Competition fuels use of broadband in Europe

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: Fierce competition from new providers has pushed the level of broadband subscriptions in eight European countries above the levels in the United States and Japan, according to figures to be released on Wednesday.

Growth could accelerate further if the European Commission succeeds in a drive to jolt those countries still dominated by former state monopolies, according to the top telecommunications regulator in Brussels.

The commission says the European Union added 19 million broadband lines in 2007, the equivalent of more than 50,000 households per day.

"We have four countries that are world leaders—Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland," said Viviane Reding, the European telecommunications commissioner. "We have eight countries which have higher penetration rates than the US and Japan. We are not doing badly at all." In addition to the three Nordic countries and the Netherlands, four others—Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg and France—had surpassed the United States by July 2007. By January 2008, Germany had also done so.

In an interview Tuesday, Reding vowed to press ahead with an effort to give regulators powers to force the so-called incumbent telecommunications companies to run their businesses in a way that would make it easier for new competitors to enter the market. In countries like Germany and France, former state monopolies have fought fiercely against such a move.

The European telecommunications market is now worth 300 billion euros (about $470 billion), or 2% of European gross domestic product, the commission says.