2.1. Context

As stated in “Luxembourg’s ultra-high-speed broadband strategy 2021-2025”, connectivity is no longer just a matter of technological advancement, it is a cornerstone of social and economic inclusion in a digitally driven society. While Luxembourg already enjoys extensive ultra-high-speed broadband coverage and a robust digital infrastructure, as highlighted in the state’s strategy, there remains a critical gap: a small yet significant percentage of the population still lacks access to these essential services. The strategy underlines the social urgency of closing the digital divide, which increasingly mirrors a broader societal divide.

As an economic interest group driving national connectivity goals, MyConnectivity plays a pivotal role in realising Luxembourg’s ultra-high-speed broadband strategy through its three core missions. First, it raises awareness and provides information about the challenges and potential of digital technology, ensuring full inclusion of all segments of society. Second, it actively promotes the deployment of and access to Ultra-High-Speed Broadband for everyone by fostering the development of reliable, high-performance, and sustainable technical infrastructures. Finally, it provides support, advice, and training to the public to overcome psychological and technical barriers that may hinder the adoption of new digital practices.

When looking at the mission of promoting the deployment and access to Ultra-High-Speed Broadband for everyone, the problem can be split in two. The first part of the problem is to bring ultra-high-speed connectivity to every building in Luxembourg. In this context, MyConnectivity already performed an analysis on the underserved areas of the country, and this problem is now well understood and under control.

The second part of the problem is that once a building has access to ultra-high-speed connectivity, each individual residential unit that is part of that building needs to be connected to the Network Termination Point (NTP). This is usually trivial for single familly homes but can be a challenge for multi-dwellling units, where the installation of vertical cabling can slow down the adoption of very high capacity networks (VHCN). These challenges can be due to technical reasons, such as the complexity of the installation (space constraints, building architecture, …), financial reasons (costs of the installation) or lack of awareness and consent of the multiple owners of the multi-dewlling units.

To tackle the challenge linked to the deployment of vertical cabling, the first step consists in documenting and quantifying the problem. In this context MyConnectivity launched a project that aims to bridge this knowledge gap by creating a “National registry of vertical cabling (NRVC)”, which will be a centralised, neutral Database System that empowers telecom operators to efficiently populate and manage a comprehensive, centralised, nationwide inventory of vertical cabling infrastructure data, with a focus on multi-dwelling buildings.

The primary objectives of the NRVC are to identify buildings and building units lacking the necessary cabling standards to prioritise the necessary work to reach 100% VHCN connectivity within the multi-dwelling units. This approach is necessary to enable informed decision-making in prioritising infrastructure investments as well as to enable safe and fair vertical cabling inventory exchanges among telecom operators and other stakeholders. Additionally, it will create the ground for an ecosystem of services around this platform in the future.