T-Mobile leads modest growth in Dutch broadband subscribers in Q1, KPN losses continue

A year after launching a major expansion in its fibre footprint, KPN has yet to restore growth in its broadband business. The latest data from Telecompaper shows the incumbent lost another 17,000 broadband subscribers in the first quarter of 2020, while rival VodafoneZiggo added nearly 10,000 new connections. T-Mobile was again the biggest winner, adding the most new broadband subscribers in Q1.

KPN continues to suffer in the consumer market, where it has discontinued sales to new customers at its Telfort and XS4All brands in order to promote more premium offers under the KPN flag. This includes the launch of its first gigabit broadband service in March across its expanding FTTH network. KPN still lost 23,000 consumer broadband customers in the quarter, while gaining 8,000 in the B2B segment. In total, KPN had almost 3.15 million broadband customers at the end of March.

Ziggo’s growth is also largely in the business segment. It added nearly 8,000 business broadband subscribers in Q1 and only 2,000 new customers in the consumer segment. This was still better than its performance in the same period a year earlier, when it was losing consumer broadband subscribers. The market leader had 3.37 million broadband subscribers in total at the end of Q1.

T-Mobile also announced in Q1 plans to expand its fibre footprint, to another 100,000 households in partnership with the investor Primevest. It started a small roll-out in The Hague last year already, but has otherwise relied to date on wholesale access to KPN’s network for its broadband service. This has not limited the company’s growth, with its broadband base increasing by 14,000 subscribers in Q1 to 616,000.

"The market showed healthy growth for a first quarter, but we expect customer growth likely slowed from late March," said Kamiel Albrecht, Telecompaper’s senior analyst for the fixed market. "With more people relying on broadband to work from home, they are less likely to change provider, in order to avoid any disruption to service. This could prove more positive for broadband revenues though, as consumers upgrade to faster speeds to accommodate more working, studying and entertainment at home."

The above figures are based on Telecompaper’s continuous research on the Dutch communications market. A full analysis of all the KPIs on the broadband market is available in the quarterly 'Dutch Broadband' report, the latest edition of which will be published in June. To order a copy of the report or receive a customised analysis, please contact research@telecompaper.com.