KPNQwest Tuesday confirmed the company
is proceeding smoothly with its digital subscriber line deployment in Germany.
The pan-European offspring of KPN and Qwest Communications Inc.
connected its first customers in Dusseldorf, one month ahead
of its DSL deployment schedule.
KPNQwest installed high-speed DSL equipment in 23
central offices in Dusseldorf that can reach 93 percent of the regional
business marketplace.
The first trial customers achieved access speeds of up to 7.5 megabits per
second, more than 130 times faster than current dial-up Internet access
speeds in the area. Broadband access significantly enhances the ability of
small and medium sized business to fully exploit the broadband-enabled
e-commerce market.
Several German Internet providers signed commitments with KPNQwest
as distribution partners of its DSL services. ISPs are able to deliver
their customers unprecedented bandwidth at competitive rates. KPNQwest is
currently the only pan-European data communications provider rolling-out
DSL services in Germany, with further plans to develop the remaining
European markets.
KPNQwest is also deploying DSL services in Finland and has commenced its
high-speed service rollout in Sweden. The company has signed a letter of
intent with France Telecom
for the French DSL trial and is negotiating with other
incumbent operators across Europe.
Paul van Doorn, KPNQwest managing director for DSL services, said other
countries would follow as governments implement and enforce the
deregulation of local access networks, opening up the local loop or
metropolitan copper wire network to competition.
“KPNQwest will establish the largest pan-European DSL footprint, becoming
the first IP operator in Europe to significantly expand its service
offering in broadband access to major European cities,” van Doorn said.
“For KPNQwest, DSL is more than an access technology,” can Doorn continued.
“It is the key enabler behind the successful introduction of value-added
broadband services for SMEs, branch offices and home-based businesses. DSL
is the ticket to the new economy”
KPNQwest is deploying asymmetric DSL services over existing copper pairs in
order to will offer high-speed access that can migrate to next generation
communication services like very high-speed DSL, as it becomes available.
KPNQwest contends that broadband services previously unavailable to the
mass market will revolutionize European business communications.
In addition to its ambitious DSL deployment schedule, KPNQwest is building
fiber optic services around densely populated “Euro Rings,” in tandem with
its hosting and data facilities, or so called CyberCentres.
The combination of services offers unrivalled broadband Internet
connectivity, enterprise Web and application hosting, tier one transit, and
free peering that is designed to accelerate the complete migration of
European businesses into the global, Internet-enabled economy.
