KPN to open its FTTH network to competitors

Rather under the radar this week, KPN, the Dutch incumbent, announced that it would be opening its FTTH networks to its competitors, in order to maximise the utilisation of their network.

In a deal with Reggefiber (a fibre network construction specialist) KPN will take a share in existing local FTTH projects and build on these as they deploy their FTTH network.

This is an interesting development in the EU context. The majority of incumbents within the EU are less than enthusiastic about opening up their networks having made such a large investment, but KPN have positioned this as an appropriate way to share the risk and ensure utilisation of the network. It moves KPN closer towards a civil utility-type of model, with many providers offering services over the network, owned by a single operator.

The local/community projects are also an interesting aspect of this development, as it shows that these can play an important role in demonstrating that these networks can be efficiently deployed – Reggefiber’s assets in the local networks they have built out are included in the joint venture with KPN.