Starting out as a civil engineer in telecoms, Patrick Delcoigne has made it his mission to bring broadband to the parts of Belgium that other networks simply cannot reach. His commitment to connecting Belgium to the world has seen him introduce asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) services to the country as part of the network engineering team in the 1990s and then take the operator through every step of network upgrade and innovation to the present day’s live introduction of 25G PON fibre.
Given his engineering background, Delcoigne’s conviction is that technology is the answer and his career has proven this to be the case. Proximus, previously known as Belgacom, has taken Belgium from a country with just over half of households owning at PC in 2004, according to analyst firm Forrester, to its next goal of providing multi-gigabit services to 100% of the population. “We will do a quantum leap in experience with fibre to deliver a multi-gigabit experience in every home – passing from the current experience of 100Mbps towards 10 Gbps, so 100 times more and progressively targeting 100% of the population,” Delcoigne says.
The need for speed
This next milestone is already gathering pace. “We are deploying now at 10% of the country per year meaning that we have about 600,000 homes passed,” he explains. “That’s the equivalent of one medium town every week.”
Process management and automation are key components for achieving the network efficiencies such a task demands. “We’re automating about 50 domains,” confirms Delcoigne. “It allows us to stay efficient, to focus our personnel on creative and motivating tasks. This means faster operations and faster deployment and guarantees excellent data quality across systems – so a better customer experience.”
Now leading Proximus’s 25G PON showcase, Delcoigne is focused on the future and demonstrating that fibre delivery of 25G is already possible today, while acknowledging customer demand for the data rates on offer from the technology isn’t here yet. “The first application for such bitrates will be professional service and backhauling, for Proximus as well as for other operators,” he confirms.
The thirst to push the newest technologies into the Belgian market has seen Proximus provide HDTV and high broadband capacity to 97.1% of Belgian citizens but Delcoigne isn’t finished. He continues to specify new telecoms innovations working with partners such as Nokia to connect more communities across Belgium. To achieve coverage goals he welcomes open networks, shared infrastructure and increased collaboration between operators and their vendors.
“The key is to absorb gigantic capacity now and in the future,” he says. “The fibre network we are building today must last for decades. Having an open network is first about sharing and having common assets instead of duplication. It’s good for investment and good for nature.”
Delcoigne’s success in helping connect Belgium to the latest generations of broadband has not been an overnight sensation, it’s a career span of commitment to technological innovation, collaboration with colleagues and vendors and willingness to take on controlled risks.
