Amsterdam is committed to a faster roll-out of fiber internet
The Municipality of Amsterdam wants to accelerate the installation of fiber in the city. To achieve this, it signed the 'Fiber to the Home' covenant with internet providers KPN and Open Dutch Fiber (ODF) today. Residents of Amsterdam will now know when their turn has come to be connected and also which measures are being taken to keep inconvenience to a minimum.
Alderman Alexander Scholtes (ICT & Digital City): “Access to fast and stable internet is important for every citizen of Amsterdam, so I am very happy about the agreements we have now made with KPN and ODF. This development means that fiber will be available throughout the city in the very near future, the nuisance created by installation work will be kept to a minimum and it will be easier for residents of Amsterdam to participate in the digital world.”
Fiber installation work has been underway in Amsterdam since 2019. A new approach will apply from now on. The aim is to achieve a rapid rollout, fiber for every citizen of Amsterdam, a greater choice of providers and as little inconvenience as possible during the installation process. The rollout is in full swing in Amsterdam’s Zuidoost district and the parties are hard at work in Nieuw-West as well. Work in other parts of the city will start in 2024. The covenant also provides for the joint, simultaneous installation of fiber in the Centrum district. Given the historic nature of architecture in this district and the intensive use of public space here, it will not be possible for each party to install fiber separately. All the installation work necessary in the district will be done in one go so that streets are only opened up once rather than multiple times.
“We are pleased to have been able to negotiate these agreements with the Municipality of Amsterdam and KPN,” comments Floris van den Broek, the CEO of ODF. “It shows our unwavering commitment to provide Dutch householders with reliable, high-speed connectivity in collaboration with other providers such as T-Mobile. We will continue to accelerate our efforts to supply fiber to even more homes.”
Joost Steltenpool, Director of KPN Netwerk: “KPN is happy about the new approach and also the coordinating role that the Municipality of Amsterdam now has. It creates a basis for KPN’s accelerated replacement of the copper network with fiber throughout Amsterdam. This will benefit every household in Amsterdam, the economy, the health-care and education sectors and society as a whole because high-speed internet is crucial nowadays.”
