Foot stamping in Almere

Over in the wild, wild Netherlands, Trouw is once again on the tail of UPC. It seems that the city council of the rapidly growing Almere is attempting to get all local utilities, KPN and UPC to agree a coordinated plan for trenches and ducts in areas of new construction. All involved seem to be playing along nicely, though it would appear that UPC walks away from any proposal which would leave additional space for future network deployments. Presumably this is directed at Almere's muni-fiber aspirations. Separately, I am also hearing vague tales of a mounting political backlash against muni-fiber in the country. Maybe Europe gets to have a passionate battle for access neutrality now?