The number of homes passed by FTTP in Belgium has doubled in the past year, going from 330,000 to 664,000 as of 01 July. While fibre still has very limited coverage compared to other countries, the market is growing quickly and has reached around 3 percent of broadband connections, according to Telecompaper's 'FTTP in Belgium 2021' report.
Proximus is aiming to cover 70 percent of Belgium with fibre by 2028. To accelerate its roll-out, the operator has partnered with EQT Infrastructure in the north of the country and Eurofiber in the south. Proximus is handling the roll-out on its own in the Brussels capital region, while also working on solutions to bring fast broadband to rural areas.
Alongside Proximus, Belgium has two smaller players and one newcomer. Flemish energy grid operator Fluvius started a FTTH trial roll-out in five cities in 2019, and The Last Mile is bringing fibre to the Dendermonde area in Flanders. Orange Belgium announced more recently plans for a small trial in two municipalities in the Brussels region. Profiles of all the players are available in the Telecompaper report.
Coverage by province
The report 'FTTP in Belgium 2021' also provides details on the progress in covering each province of the country. There is significant activity in East and West Flanders as well as Brussels, while some provinces in Wallonia, such as Brabant Walloon and Luxembourg, still have no fibre.
Market forecast
Telecompaper expects the number of homes passed to increase by around 485,000 in the next year to July 2022. This would take the market to 1.15 million lines. By mid-2026, the country should reach 3.8 million homes passed based on the current projections.
