London, March 15, 2016 – High-speed Internet connectivity is set to soar in Europe over the next five years, with the region featuring eight of the 10 biggest absolute increases in the latest Broadband Development Index* from global analyst firm Ovum. The Index tracks the projected take-up of high-speed fixed and mobile broadband services in 191 countries worldwide from 2013 to 2020.

“In Europe, LTE, fiber, and DOCSIS technologies are being rolled out progressively and broadband connectivity is closing the lead held by developed Asia,” said Upin Dattani, senior financial analyst at Ovum.

Elsewhere, between 2015 and 2020 India, Nigeria, and Indonesia will significantly improve their positions in Ovum’s Broadband Development Index. In emerging markets mobile is often the primary means of accessing the Internet. However, in practice, countries that score highly for fixed broadband development often do likewise in mobile broadband.

The chart below shows the 10 countries exhibiting the greatest improvement in broadband connectivity between 2015 and 2020, as measured by Ovum’s Broadband Development Index.

Source: Ovum

Ovum’s Broadband Development Index combines fixed and mobile broadband penetration, resulting in a maximum score of 1,000. However, significantly greater weighting is given to fast broadband technologies in calculating this score, meaning that the Index highlights the economies with the most advanced data communication networks.

The leading region for broadband connectivity is currently developed Asia, as demonstrated in the chart below. South Korea, Singapore, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Japan occupied the top five spots in the Broadband Development Index in 2015.

Source: Ovum

“Demand for faster Internet connectivity globally, on both mobile and fixed networks, is driving progressive rollouts of 4G and fiber technologies,” concluded Dattani.