Proximus has announced plans to bring its FTTH network to Leuven. This is one of the first large cities where the Belgian operator will roll out, as part of its project to connect 70 percent of Belgian premises with fibre by the end of 2028. The operator expects to cover over 50,000 homes and businesses in Leuven by 2024. 

The network roll-out in Leuven will proceed in phases. Areas in the north and east edges of the city and around 550 businesses are already connected to the Proximus network, and the operator is active in new-build areas good for around 3,000 connections in total. In 2020-2021 the construction will reach the main square (Grote Markt) and train station areas and by 2024 the rest of the city centre and parts of Heverlee, Kessel-Lo, Wilsele and Herent will be covered. 

Proximus' fibre roll-out is underway in 13 cities around Belgium already. The company announced at the start of this year plans to accelerate the roll-out and reach a pace of 13 percent of Belgian premises connected each year under its plan. The operator connected almost 40,000 premises in the first half of this year and expects to exceed this number in the second half. 

CTO Geert Standaert told Telecompaper the operator targets a doubling in the number of new homes passed in 2021 and the number should be up five-fold in 2022. The ultimate goal is to reach 4.2 million premises passed in 2028. 

The faster roll-out is possible in part thanks to an above-ground construction, using the facades of buildings in built-up areas rather than digging trenches. This also avoids the difficult underground terrain in Belgium, where existing cable systems leave little room to add networks. 

Standaert said further that the company expects more news in the fourth quarter of 2020 on its new partners for the fibre roll-out. Proximus announced in July agreements to work with the Dutch operators Delta Fiber and Eurofiber to accelerate its network build in respectively Flanders and Wallonia. More partnerships also should be announced soon, the CTO said.