7 June 2002 -- Network operator KPN Telecom - which has over 25m customers in Benelux and Germany - has contracted Ericsson to supply the Ethernet equipment for its Fiber to the Home (FTTH) pilots, including its access network and equipment at end-users' homes. KPN will start the pilots this year.

Ericsson says that its technology is future proof and scaleable: initial speed will be 10Mbit/s, but in a later stage broadband connections of 100Mbit/s or even 1Gbit/s will be delivered to the consumer for access to high-speed Internet, video services, local user services, gaming and telephony. The technology supports a completely open model in which consumers are free to choose their service supplier.

More than a year and a half ago KPN introduced Mxstream, an xDSL technology which enables broadband access via its existing copper-based network - adequate for fast Internet - and offers consumers Internet speeds of 0.5 or 1Mbit/s. The next step in KPN's broadband strategy is to make available FTTH technology for broadband tests and consumers and companies which want access to fibre bandwidth.