New internet facilities of poor quality?

DUWO renters located in Delft have requested clarification about the new internet facilities. After the advice procedure on internet and television was completed, DUWO initiated a new policy. This policy means that all DUWO-tenants will be offered the opportunity to receive an internet- and television subscription of Ziggo for €12,50 a month. This new policy is currently being executed in Delft and will be implemented in the region of Amsterdam in the future. However, the technical specifications and the execution of the LAN network in Delft have been found to be of sub-par quality.

For example, the current conditions will make it impossible for tenants to use services such as Skype (VOIP) and all buildings will have just one IP-address, which can lead to various problems (for more information visit Tweakers.net). The internet situation in Delft has always been unique. Students who rented from DUWO used a fast and cheap connection via SURFnet, which was possible because of presence of local servers in the buildings. The internet provided by Ziggo will make this impossible, and the technical execution appears to be insufficient to ensure proper internet services. In the meantime, tenants in Delft have formed a commission in cooperation with ABo/WijWonen to examine the new internet facilities.

In March 2011, Duwoners gave a positive verdict on DUWO’s plans for internet and television services. However, at the time of Duwoners’ response, the details of the current situation in Delft (such as the specifications of the LAN network), were still unknown. Duwoners already objected in January against the fact that the deal between DUWO and Ziggo had been finalized before Duwoners had the possibility to reach a decision about it (for all documents about the advice procedure, visit this page).

Duwoners will carefully monitor the situation, especially since Ziggo (through the UPC network) will also start to provide internet services in the Amsterdam region. Duwoners will contact DUWO about these questions and hopes to be able to actively intervene in the implementation of the new internet policy in cooperation with ABo/WijWonen and the Internet commission. Background information, as well as the latest developments, are available on the website of ABo/WijWonen.