The Dutch FttH Platform

 

  1. Introduction

The installation of glass fibre to the home (FttH) is beginning to make a clear advance in the Netherlands. Partly due to the explicit support of the cabinet, a sense of urgency has arisen among all the important players with regard to FttH in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, there is a lot of work to be done. It is now of great importance to stimulate the players involved to make progress with the installation of glass fibre. However, bottlenecks regarding financing and legislation and regulations and collaboration with various authorities are also significant themes that influence the actual roll-out of glass fibre in the Netherlands.

To stimulate vitrification in the Netherlands and later be able to adequately respond to the increasing demand, active collaboration with all major parties involved in FttH is very desirable. Therefore, the initiative has been taken to establish a national FttH Platform. This platform focuses on legal, political and communicative activities which stimulate the installation and use of glass fibre in the Netherlands and remove possible bottlenecks.

The FttH Platform Netherlands will be a widely supported organisation consisting of representatives of infrastructure providers, service developers, advisors and consumers.

  1. Mission and objective

Glass fibre is an important provision for the realisation of a sustainable future. Speeding up the roll-out of FttH is therefore a useful and necessary effort which will help increase the quality of life in the Netherlands.

The FttH Platform Netherlands therefore sees it as its mission to increase the acceptance and use of FttH in all the interested stakeholders. This mission is carried out in a number of activities:

-          Providing information about the added value of glass fibre in order to contribute towards

  • the quality of life, both private and professional (Quality of life)
  • sustainability and energy saving (Sustainability)
  • innovation and the economic development of the Netherlands  (Economy)

-          Expanding the support of the platform with parties from the supply and demand side, service providers and advisors

-          Following up bottlenecks that can hinder the roll-out of FttH (financing, regulations, etc.)

These activities lead to the concrete objective that by 2020 the Netherlands will belong to the top 3 glass-fibre infrastructures in the world, with a national coverage of 80%.

  1. Organisation

The FttH Platform Netherlands has been accommodated in an association. Participating companies come from infrastructure, technology, government (municipalities, provinces), research and consulting, media and housing construction.

However, other parties who are also allied with the objectives of the platform are invited to participate.

Next to the board, an Advisory Council has been established, comprising key figures from politics, science and private enterprise, who are sympathetic to the FttH Platform and endorse its goals.

The association is supported by an Office Director.

More information about the FttH Platform Netherlands and its planned activities can be obtained from Karel Helsen via info@ftthplatform.nl.