The League of top European FTTH Economies Welcomes France, Portugal, Czech Republic and Bulgaria

Out of the 15 European Economies that Have Reached 1 Percent FTTH Penetration, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia are the Most Dynamic, and Lithuania Leapfrogs into Number One Position.

BRUSSELS, February 24, 2010 - At the FTTH Conference 2010 in Lisbon today, the FTTH Council Europe
unveiled the latest figures showing which European countries are leading the
way in the penetration of fibre-to-the-home at year-end 2009.

Although Sweden, Norway and Slovenia have maintained their places in the
top five, they have been overtaken by Lithuania, which made a dynamic jump to
the number one position with 18 percent FTTH penetration. All four countries
now have penetration rates greater than 10 percent - a significant milestone
for Europe.

France and Portugal broke into the Ranking for the first time, helped by
strong deployment of fibre infrastructure as well as marketing efforts to
engage subscribers. FTTH uptake in both countries is expected to continue to
increase rapidly as both countries also rank in the top 10 economies in terms
of the availability of FTTH.

In absolute figures Europe has reached 2.5 million subscribers; 3.5
million if Russia is also included. The majority of subscribers (77 percent)
are concentrated in seven countries, in the following order: Sweden, Italy,
France, Lithuania, Norway, The Netherlands and Denmark. Amongst them 5
countries now have connected more than 200,000 subscribers.

FTTH Council Europe President Karel Helsen comments: "All data gathered
in the market panorama confirm our forecasts of steady growth in both the
number of fibre to the home subscribers and homes passed, in spite of the
economic downturn. This is great news! With France the second European G-20
country has joined the Ranking of leading FTTH/B economies, joining Italy. It
is up to Germany and UK to increase their efforts to follow as soon as
possible."

The FTTH Council Europe's unique Ranking is part of its Market Panorama
study, commissioned from research firm IDATE. It shows the percentage of
homes and businesses that receive broadband communications services over
direct fibre-optic connections to their homes or buildings. The FTTH Global
Ranking for 2009 will be announced at the FTTH Conference tomorrow 25
February, by representatives from the three FTTH Council organisations.

www.ftthcouncil.eu

Media Contact: Nadia BABAALI, Communications Director, FTTH COUNCIL EUROPE, +33-6-20-88-72-38, nadia.babaali at ftthcouncil.eu