Telenet has signed a deal with Belgian utility provider Fluvius to create a “data network of the future” in Flanders, including both cable and FTTH services. The companies said they want a multiparty partnership, and are open to working with other strategic and financial parties to develop their vision. Final legal agreements will be released in the spring, and no further statements will be made by either party until that time.
The companies hope with the non-binding term sheet to evolve their fibre-coaxial network infrastructure in the region, making it fully open, performant and accessible to businesses and households in both urban and rural areas, plus built at a lower societal cost. Telenet operates its own HFC network in about two-thirds of the Flemish territory and in parts of Brussels. Fluvius has an HFC network in the remaining third of Flanders, to which Telenet has long lease rights until 2046. Fluvius has also been experimenting with FTTH in a handful of cities.
In June 2020, the two companies started talks on working together on a possible broader FTTH roll-out in Flanders. Shortly thereafter, Telenet's main rival Proximus announced a joint venture with Delta Fiber to roll out FTTP to around 1.5 million premises in Flanders. The joint venture Fiberklaar has since started to deploy its network in several cities.
Independent NetCo with open access
The two companies intend to create a new self-funding independent infrastructure company (NetCo), contributing their existing HFC and fibre assets and then also developing new-build fibre assets in the future. NetCo will operate the open access network. Telenet and Fluvius said it should enjoy a high network utilisation rate from the start, helped by Telenet’s existing customer relationships and the incremental traffic generated by wholesale partners.
All 300 cities and municipalities in Flanders are indirect shareholders of Fluvius. They support NetCo’s ambition to provide fibre connectivity in most of Flanders. In the rest of the Flemish region, a coax-based fast connection will be provided by the NetCo.
