Every notary office in Belgium is making the same move in the coming months: from BNN 1.0 to BNN 2.0. The migration is in full swing, and every office must have made the switch by the end of 2026. For most notaries it is a technical matter they would rather not follow themselves. Rightly so. But those who let go of it entirely are often caught out: most migrations that go wrong do so because of poor preparation, not because of the technology. This article explains what changes, what your office has to provide itself, and how we make sure you and your staff notice nothing.
What BNN is, and what changes
BNN stands for Beveiligd Notarieel Netwerk, the Secure Notarial Network (in French RNS, Réseau Notarial Sécurisé): the secure private network of Fednot and Proximus that connects Belgian notary offices with each other and with Fednot. It gives your office secure access to eNotariaat and the other Fednot applications. Every office is on it, whether it wants to be or not, and that is exactly the point: the deeds, registers and data of the notarial profession do not travel over the ordinary internet.
BNN 2.0 is the new generation of that network. In practice, three things change in your office:
- New connections. Depending on what is available at your address: fibre, VDSL, coax, or Proximus's business fibre. On top of that comes a mobile connection as backup, so the office keeps working if the fixed line fails.
- A centrally managed network device, the "smart box". It handles the traffic in your office and is managed and monitored remotely. It comes in three bundles, Robijn, Saffier and Smaragd, matched to the size and needs of the office.
- A migration day. Proximus comes on site to install the new connections and the device and to switch the office over. On average that takes half a day.
What your office has to provide itself
This is where it usually goes wrong. The technician brings the devices, but the environment they have to go into is the responsibility of the office and its IT partner. The technical requirements are precise, and they sound simpler than they are:
- One technical room. All routers, the network device and the rest of the office's IT equipment must be in the same room, no more than two metres apart. A modem in the entrance hall and a server in the attic: that no longer works.
- Cabling from the entry point into that room. If the network enters your building somewhere other than where the equipment sits, a cable has to be run for every line before the migration.
- Power and space. Two to four free sockets per technology, a free shelf in the data cabinet or, for some connections, a 19-inch rack. The devices must not be stacked: they are passively cooled and need air.
- A good spot for the mobile backup. The router that takes over when the line fails only works if it has good mobile coverage and is not tucked away behind metal or concrete.
Those who discover these points on the day itself watch the technician leave empty-handed and the migration slip by weeks. Those who arrange them a month in advance have a quiet half day.
How we guide the switch
As an IT partner (ITP) to the notarial profession, we work with Fednot and Proximus and have already guided many offices through this migration. That experience is what makes the difference between a migration that runs and one that slips. What we do falls into three phases, and the starting point is always the same: the notary does not have to orchestrate anything.
Before the migration
- We go through your office against the technical requirements: technical room, cabling, power, space, mobile coverage. You get a list of what is in order and what still needs doing.
- We arrange what is missing: having a cable run, placing a rack, adding sockets. With your own electrician or with ours.
- We help with the order: which connection, which bundle, which backup. Not too much, not too little.
- We schedule the migration day at the moment that disrupts the office least, and notify whoever needs notifying.
During the migration
- We are on site, next to the Proximus technician. Whatever concerns the network, Proximus does; everything behind it, we do: workstations, printers, telephony, Wi-Fi, connections to your notarial software.
- We test before we leave: eNotariaat, the Fednot applications, e-mail, printing, calling. Not "the light is on", but "the staff can work".
After the migration
- For the first few days we keep an extra eye on the network. A setting that looked fine on migration day and not the next morning is our problem, not yours.
- We document the new setup and remain your single point of contact. If there is ever a question for Proximus or Fednot, we ask it.
Our promise is simple: no disruption. Your staff work on the old network in the morning and on the new one in the afternoon, and the only thing they notice is that it is faster.
What it costs, and what it delivers
The connections and the bundle are ordered by the office from Proximus. Our guidance is quoted in advance, tailored to your office, so you know exactly what the switch costs before it starts. In return: no lost migration day, no second visit, no office without a network for half a day, and a new foundation your IT can build on for years to come.
Three questions to ask today
- Is our migration to BNN 2.0 already scheduled, and if not, when does it have to be done?
- Are our routers, our network device and our server in one technical room, less than two metres apart?
- Who is on site with us on migration day, and who checks that everything works before the technician leaves?
To the first question, "not yet" is a perfectly good answer, as long as there is still time. The end of 2026 comes sooner than you think.
Is your office ready for BNN 2.0?
We go through your office against the technical requirements, arrange what is missing and stand next to the technician on migration day. Request a preparatory meeting; you get a tailored quote in advance.
Plan your BNN 2.0 preparation