Europe’s Telecom Reality Check: BEREC Fact finding report on connectivity, competition and regulatory highlights in different jurisdictions

In this report, BEREC provides its view of where the EU stands in terms of connectivity, network quality, performance and pricing, compared to other jurisdictions. This fact-finding report is meant to provide an objective representation of several elements of the competitive context of telecommunications in Europe. It covers aspects such as the deployment of fixed and mobile fast broadband networks, services’ supply, financial performance of telecom operators, as well as regulatory approaches.

Regarding the jurisdictions, BEREC has researched, analysed and compared data from several countries – the USA, Canada, Australia, China, South Korea, Japan, and the UK – with the EU-27. In certain instances, specific EU Member States are also reported to provide nuance where their variance merits attention. The choice of countries was motivated by several factors, including their importance in the overall geopolitical context (global positioning), the strength of the concerned economies (constituting an important share of the world’s GDP), as well as data availability and comparability.

BEREC’s analysis primarily focuses on the most up to date data and generally provides trends from 2019 to 2024. Sources include EC/DESI, EU 5G Observatory, FTTH Council, FCC, ITU, OECD, Ookla, NRAs and rating‑agencies’ reporting.