Dutch internet provider BBned is to announce two other fibre optic network deals before the end of this year. Recently, Bbned won a European tender to manage a fibre optic network that is to be rolled out in Amsterdam. According to Hans Rietkerk, CEO of bbned, the company is participating in thirty other fibre optic projects in the Netherlands, and bbned is aggressively targeting this market. The total number of fibre connections is important to stimulate up-take. BBned will apply forward-looking pricing to offer a wholesale price for fibre connections that equal the DSL wholesale prices, enabling a speedy take-up. Within five years, bbned expects to have the same amount of fibre connections as DSL-connections. At the end of the third quarter, bbned serviced 237,000 broadband connections. In 2004, BBned signed a five year contract to manage a fibre project in Rotterdam in the Nesselande and Lloydkwartier districts. At the moment than 20 percent of the connected homes are using the fibre network.
