The Netherlands has reached the milestone of three million fibre connections.
State Secretary Mona Keijzer of Economic Affairs and Climate, together with representatives of the trade association NLconnect, contractor GNT (BAM Infra Telecom and Van Gelder Telecom) and Glasvezel buitenaf, celebrated the three millionth fibre connection in the Netherlands at De Neeth care farm in the outlying area of Aalten (Achterhoek).
According to Mathieu Andriessen, director of the NLconnect branch association, the installation of fibre cables has increased explosively in recent years: “As a fibre-optic inducers, we have recently really come on stream with the laying of fibre-optic cables throughout the country. Various parties are actively laying fibre optic cables, especially in the outlying area, but successful projects are also increasingly being carried out in cores and on industrial estates. Contractors, suppliers, network managers and providers are working together to make the Gigabit future possible. Fibreglass is the lifeline to the connected society of the future. There is still a lot of work to be done, but this milestone confirms that we are on the right track.”
Research agency Stratix counts the number of fibre-optic connections in the Netherlands annually and saw this increase last year by 200,000 connections. A doubling compared to the previous year.
The three-millionth fibre-optic connection is a milestone that marks the rapid increase in fibre-optic laying. This increase is of great importance in the Netherlands. State Secretary Mona Keijzer explains: “Fast internet, available everywhere and for everyone: fixed and mobile. That is the government’s ambition, which we are working on together with businesses and local authorities. With our digital infrastructure we are a global leader, so we must now take steps to stay that way. This is necessary, because in the coming years all kinds of daily matters will be continuously connected to the internet: cars, agriculture, care, robots but also household appliances.”
Contractor GNT (a collaboration between BAM Infra Telecom and Van Gelder Telecom) is laying fibreglass in the outskirts of Aalten and Oost Gelre. At the end of 2019, the entire outlying area of the Achterhoek will be provided.
