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The deal will add 127,000 premises to KPN’s fibre footprint, bringing the operator closer to its goal of covering 80% of the Netherlands with fibre by 2026

This week, Dutch telecoms giant KPN has announced the acquisition of a local fibre access network from investment firm Primevest Capital Partners.

Primevest, then known as Bouwfonds, first announced its fibre ambitions in 2017. Since then, the firm has launched numerous fibre projects around Europe, with networks currently expanding in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Austria.

In the Netherlands specifically, Primevest began rolling out fibre in partnership with T-Mobile Netherlands at the end of 2020. Today, this network spans roughly 127,000 premises in three major cities: Rotterdam, The Hague, and Eindhoven.

These premises will be added to KPN’s existing full fibre rollout, which reportedly totals around four million households. KPN aims to cover 80% of the Netherlands with full fibre by 2026.

“The acquisition of Primevest’s fibre network is a welcome addition to our existing fibre footprint, which totals four million households. We’ve been making strong progress with our fibre rollout, which is at the heart of our strategy. In the next few years, we will be fully focused to complete this project,” explained Wouter Stammeijer, Chief Technology & Digital Officer at KPN.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of the month.

Financial details of the deal have not been announced.

How is the European fibre landscape changing in 2023? Join the operators in discussion at this year’s Total Telecom Congress live from Amsterdam

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The funding will allow the deployment of over 12,000 miles of additional fibre across the country

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has announced the allocation of $930 million in government funding for fibre projects across the US.

The funding, part of the $1 billion Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program, will support projects in 35 states and Puerto Rico, allowing for the deployment of roughly 12,000 miles of fibre.

The grants range in size from $88.9 million to $2.7 million, the largest of which is the Nome to Homer Express Route in Alaska, aiming to expand the state’s fibre network to some of its most remote locations.

All funded projects are expected to be completed within five years.

“The Middle Mile program is a force multiplier in our efforts to connect everyone in America,” said Commerce Assistant Secretary Alan Davidson. “These grants will help build the foundation of networks that will in turn connect every home in the country to affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet service.”

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), written into law at the end of 2021, set aside roughly $1.2 trillion for various infrastructure projects across the country, from roads to electricity. Around $65 billion of this total was earmarked for improving broadband connectivity, including $1 billion for the Middle Mile programme.

Thus, around $70 million of the Middle Mile funding remains unallocated, with the NTIA suggesting that these funds will be made available at a later date on a rolling basis.

It is worth noting, however, as is commonplace with government subsidy programmes, the Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program was hugely oversubscribed. The NTIA reportedly received 260 applications for grants, collectively seeking $7.47 billion, over seven times the available funding.

The majority of the IIJA’s broadband funding – roughly $42.5 billion – will ultimately be distributed as part of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) programme, aiming to address broadband access in underserved areas. The allocation of this funding is expected to be announced later this month.

Is government funding going to transform broadband access for rural America? Join the operators in discussion at Connected America live in Dallas, Texas

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The full fibre operator is the latest in a string of telecoms firms to announce job cuts against the backdrop of the UK’s struggling economy

Today, one of the UK’s leading fibre altnets, Hyperoptic, has revealed that it plans to lay off over 100 members of staff.

The majority of affected staff will be network engineers working in Scotland and North West England, regions in which Hyperoptic’s network build is largely complete.

Around 40 network build engineers could be redeployed to customer build and customer connections teams.

The operator will also remove a layer of management from its infrastructure division.

“In support of our continued growth at Hyperoptic, we have refocused around 40 employees on customer-facing engineering roles, and are proposing to make around 110 redundancies in the UK as we increase our focus on areas that offer us the greatest customer reach,” said CEO Dana Tobak. “Where necessary for the customer-centric roles, we will provide support and training to help keep our people in Hyperoptic – building on their skills, experience and expertise. For those employees that do move on from Hyperoptic, we will ensure the support they receive reflects the great work they have delivered for this company.”

Hyperoptic is not alone in the telecoms sector when it comes to announcing job cuts this year. Rival altnets Zzoomm and CitFibre have both revealed plans to lay off hundreds of workers, citing macroeconomic pressures. BT, meanwhile, says it plans to shrink its workforce by 40% – around 55,000 jobs – by the end of the decade, suggesting that many existing roles could be ultimately be performed AI.

In recent years, the UK’s fibre market has been flush with investment, creating a vibrant community of altnets battling with incumbent operator Openreach to deploy full fibre throughout the country. However, with Openreach’s rollout advancing faster than initially expected and the UK’s challenging economic environment over the last year, the bubble is beginning to burst and altnets are clearly beginning to feel the squeeze.

It appears consolidation will soon become unavoidable, but who, when, where, and how remains to be determined.

How is the UK’s altnet ecosystem evolving in 2023? Join the operators in discussion at this year’s Connected Britain event

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At this year’s Submarine Networks EMEA event, the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) showcased many of the projects funded by the first round of its Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital programme, as well as sharing guidance on how potential applicants can apply for funding

First announced back in 2021, the European Commission’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital Programme aims to leverage both private and public funding to support the digital infrastructure projects across the bloc.

CEF Digital will improve, secure, and nurture innovation via numerous connectivity infrastructure projects, spanning from gigabit-capable fixed networks to 5G mobile networks, and even submarine cable systems across Europe. These actions will receive more than €1 billion in funding between 2021 and 2023, with HaDEA managing more than €710 million.

The first set of calls for proposals was launched in January 2022 with a total budget of €258 million earmarked for five calls. Under the call on Backbone connectivity for Digital Global Gateways, HaDEA manages the following projects:

Works (Total EU contribution: €64.4 million)

Build the future Canary Islands submarine cable connection
LDV – Interconnection and Colocation Center
Digital Gateway between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean
Submarine cable connecting Mauritania to Portugal and Europe
Submarine cable system between Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura in Canary Islands
Submarine cable between Marseille (France) and Bizerte (Tunisia).

Studies (Total EU contribution: €17.6 million)

Portugal Ireland Spain Connecting Europe Subsea
Black Sea Landing Point
Tusass Connect 1
Resilient Stockholm Archipelago Backbone
Study to deploy new submarine cables in Canary Islands
West European Coast Festoon
Planning of development of the autonomous digital backbone and connecting Europe with global strategic partners

The conference saw the European Commission’s Head of Unit, Investment in High-Capacity Networks, DG Connect, Franco Accordino explore some of these projects in a News in Brief session. He also later spoke on a panel session focussed on funding subsea infrastructure through public-private partnerships.

If you want to learn more about these projects and how to apply for EU funding, click here

 

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