Orange Belgium announced that it has become the first telecom provider in Belgium to offer a nationwide gigabit network, allowing Belgian customers to enjoy broadband speeds of up to 1 Gbps on its Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC) network, with its broadband upgrade project being completed six months earlier than planned. Orange said the gigabit speeds are now available for 95 percent of Belgian premises.
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Nationwide Gigabit Network
Orange Belgium set a goal of providing all Belgians with very high broadband coverage of 1 Gbps by mid-2024. This goal was accelerated with the acquisition of telecom operator Voo, the modernisation of VOO's HFC network, and Orange signing a long-term contract with Wyre, a joint venture between Telenet and Fluvius.
The company noted that this first milestone comes six months after the acquisition of Voo, the Wholesale agreement with Wyre, and the launch of its 'Lead the Future' strategy. Additionally, Orange Belgium, through its own investments and subsidies from the federal government, is committed to modernising the HFC Network, expanding Gigabit connectivity to rural areas.
Satellite Service
Orange Belgium plans to connect an additional 100,000 premises with Gigabit speeds by the end of 2025. For the remaining population where very high broadband speeds are not yet available, Orange Belgium plans to launch a next-generation offer via Satellite in 2024.
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10 Gbps Service
The company further aims to provide a national, future-proof 10 Gbps broadband service that is technology-neutral, actively expanding its HFC network and implementing the latest DOCSIS standards. Orange Belgium expects that by 2040, up to 66 percent of its network will be covered by FTTP (Fiber To The Premises).
FTTP Trial
Additionally, Orange Belgium will implement a Proof of Concept (POC) for the implementation of FTTP in the metropolitan areas of Liege (including parts of Grace-Hollogne and Saint-Nicolas) and Brussels (especially Ixelles) for about 12,000 households in the first quarter of 2024.
The goal is to cover 75 percent of the national footprint with end-to-end fiber by 2040, by combining VOO's 66 percent FTTP network and wholesale access to Wyre's FTTP network.
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Commenting on the milestone, Orange Belgium and VOO said, "Thanks to the exceptional efforts of our VOO network teams, our Hybrid Fiber Coaxial network now delivers 1 Gbps speeds, surpassing our original schedule by six months. The HFC technology provides 1 Gbps connectivity to 95 percent of our customers nationwide. We are preparing for the future by actively conducting tests to achieve multigigabit speeds on HFC and by launching XGS-PON 10 Gbps fiber optic pilots in Brussels and Wallonia."
