Public services

This page describes in more detail the telecom operators’ right to use façades, and the various steps in the procedure:

Fibre networks are the networks of the future, helping to achieve the European connectivity goals. Towns and cities have an important role to play to stimulate the roll-out of such networks. For the operator concerned rolling out a fibre network means a once-only extensive investment project, ensuring connectivity for the inhabitants of your town or city for many years to come. In that sense this type of roll-out is different from (reparation) works in other utilities, which are usually carried out at very specific locations and not over such a big area.

The BIPT publishes a fibre map showing FTTH roll-out. This map can be found on the BIPT data portal.

Fibre roll-out falls within various jurisdictions, both local and regional. This page gives an overview of the competent authorities or organisations involved, but it is by no means exhaustive.

As for the local competences and permits the local town council and/or the police should be contacted.

Federal

For a customer it may be interesting to have a choice between various providers for his broadband connection. An optical fibre network can be shared between different operators: to that end the operator who rolls out the optical fibre network has to grant other operators access to his network. Sometimes he is forced to do so (by the BIPT for instance), but the operator can also voluntarily conclude commercial contracts with other operators.

In this section you can find the answers to a number of frequently asked questions, for each target group: end-users, operators, authorities or syndics.

The Belgian telecoms market is regulated, the BIPT being the regulatory body. The BIPT performs market analyses in which competition in the market is analysed. When there is insufficient competition, obligations can be imposed on dominant operators, such as the obligation to open up their networks to other operators.