The European Investment Bank (EIB) says it will provide EUR 125 million to Dutch operator Reggefiber to fund open-access fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure in 50 municipalities. Six commercial banks will combine to match that figure, giving Reggefiber EUR 250 million for the project. Reggefiber expects to complete the deployment by 2015.
This is the second time the EIB has advanced funds to Reggefiber for FTTH roll outs. In 2010 the bank, which is owned by the European Union and funds projects that advance European Union policy objectives, provided EUR 142.5 million for the initial deployment of Reggefiber services to 33 Dutch municipalities as part of a total facility of EUR 285 million.
“The European Investment Bank is pleased to support Reggefiber’s engagement to increase coverage of ultra-high-speed broadband Internet access across the Netherlands and their contribution to the Digital Agenda for Europe. This new facility, together with the previous EIB facility for Reggefiber, enables more than a million households to have access to the fiber-optic network and benefit from Internet speeds of up to 1 Gbps and multi-room interactive HDTV,” said Pim van Ballekom, European Investment Bank vice president for the Netherlands.
”Reggefiber highly appreciates the contribution of EIB in this 10-year project finance facility,” added Jan van Rooijen, Reggefiber’s financial director. “Reggefiber currently builds FTTH to more than 300,000 homes per year and the involvement of the European Investment Bank in close cooperation with ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, ING, Rabobank, and RBS enhances the scale of our activities.”
Neelie Kroes vice president of the European Commission and commissioner for the Digital Agenda, stated, "Investments from the European Investment Bank play a vital role in helping Europe become a more connected, competitive continent. Fiber broadband can transform the digital life of a business or school or family. It is great to see Reggefiber offering another 500,000 Dutch families these opportunities. My hope is to support more projects like this using the proposed Connecting Europe Facility."
The EIB says that enabling investment in ultra-fast broadband networks is a top priority. Last year the bank invested approximately EUR 4 billion toward such projects.
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