Europe saw a 16.4 percent increase in the number of...

Europe saw a 16.4 percent increase in the number of fiber-to-the-home/building subscribers in the first half of 2012, and FTTH/B coverage is growing fast, the FTTH Council Europe said Wednesday. The survey covered the 27 EU members plus Andorra, Croatia, Iceland, Israel, Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey (the EU27+9). By mid-2012, the EU27+9 had nearly six million subscribers and 32 million homes passed, it said. Russia offers “huge market potential,” with more than five million FTTH/B subscribers and 15.8 million homes passed, it said. Spain and Luxembourg have now made the list of leading FTTH/B economies, it said. But the top three rankings -- Lithuania, Norway and Sweden -- were unchanged, the council said. And some key EU economies, such as the U.K. and Germany, “are still conspicuously absent,” it said.