Europe Lagging US in Broadband Investment

Interesting piece in Financial Times.

The European telecoms sector is falling far behind the US in next-generation wireless services after years of investment shortfall, a development likely to hamper the continent’s competitiveness for years to come.

From roughly the same level of spending in 2007, investment in the wireless industry in the US has increased by more than two-thirds in the past five years, while comparable expenditure has decreased slightly overall across Europe, according to a scathing new report by GSMA, the mobile industry body.

The difference in spending began growing at a time when new superfast 4G mobile data technologies became available, such that about a fifth of US mobile connections are expected to be using mobile broadband over 4G, or LTE, networks by the end of this year, compared with just 2 per cent in Europe

Doesn’t square very well with what Susan Crawford and other chicken littles are saying.  But we don’t expect that will stop them…

See more on this subject here and here.