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ACM Telecom Monitor for Q1 2024: increase in fiber-optic and mobile-data consumption continues

In the first quarter of 2024, around 250,000 new fiber-optic connections were completed in the Netherlands. Additionally, the number of households with fiber-optic plans went up (+3.5%), as did mobile-data consumption (+1.7%) as well as the number of mobile-phone plans (+0.5%). Subscriptions with a bundle of three fixed services (broadband, television, and telephony) with the same provider have become less and less popular. These are some of the conclusions of the Telecom Monitor of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), which was published on June 24.

The monitor shows that more consumers opt for fast fiber-optic connections. In total, over 7.38 million households now have fiber-optic connections right in front of their homes. Of that group, more than one in three (2.92 million) has a fiber-optic plan. In the last quarter of 2023, 2.8 million households had active plans. The roll-out of fiber-optic is lagging behind in some parts of the Netherlands, according to the monitor’s fiber-optic map. In those areas, less fiber-optic is available than in other parts of the country. These areas include parts of the northern province of Groningen, of the western provinces of Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland, and of the southern provinces of Zeeland and Limburg. The number of households that take out services over coax or copper connections has decreased further. The number of copper connections in particular has dropped considerably. 

Decrease in bundles with three services

The once so popular combination of telephony, broadband, and television with the same provider is less and less in demand. More and more households choose bundles with two fixed services. According to the monitor, these latter bundles went up 2.8 percent compared with the previous quarter. This is, in part, because households that had bundles with three services have dropped the landline connection. Yet, new customers, too, take out the combination of only broadband and television more often. Additionally, ACM notices that consumers take out fixed plans in combination with mobile plans more and more often. Consumers often receive discounts on their fixed contracts and/or extra data for their mobile plans for combining those two. This quarter, bundles with fixed and mobile plans went up 0.3 percent to 3.65 million plans.

Trends in telephony

Landlines continue to fade away more and more from people’s day-to-day lives. The number of connections went down 0.8 percent to 4.23 million. In addition, voice minutes over landlines have decreased: a decline of 4.9 percent brought the total down to 1.16 billion minutes. This last quarter, slightly more mobile plans were taken out (+0.5%). The number of mobile voice minutes remained practically unchanged at 9.7 billion. Mobile-data consumption did see an upward trend with an increase of 1.7 percent, totaling 549 million gigabyte.

About the monitor

Each quarter, ACM publishes the Telecom Monitor. It gives an overview of the trends and developments in the telecom sector. The largest market participants in the telecom industry regularly submit data about their activities to ACM for the Telecom Monitor. ACM checks this information and, in that way, keeps a close watch on the trends and developments on the different markets. This data serves as a key foundation for ACM’s analyses. The trends and developments are presented in an interactive dashboard, which everybody can access.

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