Information Society indicators in the Member States of the EU
<<< Table of contents - Next chapter >>>	Part 1:  Telecommunication market  and Telephone lines

2. Telephone lines 

2.2 Telephone lines : Breakdown per country

2.2.1 All lines

The total number of lines per 100 inh grew in all European Union countries. The average annual growth rate between 1997 and 1999 was 20%.

However, one can see important differences between countries in graph 8. Indeed, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Netherlands and Luxembourg experienced high average growth rates ranging from 22% up to 27 %. This is due to an important catch up effect. Germany, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom and Belgium form an intermediary group of countries where average growth ranged between 16% and 20%. Sweden and Finland had the lowest rates of growth; 11 % and 14 % respectively.

Graph 8: Evolution of the total number of lines per 100 inh. in the EU 1997-1999

The EU average number of lines was equal to 100.5 lines per 100 inhabitants at the end of 1999. Six countries, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, Luxembourg, Sweden and Finland, have penetration rates greater than 100 lines per 100 inhabitants (multi subscriptions mobile ISDN). One country, Ireland, has a rate of under 80 lines per 100 inhabitants.

Graph 9: Total number of lines penetration rate in the EU End 1999

<<< Table of contents - Next chapter >>>

---

Forward

All data have been collected from readily available public sources of information (annual reports and publications by regulatory bodies, professional associations, operators, etc.). This is not a scientific document, but rather seeks to identify the key trends. To this end, where necessary, estimations have been made.

Additional data and information sources are available in the country reports that can be found on the ESIS Knowledge Base (http://www.ispo.cec.be/esis).

---