Fiber Optic Collaboration Boost: Belgian Regulator Opens Door for Telecom Operators to Jointly Invest

The Belgian telecom regulator BIPT makes it more accessible for telecom operators to make joint investments in the construction and rollout of a fiber optic network. This was previously allowed, but only in very specific situations.

According to the Flemish business newspaper De Tijd the watchdog is now prepared to study ‘all agreements or draft agreements that operators would like to conclude, regardless of the geographical zones involved…’ According to De Tijd, BIPT already allowed such collaborations between telecom operators, but only in very specific situations such as in remote areas. The regulator reportedly wanted to further stimulate network competition in Belgium.

The Flemish business newspaper writes that Belgium is lagging behind its European neighbors when it comes to the construction of fiber optic infrastructure for consumers. According to De Tijd, operators in those neighboring countries would also cooperate much more in the rollout of their fiber optic network(s). A background article from 2022 by Tweakers also showed that Belgium was lagging behind. At the end of 2021, 600,000 Belgian buildings, or 11.7 percent of the Belgian building stock, had a fiber optic connection. At that time, 3.9 million buildings in the Netherlands were connected to fiber optic, or approximately 49 percent of all Dutch buildings.

Telenet and Fluvius are already installing a fiber optic network together.
2023-10-14 08:29:00
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