KPN deploys three million telephone lines and pushes customers to more expensive fiber optic | Tech

Fiber optic networks are currently being installed throughout our country. KPN has already connected 59 percent of all households to its fiber optic network, the company reports in its quarterly figures for the first quarter of this year.

Wherever KPN has installed its own fiber optic network, the provider turns off the old-fashioned telephone line. The fiber optic cable replaces the telephone line. KPN says it has already turned off the telephone lines at more than three million homes.

This does not mean that people who still call via the landline have lost their telephone line and telephone number. If your telephone line is turned off, you will now call via KPN’s fiber optic network.

But turning off the telephone line does mean that competition disappears. In the mid-1990s, the telecom market was privatized and KPN became the owner of the national telephone network. In return, KPN had to allow competitors onto the telephone network.

This allows you to take out internet subscriptions from other providers via the telephone line. These are 10 to 15 euros per month cheaper than KPN’s offer.

KPN is paying for the installation of the fiber optic network itself. As a result, KPN is not obliged to allow competitors to its fiber optic network. But to keep supervisory authority Consumer & Markets (ACM) satisfied, the provider voluntarily allows competitors to its fiber optic network.

This means you can take out an internet subscription to KPN’s fiber optic network at Odido, Online.nl or Budget, for example. But in practice, these companies cost you more than KPN itself. As a result, there is actually no competition on KPN’s fiber optic network, as there was on the telephone line.

In areas where companies such as Delta or Open Dutch Fiber are installing fiber optic networks, KPN does not turn off the telephone line. This way, KPN can continue to compete with local fiber optic providers in these areas. In these regions you see that fiber optic subscriptions are sometimes up to 10 euros cheaper than KPN’s comparable fiber optic offer.

KPN increases the prices for its internet subscriptions every year. Last year, rates for internet subscriptions increased by 6.4 percent. Prices for mobile subscriptions even rose by 8.4 percent last October. These price increases are reflected in the provider’s turnover.

Revenue from internet subscriptions increased by 3.6 percent to 450 million euros compared to the first quarter of last year. Each internet customer provides KPN with an average turnover of 54 euros per month, according to the quarterly figures.

Due to interest and taxes, KPN’s net profit fell by 11 percent. In the first quarter of last year, net profit was 196 million euros, in the first three months of this year it was 175 million euros.

Yet KPN is not doing badly. Economists mainly look at operating profit. This increased by 6.8 percent compared to last year to 337 million euros. The price increases that have been implemented are clearly visible.