I find this quite objectionable. As is better described in the article on nu.nl, people are forced to take out a more expensive contract, while I estimate that at least 75% of subscribers do not need 500mbit or more of bandwidth at all. There is a large group for whom a small subscription of 50mbit or 100mbit is sufficient and who would rather pay less than ~ €55 per month for a fast fiber optic subscription.
In addition, KPN has acquired a reasonable monopoly position with its XGS-pon / pon. While competition on d xDsl was still lively, the choice at PON is limited and the price of competitors’ subscriptions is not lower than that of KPN (see the nu.nl article).
In addition, there are people (I know plenty of examples) who have been KPN DSL subscribers for decades, and therefore use KPN’s email address as their main email address (often elderly). They have no need for a fast fiber optic subscription at all, but they cannot switch to Ziggo because they would lose their email address and therefore have nowhere to go.
In short: it’s great that fiber optic is being rolled out and that DSL is being switched off, but what I’m missing is an alternative to XDSL in the form of a 50/100mbit subscription, very simple, with TV included, for say €35 – €40. – per month all-in. Because don’t forget: for (some) tweakers it is nice, all those super fast fiber optic packages, but for many people who have no affinity with IT and an internet subscription is a necessary evil, it is €55 (or more) per month a lot of money for something they hardly use, and could probably use the money better for other things.
