Bas van Dongen, Partner Communication Infrastructure at Primevest Capital Partners, said: “The Covid-19 crisis has clearly shown that the winning cities of the future will be those with the best Internet infrastructure that allows their digitalised economies to stay a step ahead of the rest online. Eindhoven is already renowned as a global academic centre of technological research excellence. The city’s agreement with our client T-Mobile, which will lease the fibre optic network from the Primevest Communication Infrastructure Fund, is to provide superfast Internet service to three districts comprising around a quarter of the population that previously had no access to this next generation broadband service and is a big step in ensuring Eindhoven retains its pole position.”
The three Eindhoven districts of Centrum, Strijp and Gestel will, from August, be able to subscribe to a T-Mobile service providing internet access at a speed of 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps). The Primevest Communication Infrastructure Fund (PCIF) and T-Mobile are targeting the rollout of superfast fibre optic networks to at least 100,000 households in the Netherlands this year, with other cities expected to follow Eindhoven’s lead in achieving full ‘Next Generation’ Internet coverage.
VolkerWessels Telecom will construct the Eindhoven fibre optic network for PCIF and be responsible for maintenance. The company makes use of an innovative installation method in which cables are laid up to five times faster than standard techniques thereby causing less inconvenience in the local environment.
PCIF has around €65 million invested from long term pension fund and insurer institutional investors and a further €50 million of investments under construction. PCIF is targeting additional equity commitments in the coming period for institutional investors, with a minimum of €10 million in participation. The fund invests in communication infrastructure, with a focus on assets in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Belgium, and is targeting total assets under management of between €500 to €600 million with 70% invested in fibre optic networks and 30% in traffic aggregation points and data centres.
Stijn Steenbakkers, City of Eindhoven Alderman, said: “I am delighted that the consortium of T-Mobile, Primevest CP and VolkerWessels Telecom will allow even more households in Eindhoven to benefit from fast fibre optics in a short time and with minimal inconvenience. In a few months, Eindhoven will be the first of the five major cities in the Netherlands to have fibre optics throughout the city. This is an important contribution to the continuity of the economy of our city, especially in these times when many people continue to work from home. Another special feature of this collaboration is that these 29,000 households and 1,100 small and medium-sized companies will have access to care services via Breedband Regio Eindhoven.”
BRE – Breedband Regio Eindhoven (Broadband Region Eindhoven), uses economy of scale to allow individual and/or groups of businesses, access to fibre optic infrastructure at competitive prices.
Søren Abildgaard, CEO of T-Mobile, concluded: “I am very proud that we are now providing a second major city in the Netherlands with high-speed internet after The Hague. Through our network we will also realise a link with BRE infrastructure and the Eindhoven Fiber eXchange. This makes it possible to open up a wide range of services to the FttH network, including the Regional Healthcare Infrastructure in Brabant. T-Mobile is also opening up this new network to all competitors on very attractive terms. And, by giving more consumers access to fast internet via fibre, we are following up on the promise we made after the merger with Tele2.”
About Primevest Capital Partners
Primevest Capital Partners is a pan-European investment boutique that specializes in innovative real estate and property investments. Due to the extensive industry knowledge with a focus on specialized investment sectors such as parking, telecommunications and affordable, contemporary living, Primevest Capital Partners has developed into a leading provider in these areas. Our top priority is to achieve attractive risk-adjusted returns for our customers. In doing so, we pay attention to sustainable income and value creation. Primevest Capital Partners currently manages assets of 1.7 billion euros, spread across eight sector-specific funds and three individual institutional mandates. Primevest Capital Partners currently has 40 employees at its locations in Utrecht and Berlin.
For more information, please contact:
Lisette van der Ham
Head of Marketing & Corporate Communications
lisette.vanderham@primevestcp.com
www.primevestcp.com