In the future, ultra high speed internet will be essential for many of our daily activities. MyConnectivity.lu CEO Geraldine Knudson explains why it is important to boost connectivity in Luxembourg before we reach that point.
Thanks to cable and fibre optic, people can access very high-capacity networks from 95% of Luxembourg’s territory. Despite this potential, of those eligible just 60% have subscribed. “On a European scale, the coverage is among the best,” says Knudson. “But uptake is not so great. Why don’t people take an infrastructure that is available to them?”
This is among the questions being explored by MyConnectivity.lu, an economic interest group launched at the end of 2021 by the government’s media, connectivity and digital policy service with LU-CIX Management.
The platform aims to bring 100% connectivity by 2025 by bringing connectivity to the 5% underserved part of the country and convincing the remaining population who are in an area where high-capacity networks are available to subscribe. Knudson reckons that a major blocking point for the latter challenge is technical issues.
She says that in many areas where telecoms providers have installed fibre optic infrastructure in the street, households and businesses have yet to connect the dots and feed the vertical cabling to the different floors of a building. This is the case for an estimated 20,000 buildings in the grand duchy.
“The other thing is that people are not aware of the importance of good connectivity. They might think that today, they’re still quite happy with their connectivity, but perhaps today and certainly tomorrow, it’s not going to suffice,” says Knudson.
“People are not aware of the importance of good connectivity. They might think that today, they’re still quite happy with their connectivity, but perhaps today and certainly tomorrow, it’s not going to suffice.”
MyConnectivity.lu CEO Geraldine Knudson
Reaching the ecosystem
MyConnectivity.lu’s four-strong team, comprised of Julien Larios as technical director and Marc Lis as head of marketing and communication, are laying the groundwork for establishing a centre of expertise in Luxembourg. The team has already worked closely with telecommunications operators to understand the pain points. Before the end of 2022, it will host four regional conferences to raise awareness of the value of connectivity with players in the construction sector. A 2017 law ensures that all new buildings are fitted with cable and fibre optic in apartments. But, the sector has work to do to bring older buildings up to this standard.
In 2023 MyConnectivity.lu will launch consumer-focused campaigns online and on social media to help the public make informed choices. Meanwhile, the platform will commission surveys to better understand the low uptake of high-capacity networks. Knudson says: “Our advantage is that we have no commercial interest. Our only interest is in the future of the country. And so, I think that we have a lot of credibility.”
Ambitious goals
Assuming that the team builds a hybrid connectivity model to serve the 5% underserved part of the country, convincing 100% of the population to subscribe to high-capacity networks within the timeframe set out by Xavier Bettel’s government is ambitious.
Whether they reach the target or not, Knudson sees MyConnectivity.lu’s mission as fundamentally important for Luxembourg’s social cohesion.
“I think that one of the key sentences for the government is really this aspect of ‘leave no-one behind’. Luxembourg is very much about social cohesion. The tripartite is trying to create social cohesion. I think in that same spirit you try to educate people to the point where they lose the fear of modern technologies,” Knudson says, adding: “I think the biggest challenge is to take this very complex, technical subject and express it in a way that really everybody can understand what’s in it for them.”
