Prysmian Douvrin hosts Europacable fibre event

The visit was organised through the Europacable Digital Team under the leadership of its chairman, Philippe Vanhille. Europacable welcomed some 40 representatives of the so called “Broadband Competence Offices” (BCOs) from across 18 EU Member States as well as representatives of the European Commission DG Connect.

BCOs are currently being set up as a tool to facilitate broadband roll out across Europe. Their key objective is to support project implementation by helping to access EU funding schemes and to ensure that there is a profound knowledge about the latest available technologies. It is in this context that Europacable welcomed the opportunity provide an an introduction to technical aspects of telecommunication networks, a profound insight into key aspects of optical fibre and cable technology and implications in the regulatory framework. There were also offered a first-hand experience of state of the art optical fibre production by Europe´s leading optical fibre and cable manufacturers.

One of key messages from the day: optical fibre cables are key to meeting the increasing need of affordable and secure high-bandwidth communication networks for industry and private households. Jan Dröge (Schuman Associates), Head of the European Commission’s Broadband Competence Offices, took part in the event. Jan has been instrumental in setting up a Support Facility for the national and regional Broadband Competence Offices (BCOs). “The Support Facility will help set up new BCOs, promote best practices and share knowledge and experience on broadband investments. Our focus will be on rural areas where connectivity challenges are highest. The overall objective is of course to deliver on the EU Digital Agenda targets on broadband rollout, notably a universal coverage of 30 Mbps, and 50% of users connect at 100 Mb/s.”