Sponsored Links

Connectivity in Amsterdam

Just got back from our holiday in Amsterdam. As I'm self employed I need internet access so we booked a flat which had a connection.

That was a UPC NL connection (cable) which ran at about 10 Meg down and 150kbps up pretty solidly. I am wondering if the package the place had, was the most basic package, my parents used to have that over here. Would make sense rather than paying for 200Meg for guests to enjoy.

We've been thinking about moving there for years and I suspect this time we'll make this happen.

Over here, unless you're in a cabled area, you have a choice of only one ISP or another company reselling the products of that ISP which has always been a huge problem in this country because there's no meaningful competition except in the pricing.

Now, at least Amsterdam has a cable network which is a lot more performant than a telephone network. I am also assuming rightly or wrongly, that Amsterdam doesn't have a "telephone network" as in copper pairs like we do, so just about everyone in Amsterdam might be able to expect a modern broadband service.

I also remember there was a project to run FTTP in Centruum (the central bit) and recall seeing photos but didn't see anything while I was there.

What surprised me was that, walking about, there is no evidence of any ducted network anywhere. Over here you'd expect to see dirty snaking lines along the pavements ("the mark of NTL"), indeed you look for it when buying a house to make sure it's there. The Dutch must be incredibly efficient and tidy, or, the network has been there for so long unchanged because it was OK to start with.

There are no poles, it's all underground, and incredibly neat and tidy. The only thing you do see are the cable DP boxes on the outside of buildings with multiple dwellings. Even businesses have the cable plumbed in.

Maybe there was a massive "replace all the pavement tiles" project forty years ago when the cable network went in. Hmm, maybe not.

Wondering if anyone here has any knowledge of what's going on over there as regards broadband. We'll be looking to live in the Centruum area (north west probably) if we can afford it.

Over here we have 25 Meg down and 48 Meg up. I can deal with slower upstream, maybe only 15 Meg would suffice, but could do with more downstream.

They have 4G now as we do, and it's great that they have a cable system not a phone system so they're already a long way ahead, and with 200 Meg down available it's all looking good - if that's "universal" across the city.

- Is it universal?
- Do you get some premises which haven't been ducted, so you're out of options?
- Will I have a choice of only one fixed line provider there, like here (there being UPC)?
- Anyone know what they're doing as regards fibre (wonder if the ducting is good enough to pull fibre through)

Thanks,
Mark
 
Doing some more "digging"..

The way it usually works here for a property is that you go to a website, put the address in, and get told you can't have cable ;)

You go to the BT website and put the address in to be told you can't have any broadband at that address. Maybe a few meg.

You go to upc.nl and I can't find "coverage checker" anywhere (Dutch word is "dekking"). I can sign up for the service and I don't put the address in until the end, after payment details implying that "anyone" could get it.

Does suggest there's some kind of USC at work and that the network is very extensive. 200 down 20 up for 55 EUR a month. No "up to" but then my Dutch doesn't extend to reading Terms and Conditions.

Is it really the case that anyone (leaving aside say house boats) anywhere in the NL can get a 200/20 connection?
 
All I remember(or do I?) about Amsterdam and connectivity is that it should probably be well provided for. I seem to remember the Dutch government made rules making it easier to lay fibre and when fibre infrastructure was being built by one firm competing firms were allowed to share that infrastructure.
 
Sponsored Links
Have been looking into this today.

According to research done by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) the Netherlands is ranked with Switzerland in having the most broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants,[1] has no bandwidth caps,[2] and has the most homes passed in Europe in terms of connection speeds of 50 Mbit/s and higher.[3]

Cable is the most popular form of Internet access with 41% of total subscriptions, followed by various forms of DSL and Fiber to the Home according to statistics from the end of 2010 gathered by the association of Dutch cable providers.[4]

Fiber-optic Internet access is rolled out on regional scale, encompassing part of a province or a municipality.[5] Deployment is comparable to local-loop unbundling: one party invests in the physical network on which other parties can provide their services.[6][7] At the end of 2010, fiber-optic Internet was available in 205 out of 408 municipalities. The number of homes passed was 714,600 from a total of 7.386 million.[8][9]

Government-mandated Internet censorship is nonexistent due to the house of representatives speaking out against filtering on multiple occasions

Perhaps it's only when you live in the UK that you have this fear of moving somewhere with no broadband access.

Clean, safe, tidy country, with from what I can discern much higher personal and living standards than us, which I thought that until recently was the most densely populated in Europe, with us now having taken that particular crown. Lots of culture. A rejection of Americanised cultural aspects like McDonald's and independents as opposed to chain stores. A welcoming and un-bigoted friendly population. And best of all, widespread good broadband and a language that's not too hard to learn.

After spending 10 days in Amsterdam it's incredible to see what can be achieved in so many areas with government competence and forward-thinking so sadly absent here.

Having looked, where we want to live basically has London style prices. We may have to be further out from the centre to get a 3 bed place.. will go back in January and start the search in earnest.
 
English can be a problem, in the sense that it's embarrassing they often speak it better than you do. :rolleyes:
 
English can be a problem, in the sense that it's embarrassing they often speak it better than you do. :rolleyes:

Indeed. Their English is startlingly good. But then there's no excuse for migrating to a new community and failing to at least try to learn the language and embrace the culture, is there. Actually it's the culture that really appeals. Don't think I've been so excited about a possibility for some time.

My French is quite good but the Dutch needs lots of work and I need to google "non domiciled", I think, as most of my clients are in the UK and pay in sterling.

Ik werk nu.
 
Top
Cheap BIG ISPs for 100Mbps+
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £22.99
132Mbps
Gift: None
Vodafone UK ISP Logo
Vodafone £24.00 - 26.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
NOW UK ISP Logo
NOW £24.00
100Mbps
Gift: None
Plusnet UK ISP Logo
Plusnet £25.99
145Mbps
Gift: £50 Reward Card
Large Availability | View All
Cheapest ISPs for 100Mbps+
Gigaclear UK ISP Logo
Gigaclear £17.00
200Mbps
Gift: None
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £22.99
132Mbps
Gift: None
Hey! Broadband UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Youfibre UK ISP Logo
Youfibre £23.99
150Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Sponsored Links
The Top 15 Category Tags
  1. FTTP (6026)
  2. BT (3639)
  3. Politics (2721)
  4. Business (2439)
  5. Openreach (2405)
  6. Building Digital UK (2330)
  7. Mobile Broadband (2146)
  8. FTTC (2083)
  9. Statistics (1901)
  10. 4G (1816)
  11. Virgin Media (1764)
  12. Ofcom Regulation (1582)
  13. Fibre Optic (1467)
  14. Wireless Internet (1462)
  15. 5G (1407)
Sponsored

Copyright © 1999 to Present - ISPreview.co.uk - All Rights Reserved - Terms  ,  Privacy and Cookie Policy  ,  Links  ,  Website Rules