Judge: KPN may continue with the construction of a ‘double’ fiber...

The court in Rotterdam agreed with T-Mobile that the municipality of The Hague should have conducted a better investigation, but thought the discontinuation of the construction was going too far.

Despite the ruling of the preliminary relief judge, T-Mobile is continuing the appeal procedure. “We are pleased that the judge thinks that the municipality should have conducted better and more investigation,” says Pieter de Klein, director of strategy of T-Mobile. “That is an important statement for the future. From now on, municipalities will have to carefully examine the impact of a second fiber optic network on existing infrastructure before agreeing.”

‘Competition made more difficult’

T-Mobile and investor Primevest Capital Partners already installed a fiber-optic network in the Segbroek district, of which Regentessekwartier is part of last year, and T-Mobile says competitors can use it at “attractive rates”. The construction of a second network causes additional inconvenience, but it also makes maintenance and connecting new houses to the T-Mobile network more difficult. That will now be placed under the KPN network.

T-Mobile previously stated that KPN is installing double networks to make it more difficult for competition. “Only commercial considerations play a role here, but it is in no way in the interest of the consumer. There are still so many places in the Netherlands where consumers are deprived of superfast internet.”