Belgian cable operator Telenet said it has doubled its internet speeds to up to 1 Gbps and that about 1.2 million customers and companies will receive higher speeds for the same price by the end of October. The new speeds follow the upgrade of the operator's network to Docsis 3.1, under the 'Grote Netwerf' programme started five years ago.
The gigabit speeds are available for all 3 million homes and businesses passed by the network in Flanders and Brussels. According to Telenet, the higher speeds are needed to meet demand for more capacity (growing on an annual basis by 60%) and speeds. Telenet said it invested EUR 500 million into the upgrade of its network, with around 2 million network components replaced.
According to the operator, the regions of Flanders and Brussels now meet the objectives set out in the state's Digital Belgium action plan, which states that internet speeds of up to 1 Gbps must be available for at least half of the connections in the country by 2020.
Deployment of Docsis 3.1 modem
Telenet said it will start in the autumn the gradual roll-out of its new modem that supports Docsis 3.1, and which will enable the new speeds via coax. In theory, Docsis 3.1 can handle speeds of up to 10 Gbps downstream, Telenet noted.
Telenet will roll out two versions of the modem: with and without built-in Wi-Fi. The reason for this is that in many homes, the modem is located at locations (such as a garage or basement) from which the signal cannot not reach the entire home. In such situations, the company will work with access points or powerline adapters to enable Wi-Fi throughout the home.
The new modem is not needed to reach gigabit speeds. Customers taking the Giga speed boost will be able to achieve those with their current white Docsis 3.0 modem. The new modem will however let Telent use the available spectrum more efficiently.
Under the company's new offer, the minimum internet subscription will come with 100/10 Mbps compared to 50/5 Mbps previously. Additional plans include 150/15 Mbps (up from 100/10 Mbps), 300/20 Mbps (up from 200/20 Mbps) and 1Gbps/40Mbps (up from 400/40 Mbps). Customers already on the top 'Speedboost' plan will automatically receive the new gigabit speeds.
Business customers will receive the same speed upgrades, with even higher upload speeds of up to 50 Mbps in the top plan. The Fluo and Wigo business plans are renamed Klik under the new offer.
