Orange Walloon with a 74% Voo
Telenet and Orange Belgium (OB) have signed two fixed wholesale agreements, subject to the latter’s completion of the VOO fixed cable network. The 15-year pacts between OB and Telenet cover both current hybrid-fiber coaxial (HFC) and future fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) services in both network areas. Telenet can now access for the first time the VOO cable network in Wallonia and the remaining one-third of Brussels, covering around 1.8 million homes passed today.
The agreements will include access to future FTTH deployments. Combined with Telenet’s existing nationwide mobile network and its fixed network in Flanders, parts of Brussels and the boot of Hainaut in Wallonia, Telenet will be able to provide fixed-mobile converged services in the whole of Belgium.
“With the acquisition of VOO, we have an ambitious investment plan to upgrade the network and to provide multi-gigabit connectivity to our customers,” said Xavier Pichon, CEO of Orange Belgium. “The agreement on the Telenet network, will improve our capacity for providing Hybrid Fiber Coaxial and Fiber to the Home multi-gigabit connectivity value proposition to our customers wherever they live.” Telent will also become a wholesale customer.
Since 2016, Orange Belgium has provided fixed internet and TV services on Telenet’s HFC network through the regulated open access model. Orange Belgium will become a wholesale customer on Telenet’s future FTTH network at pre-agreed terms, increasing network penetration and improving the return on investment on Telenet’s investments in fiber.
“Through the agreements, we now have a clear path to wholesale access in the south of Belgium, complementing our existing fixed footprint in Flanders, parts of Brussels and the boot of Hainaut in Wallonia in addition to our nationwide mobile network coverage,” said Telenet CEO John Porter.