KPN, the Netherlands’ largest fiber broadband provider, and APG, the manager for Dutch pension fund ABP, today announced that they have completed their previously publicized €1.2bn joint venture for the roll-out of fiber in the Netherlands, naming the business Glaspoort.
Glaspoort – KPN and APG Joint Venture
Glaspoort will roll-out fiber infrastructure in villages, small communities, and business parks in the Netherlands. As part of today’s closing, KPN and APG have also increased the scope of their joint venture by 75.0k households.
Overall, the Glaspoort joint venture now targets a total of 975k potential customers. Specifically, the company will pass 750k households and 225k businesses with fiber broadband services by 2026. In so doing, Glaspoort will invest €1.2bn+, through a combination of debt and equity, in rolling-out fiber infrastructure.
Finally, KPN and APG’s Glaspoort anticipates performing 70k+ fiber optic passings during 2021.
KPN Standalone and Glaspoort – Netherlands Coverage Goals
As of Q1 2021, KPN had an existing footprint of 2.9 million fiber household passings. Of these total passings, the company had 1.5 million fiber broadband subscribers, equating to a penetration rate of 51%.
Overall, KPN’s existing fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network and the Glaspoort joint venture with APG will cover 80% of Dutch households by 2026. This represents an increase from only 34% fiber coverage of Dutch households at year-end 2020.
Management
KPN and APG’s Glaspoort will be led by Jan Willem Scheerder, as CEO, and Ferry Niers, as CFO. Scheerder previously was an executive in KPN’s Wholesale Services and International Carrier Business and led several start-ups. Additionally, Niers has held Corporate Finance and M&A positions at KPN and KPMG.
Open Access Wholesale Fiber Network
Glaspoort is structured as an open access wholesale fiber network, with KPN as the operator and anchor tenant. Therefore, the network will be open for any third-party operator to use on a wholesale basis, through long-term contracts.
End users of Glaspoort can select a telecom company of their choice. In turn, this wholesale strategy will promote competition in fiber offerings for the Netherlands.
