Since 2000, broadband has been high on the political agenda in the Dutch city of Eindhoven. Following the publication of the policy memorandum Glasrijk Eindhoven (‘Fibre-Rich Eindhoven’), the development and deployment of a fibre-optic infrastructure there has been proceeding apace. A working fibre-to-the-home network serving about 7000 households has recently been completed. In September 2005 a dark-fibre network more than 90 kilometres in length for businesses and other organisations enters service. Both of these initiatives are on the verge of upscaling. So now is a good moment to reflect upon the role of a local authority in the ‘fibre-wiring’ of its community. This article concentrates upon the development of the infrastructure and less upon the services it carries. For regular readers of IT Management Select, the article is of interest in the context of the commercial use of such an infrastructure and because it opens up opportunities for the supply of broadband services.