KPN and APG last week announced a partnership to create a new fiber joint venture, Glaspoort which will be headquartered in Amsterdam.
Glaspoort aims to connect ~750k households and ~225k businesses with fiber. Glaspoort will invest over € 1bn in fiber rollout in the next five years. The required construction capacity and external financing commitments from lenders have been secured such that the JV can expeditiously move forward with the envisaged fiber rollout. Glaspoort expects to roll out already more than 70k fiber connections this year.
Glaspoort is a network company which will be open for any third-party operator and therefore end users can select their own preferred service provider. While KPN will act as an anchor tenant on the network, the company will pursue an open-access wholesale policy based on non-discriminatory terms, fostering competition and innovation in the Netherlands.
The transaction is in line with KPN’s ‘Accelerate to grow’ strategy and its ambition to connect everyone in the Netherlands to a sustainable future. In the coming years, the joint venture will realize approximately 985k fiber connections in underserved areas. Combined with KPN’s own rollout efforts of approximately half a million households annually, this will result in ~80% fiber coverage in 2026.
Patrick Kanters, Managing Director Global Real Assets of APG
APG is pleased that we have been able to fulfill this first very important milestone by formally launching Glaspoort. APG is looking forward to jointly build the new company with KPN and support the roll out of fiber to nearly 1 million customers.
Joost Farwerck, CEO of KPN
The broadened scope of the project makes it increasingly relevant as even more villages will be connected to state-of-the-art fiber infrastructure and ensures almost nationwide fiber coverage by 2026.
