Known as Open Dutch Fiber, it will deliver broadband across urban and higher population density areas in the Netherlands. Operations will begin this quarter, with a fully-funded commitment for an envisaged capital expenditure of approximately €700 million and construction agreements already in place.
T-Mobile Netherlands has been confirmed as the anchor tenant. T-Mobile, which has signed up to a 20-year agreement, currently has a mobile base of 6.8 million customers and a fixed base of 682,000.
Open Dutch Fiber co-founder, Jordi Nieuwenhuis, said: "High-quality and reliable fibre connectivity is essential for the Netherlands and this has only been accelerated with the structural changes to working patterns of companies and citizens brought about by the Covid-19 crisis. We are building a digital infrastructure platform with open access to all operators, to ensure an efficient and rapid deployment of capital resources, while avoiding uneconomical overbuild.
"We look forward to making a significant contribution to the digitisation of the Netherlands to benefit Dutch households and businesses.”
Nieuwenhuis is joined on the leadership team by Uwe Nickl. Most recently they were co-CEOs of Deutsche Glasfaser, based in Germany, where they supported the rollout of digital infrastructure to more than one million homes and 6,000 businesses. Prior to his role at Deutsche Glasfaser, Nieuwenhuis co-founded Reggefiber in the Netherlands. He and Nickl will be joined at Open Dutch Fiber by Michael Griffioen, in the role of CEO.
Co-founder and CEO of DTCP, Vicente Vento, said: “The creation of Open Dutch Fiber is an important milestone in the acceleration of fibre rollout in the Netherlands and a blueprint for innovative financing solutions in European digital infrastructure. We are firm believers in the sharing of digital infrastructure and are establishing Open Dutch Fiber as an open access model, enabling attractive economics for operators and best prices for consumers. We look forward to the collaboration with our partners."
