Belgian broadband services Proximus has announced it will spend €3 billion over the next 10 years to deploy fiber to the home (FTTH) across most of the country. The "Fiber for Belgium" initiative will aim to create an FTTH footprint that will pass more than 85% of Belgium's enterprises and more than 50% of its households during that timeframe.
Proximus says it will begin the fiber-optic network roll outs in Antwerp, Brussels, Charleroi, Ghent, Namur and Roeselare early next year.
The deployment will leverage the operator's national fiber-optic backbone as well as the 21,000 km of fiber-optic cable it has deployed to connect its VDSL cabinets. On the business end of the equation, Proximus says it already has deployed fiber in over 80% of Belgium's business zones; it has connected more than 6,000 enterprise customers to fiber so far, the company asserts.
"Proximus has been at the forefront of broadband innovation for years, with Belgian and world premières in ADSL, VDSL2 and vectoring technologies, as well as in fiber," said Geert Standaert, CTO at Proximus. "Today, Proximus is pioneering once more as we will be the first operator on the Belgian market to bring the incredible power of fiber inside existing homes and apartments. This is great news for Belgian customers, as optical fiber can be considered as the ultimate broadband technology, allowing us to meet customer needs in the very long-term."
"For Belgium, it's great news to hear that Proximus will invest in the roll-out of optical fiber, because highly performing telecom networks have become essential for the economic, social and cultural development of every country," added Charles Michel, Belgium's Prime Minister. "The Federal government will make sure that the conditions are favorable for this investment in Fiber. Improving the digital infrastructure in Belgium is one of the three key pillars of the National Pact for strategic investments."
Proximus says it will continue to invest in its fiber to the cabinet (FTTC) infrastructure during the FTTH deployment.
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