Dutch fixed and mobile operator KPN is to invest €3.5 billion by 2024 as it continues to pursue nationwide fiber roll outs. The three-year investment plan is part of the telco’s strategy to support digitalization in the Netherlands and is expected to bring revenue growth by the end of 2021.
KPN said the invested funds would support its work to double the number of households with super-fast internet via fiber by the end of 2025. This will be followed by a long-term strategy to replace copper with fiber so “more than 80% of the Netherlands will have access to a connection at the speed of light through KPN”.
KPN currently covers one-third of the Netherlands’ households with direct fiber and expects to add approximately 300,000 fiber homes passed in FY 2020. It will accelerate its fiber rollout to approximately 500,000 additional homes passed per year, to cross the 50% household coverage mark in 2023 and reach approximately 65% of Dutch homes by 2025.
Joost Farwerck, CEO of KPN, said: “Good connections have never been more important than now. Never before have so many people worked at home. The Netherlands is gaining momentum due to COVID-19 and the call for safe, reliable and fast internet is increasing. In the future, more and more devices in and around the home will be directly connected to the internet and all kinds of essential services - from healthcare to education - will be digitally supported. Then fibre is essential.”