Fibre what exactly?
Fibre optic is a medium used to offer symmetrical bandwidth, offering the same upload and download speed, whereas on conventional lines, the upload speed is often slower. At Belcenter, we are very familiar with this product, which, since 2008, has made it possible to meet the specific needs of our customers with a high-performance, tailored solution. Fibre is a more expensive technology than VDSL, but is essential for certain businesses. A real life-saver.
Belcenter fibre vs. fibre in my home?
Be careful not to confuse the optical fibre network that the legacy operator is deploying for individuals. A shared fibre network for residential customers and small businesses. Fibre for large companies is dedicated and its speed is guaranteed. It is operated by Belcenter and installed on demand by our strategic partner. The bandwidth is reserved 24/7 for the customer who has it installed. The cable is directly connected to the Belcenter backbone network. We are talking about a minimum symmetrical speed of 200 megabits. While fibre for individuals is limited to an upload speed of 50 megabits and suffers from oversubscription. If everyone (up to 1,000 customers) uses it at the same time (in the evening for example), the speed drops.
What type of business needs to install fibre?
At Belcenter, there are 3 types of customers who could not operate their business without dedicated fibre.
- Organisations whose business is spread across several sites in Belgium and want to connect them automatically. Such as a group of law firms or a network of hospitals that have to send data, medical imaging, analyses from one site to another. Belcenter provides fibre on each site, connects them, manages them, etc., while the hospital group installs its servers on a site that distributes information to the other sites.
- Businesses that need a fast upload speed. Like our customer who creates animated films. It has to send very large volumes of data to cinemas around the world. Or the dubbing studio that has to send complete dubbed films reliably in a single block to the big US studios.
- Businesses that have no other option but to use fibre. This is the case for a whole series of office buildings in Brussels. They aren’t necessarily aware of it before they move in but, it’s hard to believe, not all these buildings have a VDSL network. The additional cost of fibre is often cushioned by the large number of users.
What do we mean by installing a secured-fiber ?
installing a secured-fiber provides much better protection against potential faults, which would put certain customers in a difficult position. There are two ways of doing it. Either two fibre optic entry points are provided in the building. Or the fibre is brought to a single point, but it will follow two different paths within the business. It is a redundancy solution that Belcenter almost always offers, as the extra cost is minimal for the quality of service guaranteed. If there is a problem at one location, the bandwidth automatically takes the alternative path, so the work will not be impacted.
So Belcenter lays the fibre?
Belcenter is the single point of contact: from the order to final implementation, as well as for post-installation support. But its long-standing partner, Eurofiber, is the one that manages the structural work to lay the cables. A significant advantage: as its network passes through the same ducts as Infrabel’s (along railway lines), our customers are assured of ultra-rapid troubleshooting in the event of a fault. Without fibre optic cables, there would be no signalling for trains. Eurofiber and Belcenter share the same values of responsiveness and professionalism. An ultra-strong strategic partnership.
Eurofiber, our partner for your fibre
“Our vision is for an open network where IT infrastructure and services are offered separately. In this environment, everyone is completely free to choose the services and suppliers they need – and to adapt their choices as their activities change. The Eurofiber group was created in 2000 to give substance to these principles, which are still valid.”
