ACM Telecom Monitor: mobile-data consumption of Dutch over 200 billion MB

In the first quarter of 2020, consumption of mobile data over 4G increased to over 200 billion MB for the first time ever. Mobile-data consumption over 3G and 4G totaled 214 billion MB, compared with 159 billion MB in Q1 2019, which is an increase of 34.5 percent. The increase in data consumption is a trend that has been apparent for several years now. This is one of the conclusions of the Telecom Monitor for the first quarter of 2020, which the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) published today. It is not possible to deduce from these figures what share of this increase is related to the measures taken by the Dutch government at the end of Q1 in connection with the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, calling on people to stay at home and/or to work from home.

Mobile telephony and broadband telephony, too, increased in the first quarter of 2020, compared with the first quarter of 2019. That is a notable development because the number of call minutes had actually gone down in the prior quarters. The biggest share of the increase is caused by an increase in calls made in the Netherlands, especially fixed-to-mobile calls.

Mobile and fixed

The number of mobile connections went up to 20,257,000, an increase of 4 percent compared with Q1 2019. Call minutes over traditional telephony (such as ISDN and PSTN) dropped from approximately 430 million minutes in Q1 2019 to 340 million minutes in Q1 2020, which is a decrease of 21 percent. The number of text messages decreased, too: in the first quarter of 2020, 10 percent fewer text messages were sent than in Q1 2019.

Machine-to-machine applications

Machine-to-machine applications (M2M) are becoming increasingly important. For example, think of cars or devices (such as smoke detectors, alarm systems, and smart energy meters) that use the Internet to exchange information with the digital systems of the operators of those machines or devices. The number of M2M-connections went up to over 7 million, an increase of 35 percent compared with Q1 2019.

Broadband connections of households

In the Netherlands, approximately 7.45 million households have a broadband connection. Of those 7.45 million households, 47 percent have a cable connection, 34 percent have a copper connection, and 19 percent have a fiber-optic connection. Almost half of these households have a very fast broadband connection of 100 Mbps (Megabit per second) or higher. In the Netherlands, 3.35 million households have a fiber-optic connection, of which 1.4 million households actually take out fiber-optic services.

Increase in bundles of fixed and mobile services

More and more consumers use bundles that combine mobile plans with fixed services, for example television + fixed telephony + broadband access + mobile plans. The number of fixed-mobile bundles was 2.76 million in the first quarter of 2020, which is an increase of 8 percent compared with 2.76 million in Q1 2019. The number of bundles with fixed services without mobile was 4.17 million.

Market share of telecom providers

The three largest operators each have a market share of 20 to 30 percent in terms of mobile connections. In the first quarter of 2020, the market share of T-Mobile (including Tele2) based on mobile data consumption was more than half of all data. KPN’s market share was between 20 and 25 percent, and VodafoneZiggo’s market share was between 15 and 20 percent. On the broadband market, VodafoneZiggo is the largest operator with a market share of 45 to 50 percent. KPN is second with a market share of 40 to 45 percent. T-Mobile has a market share of 10 to 15 percent, and Delta Fiber Nederland’s market share is less than 5 percent.

About the Telecom Monitor

Each quarter (previously every six months), ACM publishes the market figures for the telecommunication sector in its Telecom Monitor. Based on data from the most important market participants in the telecom industry, the Telecom Monitor gives an overview of the trends and developments in mobile services, fixed telephony, broadband, television, business network services, and bundles.