Cyprus internet speeds in slow lane

Some 41% of households in Cyprus enjoyed high-speed internet coverage, a huge gap from the rest of the EU, where 70% enjoyed fast broadband.

Cyprus had the second lowest coverage in fixed, very high capacity network (VHCN) connections among EU member states, after Greece and below Italy.

Eurostat defines fibre connections or other networks offering similar bandwidth as VHCN connections.

In the EU and Cyprus, coverage had improved since 2013, when only 16% of the bloc had high-speed internet coverage.

In Cyprus it was at 0% in 2013, and started developing in 2018 (0.5%), 2019 (10%) and 2020 (26%).

VHCN connectivity also improved in low-settled areas (fewer than 100 inhabitants per km2), according to Eurostat.

Between 2013 and 2021, the share of households in low-settled areas with fixed VCHN connections increased from 4% to 37% across the EU.

The share of households in low-settled areas with fixed VCHN connection in Cyprus was 22.4% in 2021 and has increased since 2019 (the first year for which coverage is recorded at 16.6%) and from 2020 (19.5%).

Malta recorded high-speed internet coverage for all households (100%), followed by Luxembourg (96%), Denmark (95%) and Spain (94%).

In contrast, fixed high-speed internet connections were the least widespread in Greece (20%), Cyprus (41%) and Italy (44%).

In low-settled areas, the most widespread coverage was reported in Malta (100%), followed by Luxembourg, Denmark and the Netherlands (all 79%).

Meanwhile, the least widespread coverage in low-settled areas was reported in Greece (0%), followed by Czechia (7%) and Finland (12%).

The European Commission set a 2030 target of achieving gigabit connectivity in all households and 5G coverage for all populated areas.

Considerable progress has already been made in rolling out fixed, very high-capacity network (VHCN) connections across the EU.