Intel Corp. will
invest $20 million in @Home Network’s
Dutch broadband venture, @Home Nederland.
An Intel spokesman declined to specify what portion of @Home the $20 million
brings Intel, but it will only be a minority stake. The Dutch language
high-speed Internet service is a joint venture between @Home and Dutch
cable operators Edon/CasTel and Palet Kabelcom.
Intel will jointly develop technology and marketing initiatives with @Home
and its Dutch cable affiliates. The collaboration is expected to speed
@Home’s services to CasTel’s and Palet’s combined 1.4 million households,
which accounts for over 20 percent of Dutch homes.
Intel declined to reveal whether it will take further stakes in @Home,
saying only that the proposed investment is in line with its
desire to promote the international deployment of broadband services.
“High speed data services in Europe represents an exciting growth
opportunity as we head toward a world of 1 billion connected computers,”
said Claude Leglise, vice president of Intel’s architecture business group
and general manager of its home products unit. “Our proposed agreement with
@Home is consistent with that goal.”
“Intel’s proposed involvement in @Home Nederland will bring a tremendous
boost to our plans to bring state-of-the-art broadband online services to
Dutch and Belgian customers,” said John O’Farrell, @Home’s senior
international vice president. “We very much welcome Intel’s involvement,
which will help us establish our service as the clear broadband leader in
the Netherlands and Belgium.”
“We believe the cable infrastructure is the vehicle of choice for
offering a full range of voice, video and Internet services to consumers in
the home,” said Jos Burger, senior vice president of Palet Kabelcom. “With
Intel’s proposed investment, @Home Nederland is uniquely positioned to be
the premier driver of high-speed cable Internet services in the Netherlands.”
