KPN rival delivers local loop DSL service

Dutch telco KPN is facing the same sort of competition that BT can expect in the future, as a rival company has rolled out a national DSL network in 100 days.

Dutch telco KPN is facing the same sort of competition that BT can expect in the future, as a rival company has rolled out a national DSL (digital subscriber line) network in 100 days.

The technology for the Dutch DSL infrastructure is very similar to that which BT rivals are exploring so that they can bypass the telco's local loop tactics.

Like its UK rivals, Dutch telco Bbned will install a small box at the local exchange points to provide its own telco services to customers. However, it will use the copper lines of incumbent telco KPN, which has established local loop unbundling in the Netherlands.

Chris Gibbs, BT Ignite's president, last week dismissed the technology, saying that the boxes would be susceptible to vandal attacks. However, KPN stands positive towards having a competing network.

Marinus Potman, head of media communication at KPN, said: "Whether you act yourself in a market, or let others act on your behalf, it is still business."

Bbned is backed by Telecom Italia and is focused purely on broadband services for the Dutch national market. The telco recently announced plans to launch DSL services during the next 12 months for business users in the Netherlands. It deployed the UK-based networking arm of KPMG Consulting to develop and deliver the DSL infrastructure.

Joe Gallagher, head of fixed line communications sector at KPMG Consulting, said: "Starting from scratch we could deliver the DSL infrastructure in 100 days. At our £20m technology centre we build and test DSL networks. Then we work with a local teams of KPMG Consulting to roll them in European countries."

The multi-million dollar Bbned contract involves supplying an end-to-end operations support systems and Business Support Systems infrastructure.

It covers the entire lifecycle of Bbned's service and network management, from order entry to end-user billing, including customer care, service and network provisioning, fault management and billing.

First published in Network News