July 5, 2002--EuroFiber, a provider of fiber-optic networks in metropolitan areas in the Benelux, will supply a number of fiber-optic networks in the Randstad to SURFnet, the advanced Dutch computer network for higher education and research. The contract, which will run through 2015, was signed by both parties in Utrecht yesterday. SURFnet intends to use the fiber-optic networks of EuroFiber to realize high-speed connections in Rotterdam, Delft, Leiden, and Lisse.
The optical fiber supplied by EuroFiber is used for a so-called city ring in Rotterdam to which SURFnet will connect the Ichthus Hogeschool. The Ichthus Hogeschool (Delft) and the Nederlands Normalisatie Instituut (Dutch Normalisation Institute) are to be connected on the cascade between Delft and Rotterdam. A cascade will be provided between Leiden and Amsterdam to which the Ichthus Hogeschool (Oegstgeest) will be connected. The scientific publisher Swets & Zeitlinger in Lisse will also be connected to this ring.
"SURFnet intends to connect all its customers at gigabit level. The last-mile hop of the SURFnet network to the customer is often a problem. The fiber-optic rings supplied by EuroFiber provide a solution for five more customers and is a further step towards the full migration to fiber optics of the SURFnet network," says Boudewijn Nederkoorn, managing director of SURFnet.
According to Lars Alkema, spokesman of EuroFiber, "With the current developments on the telecom market it is important for a company to use its own fiber-optic network. In the case of SURFnet this means that an unlimited amount of bandwidth will be available to them with the added bonus that all network upgrades are free of charge."