2017 Netherlands - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Netherlands telecom market revenue squeezed again

The Dutch telecom market has one of the most advanced broadband sectors in the world, with effective cross-platform competition. VodafoneZiggo, a joint venture formed in December 2016, continues to upgrade its networks and is looking to deploy DOCSIS3.1 to provide data at 1Gb/s and higher. The market share held by DSL, once the dominant platform, has fallen consistently for several years as customers migrate to faster cable and fibre-based networks.

There is also strong competition in the mobile sector, a factor which once encouraged Deutsche Telekom to consider selling its T-Mobile Netherlands unit. However, with the sale of Vodafone’s fixed-network to T-Mobile in late 2016 the latter has been in a stronger position to compete against VodafoneZiggo and KPN in the provision of converged services.

The number of mobile subscribers in the Dutch market has continued to grow strongly, though much of this growth can be attributed to the M2M and mobile broadband sectors. Slower growth in traditional SIM cards is partly the result of higher mobile penetration and also to competition on pricing which has meant that subscribers have less cause to acquire SIM cards from different providers. In common with other European markets, the LTE sector is the main driver, supported by the combination of high smartphone penetration, competitive pricing for mobile data bundles, and the universal coverage of LTE networks provided by the network operators.

This report details the key aspects of the Dutch telecom market. It provides updated data on fixed network services, profiles the major operators, and reviews the key regulatory issues including interconnection, local loop unbundling, number portability, carrier preselection, and the provisions for competitor access to cable and fibre infrastructure. The report also covers the mobile market, including a review of the main players and an assessment of emerging mobile data services, LTE-B and developments in carrier aggregation technologies. In addition the report analyses the fixed and wireless broadband markets, providing statistics and analysis on technologies including vectoring VDSL, cable and FttP as well as details of regulatory measures affecting network access.

Key developments:

• Government passes bill mandating access to networks and infrastructure;
• América Móvil looking at sale of entire stake in KPN;
• Netherlands Telecom Agency given oversight for smart meter deployments;
• KPN reports continuing slide in revenue into 2017;
• EU General Court overturns the 2014 merger of Ziggo and UPC Netherlands;
• EQT agrees to buy the cableco CAIW;
• VodafoneZiggo investing in DOCSIS3.1 technology;
• Ziggo transfers mobile subscribers to the Vodafone network;
• KPN offering commercial LTE-M services;
• MNOs refarm 3G spectrum in the 2100MHz and 2600MHz bands for LTE;
• Report update includes the regulator’s market data to Q4 2016, telcos’ operating and financial data to Q3 2017, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

KPN, UPC Nederland, Tele2 Nederland, Stipte (Scarlet Telecom), Ziggo, VodafoneZiggo (Ziggo Group, Vodafone Netherlands), Reggefiber, Orange Netherlands, Versatel, T-Mobile Netherlands.