34.8%, or 6.2% CARG). The four non-EU countries in the dataset — Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom — account for a disproportionate share of the remaining growth: their combined subscriber base is forecast to go up from 16.2 million to 27.8 million over the same period, driven almost entirely by the UK. As a result, the gap between the EU27 and the 31-market sample widens visibly towards the end of the forecast period, as Figure 1 shows.

Figure 1: FTTP subscribers, 2013–2030 (Q4 values). Source: Point-Topic.
Figure 1: FTTP subscribers, 2013–2030 (Q4 values). Source: Point-Topic.

The UK overtakes Spain by 2028, while growth elsewhere concentrates in lower-coverage markets

Figure 2 ranks the fifteen largest FTTP subscriber markets as of 2030. France leads throughout, reaching 31.7 million subscribers by 2030 against 27.1 million in 2025 — a comparatively modest 3.2% CAGR, reflecting a market where FTTP is already largely rolled out and adopted. The more notable shift in ranking is between the UK and Spain: the UK starts the forecast period well behind, with 12.4 million subscribers against Spain's 17.8 million in 2025, but overtakes Spain in 2028 and finishes 2030 at 23.2 million against Spain's 19.3 million. The UK's 13.4% CAGR over the period is the fourth-highest among the fifteen largest markets, behind only Greece, Germany and Italy.

Figure 2: Fifteen largest FTTP subscriber markets, 2025Q4 vs 2030Q4. Source: Point-Topic.
Figure 2: Fifteen largest FTTP subscriber markets, 2025Q4 vs 2030Q4. Source: Point-Topic.

More broadly, the double-digit growth is concentrated in a group of countries: Austria, Greece, Belgium, Germany, Croatia, Italy and the UK all sit well above the 31-country CAGR of 7%. Each of these markets has below average FTTP coverage, below-average take-up, or both (in 2025) — consistent with faster growth reflecting more remaining headroom to close, though we would caution against reading too much into any single country's trajectory beyond what the data suggests. At the other end, Iceland, Spain, Slovakia and Romania have the lowest CARG, each already close to full coverage and high take-up by 2025.

For the complete analysis, the data behind it and the interactive dashboard, login to our subscriber site with your customer credentials. If you are not a subscriber to the relevant product, contact isabelle.anderson@point-topic.com


[1]The dataset covers 31 European countries: the 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Unless stated otherwise, ‘EU27’ figures in this report refer to the 27 EU member states. FTTP includes FTTH and FTTB.

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