Fiber offers bandwidth and capacity for the next generations
Published on 21/01/2022 in Solution news
Fiber is the fixed network of the future. Over the next seven years, Proximus will be providing 70 percent of all households and companies in Belgium with an ultra-fast fiber-optic network.
What makes fiber a valuable technology?
Christophe Van de Weyer, COO Enterprise Business Unit at Proximus, explains: "Fiber allows data to be transported at the speed of light. Moreover, it is a symmetrical technology: up- and downloads happen equally fast, with a very high response time. The speed offered and the large capacity – 10 Gbps – make fiber extremely suitable for applications that rely on intensive traffic in real time with large data volumes, such as virtual reality, games and numerous critical business applications."
Fiber allows data to be transported at the speed of light.
Christophe Van de Weyer, COO Enterprise Business Unit at Proximus
How can fiber contribute to a business’ operations?
"We are working more and more in the cloud. Downloading data from the cloud, processing it locally and uploading it to the cloud again via fiber is extremely quick. Cloud applications involving large data volumes – such as videoconferencing – run very smoothly over fiber. Companies are connecting more and more devices and machines, for example to capture data in the context of Internet of Things (IoT) applications.
Bringing that data to an IoT platform, processing it there and feeding the response back to the machines is done via fiber virtually in real time, which allows of a new way of controlling it."
By accelerating the rollout, we will offer fiber to as many as 4.2 million households and businesses by 2028. A national coverage of 70%.
Christophe Van de Weyer, COO Enterprise Business Unit at Proximus
Future-proof, reliable, scalable
Christophe: "Fiber is a future-proof, reliable and scalable technology. Internet traffic doubles every two years. We are moving more and more towards hybrid working, which only increases the importance of a good connection: for videoconferencing, for collaborating on large files and more. In the longer term, the current technology will not be able to cope with that. Fiber offers enough bandwidth and capacity for the next generations."
Why is Proximus accelerating the rollout of fiber?
"It's in our DNA to be the first to bring innovative technology to market for a wide audience. That was the case with ADSL and digital TV, and it is also the case with fiber. While reinventing the mobile network with 5G, we are also taking the fixed network to the next level with fiber. By accelerating the rollout, we will be offering fiber to 4.2 million households and businesses by 2028 already, representing a national coverage rate of 70%."
However, there is no difference between the rollout that Proximus is carrying out itself and the rollout of the joint ventures. This is the same high-quality, open network.
Christophe Van de Weyer, COO Enterprise Business Unit at Proximus
Accelerated rollout through partnerships
"About half of the rollout, we are doing ourselves. For the other half – and to achieve a real acceleration – we work through partnerships. We have set up two joint ventures for this purpose. Fiberklaar (Proximus and EQT Infrastructure) is working in Flanders on the rollout of fiber to 1.5 million households and companies, Unifiber (Proximus and Eurofiber) is responsible for the rollout of fiber to 500,000 households and companies in Wallonia. The actual rollout is done municipality by municipality, neighborhood by neighborhood.
A list of priorities has been drawn up according to the specific needs of each region, including the number of inhabitants and businesses," Van de Weyer explained. "However, there is no difference between the rollout that Proximus is carrying out itself and the rollout of the joint ventures. This is the same high-quality, open network."
Christophe Van De Weyer studied commercial engineering at the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven). He spent 18 years working for top management consulting firm Bain & Company as a Partner in their telecom and tech practice. In 2020, he joined Proximus as COO of the Enterprise Business Unit and Managing Director of the Enterprise subsidiaries.
Proximus accelerates the fiber deployment by combining its strengths and know-how with telecom companies DELTA Fiber and Eurofiber. These partnerships result in the creation of new companies: ‘Fiberklaar’ in the north of the country and ‘Unifiber’ in the south.
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