Wyre has connected its premier address to fiber. The plans of the joint venture between Telenet and Fluvius to cover 78 percent of Flanders and parts of Brussels with fiber optics are finally on track.

Wyre today connected a first home to its fiber optic network. This marks the official start of the activities of the joint venture between Fluvius and Telenet. Wyre wants to set up a second fiber optic network in Flanders and parts of Brussels, which, like the Proximus network, must connect households and companies directly with fiber optics.

Fiber, but also a little coax

Wyre’s goal is to connect 100,000 homes by the end of the year. By 2029, 70 percent of the planned expansion area must be covered. Wyre can draw on an extensive existing fiber optic network. This is now being extended to individual houses. Fiber to the home (FTTH) offers much higher theoretical speeds than is possible today even with coax. Connections with a speed of 10 Gbit/s should become the norm. Wyre will initially offer its customers connectivity with a bandwidth of 1 Gbit/s.

Wyre also plans to bring higher speeds to sparsely populated areas, although that won’t necessarily be FTTH. For more rural areas, the company is aiming to modernize the existing network, where fiber is the backbone as it is today, but with an improved coax connection providing the last few meters of connectivity. With this approach, 10 Gbit/s should also be possible.

existing network

Together, Fluvius and Telenet already have an extensive network that enables Wyre to connect 120,000 homes to fiber optics over existing lines without having to destroy roads. The entire rollout project is estimated at two billion euros.

Today, Wyre already has an agreement with the shareholder Telenet, but also with Orange. Both companies will offer products over the new network. Other operators are also given the opportunity to participate. Nothing is currently known about the prices and conditions of the packages.

Bumpy start

The start of the joint venture did not go smoothly. A year ago, Telenet and Fluvius had already announced their intention to join forces, but the competition authorities had a different opinion. Just last month, the European Commission gave the go-ahead for the collaboration and the creation of Wyre. In the meantime, the competitor Proximus is taking action before the Council of State against the fiber optic cooperation, although this procedure is unlikely to have too great an impact on the expansion that has really started.