(Telecompaper) The number of FTTH/B susbcribers in Europe rose 50 percent in 2014 to 14.5 million at year-end, according to figures prepard by Idate for the FTTH Council. If Russia and Ukraine are included, the total increases by another 14.8 million subscribers. The report presented at the FTTH Conference in Warsaw highlighted progress in fibre expansion in Germany, Romania, Spain, France, the Netherlands and Portugal last year. Those lagging behind included Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic and the UK, where less than 20,000 new FTTH subscribers were connected in 2014. Lithuania remained the country with the highest fibre penetration, at 34.5 percent, followed by Sweden with 33.3 percent, Latvia at 29.0 percent, Russia with 26.8 percent and Romania at 243 percent. At the conference, the FTTH Council issued awards to DStelecom, an operator bringin fibre services to rural parts of Portugal, and Dik Wessels, an investor in Dutch network operator Reggefiber and German operator Glasfaser.