The incumbents tried, but failed. Yesterday, the Dutch Lower Chamber voted on a new Telecommunication Law and an amendment of the VVD and CDA parties, which allows the city of Amsterdam to go ahead with its fiber plans. The new law allows municipalities to participate in optical fiber projects. The law has few riders – for instance, every five years municipalities are obliged to consider whether they will keep their share in a local fiber network. In addition, the new law does force munis to share their networks.
Amsterdam, on the other hand is going all open. The Amsterdam fiber network will reach 40,000 homes in the first phase, and then more will be added. The Amsterdam Fiber Network is owned by GNA BV (GNA Ltd), a company that is backed by private investors ING Real Estate and Reggefiber, five housing corporations and the City of Amsterdam. The municipality has invested 6 million euros into the project.
Don’t forget that the EU Commission is looking at another Dutch muni-net under State Aid rules as a test case – what the Dutch Government think is legal isn’t necessarily the last word!
Come home baby :)