The Belgian incumbent telco Belgacom has selected Alcatel-Lucent to supply it with its fibre-to-the-node VDSL2-network. The network upgrade is scheduled to be completed in spring 2008.
Belgacom’s Broadway infrastructure programme will bring fibre to approximately 14,000 street cabinets, thereby allowing it to offer a full triple play service, including HDTV and multiple simultaneous IPTV stream,s to over 60% of Belgian households. Belgacom is currently is able to offer IPTV to 80% of Belgian households and served 191,000 subcribers at the end of June.
Belgacom has also extended the contract with Nokia Siemens Networks to supply the operator’s IPTV platform for a second three-year term. From November onwards, Nokia Siemens will start to distribute MPEG -4 AVC/H.264 HDTV boxes to Belgacom subscribers.