Dutch operator KPN said it connected around 100,000 new households to its fibre network in the first 12 weeks of 2021. At this rate, KPN expects to have nearly half of all homes in the 25 largest cities connected to the FTTH network by year-end.
KPN announced last year plans to accelerate its fibre roll-out and aims to reach over 750,000 households in the 25 largest cities within three years. In places such as Almere, Amersfoort, Dordrecht and Enschede, it has nearly completed duplicating its copper coverage, while around three-quarters of Eindhoven, Haarlemmermeer, Leeuwarden and Zwolle are covered with fibre. Apeldoorn, Arnhem and Nijmegen should be largely completed by the end of 2023, when the roll-out also will be well on its way Breda, Den Bosch and The Hague. KPN is also in talks with the cities of Leiden, Utrecht and Zoetermeer to bring fibre to these cities.
KPN said it saw a short slowdown in February due to frost. However, in the week prior alone, it reached 16,416 premises covered.
In 2020, KPN expanded its fibre network by 319,000 homes passed. The operator wants to grow this to half a million new premises passed per year in the coming years. The company's target is to take FTTP coverage to 50 percent of the country in 2023 and 65 percent in 2025, compared to around a third of premises at the end of last year.
