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ACM Telecom Monitor: mobile-data consumption in the Netherlands in 2019 ten times as much as five years before

In the Netherlands, consumption of mobile data using 4G networks was ten times as high in 2019 as it was five years before. More than 700 billion MB of 4G data was consumed in 2019, which is 650 billion MB more than in 2015. Consumption of 3G data over the past five years has remained stable, at approximately 50 billion MB per year. This is one of the conclusions of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) in its Telecom Monitor for the second half of 2019, which was published today.

The number of text messages has decreased by ten percent over the past five years. However, the Dutch have called fifteen percent more in 2019 than five years before. The increase in data consumption has already been going on for several years, and this trend has continued in 2019. In 2019, total consumption was 32 percent higher than in 2018. Compared with five years ago, the number of machine-to-machine (M2M) connections increased by 4 million, to 6.7 million connections. These connections include cars or devices (such as smoke detectors, alarm systems and smart energy meters) that exchange information, using an internet connection, with the digital systems of the operators of those devices.

Broadband connections of households

More and more households have fast broadband connections. The percentage of households connected to the Internet at 30Mbps (Megabit per second) or higher was 91.7 percent in 2019. In 2015, this was just 65.5 percent. The percentage of households with connections of 30Mbps of lower was 8.3 percent in 2019, compared with 34.5 percent in 2015. By the end of 2019, almost half of all households had an internet connection of 100Mbps or higher.

Increase in bundling of fixed and mobile services

More and more consumers take out bundles that combine mobile plans with fixed services, for example television + fixed telephony + broadband access + mobile plans. The number of fixed-mobile bundles has increased rapidly since 2015 from almost 500,000 connections in 2015 to 2.7 million by the end of 2019.

Market shares of telecom providers

Based on mobile data consumption, the market share of mobile operator T-Mobile (including Tele2) was nearly half of all data in 2019. KPN's market share with regard to mobile-data consumption was between 25 and 30 percent, and VodafoneZiggo's market share was between 15 and 20 percent. The three largest providers in the Netherlands each have a market share of between 20 and 30 percent on the mobile-connections market.

About the Telecom Monitor

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.

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