Open Dutch Fiber reaches 600,000 homes; increases roll-out ambition to more than 2 million homes
Bunnik, 21 February – ODF has accelerated its roll-out and its network has passed the milestone of 600,000 homes, connecting more than 30 Dutch municipalities. Initially planned for 2025, ODF will already reach its target of 1 million homes this year, after complementing its footprint with the acquisition of E-Fiber and accelerating its roll-out.
Consequently, ODF increases its target to connect more than 2 million homes in urban and semi-urban areas by 2025. The company offers an open platform for all operators with competitive wholesale prices, thus enabling low fiber prices for Dutch end-customers.
Backed by the fiber expertise of key employees (previously Deutsche Glasfaser and Reggefiber), ODF has already identified, designed with cutting edge technology, and secured turnkey construction contracts for 1.5 million homes. This enables the company to lock-in capex pricing and hedge its exposure against global inflationary pressure. The secured roll-out is fully financed with a mix of equity and debt, covering more than EUR 1.8bn of estimated investments. The company recently also announced an upsize to its debt facilities to EUR 1.15bn.
ODF continuously screens the market for additional non-organic growth opportunities, including the acquisition of existing fiber networks as well as fiber networks currently under construction.
ODF is the largest independent open-access supplier of fiber optic connections in the Netherlands. Several internet providers are already active on the network, including T-Mobile, Trined, Fiber.nl and Freedom Internet, which benefit from offering end-users best-in-class fiber connections through upgrading customers from DSL and acquiring new customers from older types of broadband infrastructure (mainly DSL and Coax). ODF strives to provide competitive services via its fiber optic network to as many homes in the Netherlands as possible, while continuously contributing to the digitization in the Netherlands.
Floris van den Broek, CEO Open Dutch Fiber: "I am proud of the 600,000 homes that we have already connected to a fast and stable fiber optic connection, together with our partners. In less than 2 years we have created the company and built a significant portion of our target fiber optic network. We have found that there is a high and increasing demand for fast and stable internet and as a result, we see an opportunity to increase our roll-out ambitions to cover even more Dutch homes with fiber.”