Acm.nl uses cookies to analyze how the website is used, and to improve the user experience. Read more about cookies

ACM Telecom Monitor Q1 2025: Majority of households uses fiber-optic to go online

Summary

  • The majority of households now uses fiber-optic to go online.
  • Consumption of mobile data increased further.
  • Other telecom trends also continue to evolve.

Fiber-optic had already been on the rise, but, in the first quarter of 2025, the number of households with fiber-optic plans exceeded for the first time the number of households with cable-based broadband plans. This has been revealed by the latest figures in the Telecom Monitor of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), which was published on July 8. The monitor also reveals that other trends from previous quarters continue to evolve. For example, mobile-data consumption further increased, while we call and text by mobile phone less and less. Fixed telephony lost ground again, too.

Data from the network owners reveals that, in the first quarter, 3.16 million households still took out fixed broadband over cable (coax), and 3.27 million did so over fiber-optic. In the previous quarter, these numbers were 3.21 million and 3.19 million, respectively. The number of households with copper connections continues to go down, and currently sits at 1.97 million active plans. Telecom operators KPN and VodafoneZiggo still dominate the broadband market, each having a market share of 35 to 40 percent. The roll-out of fiber-optic to homes is steadily progressing. For example, fiber-optic is slowly rolled out in parts of the Netherlands where fewer fiber-optic connections had previously been available, such as the province of Zeeland (more specifically, in the regions of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and Zuid-Beveland), and in the northern part of the province of Drenthe, as evidenced by the fiber-optic map.

Other telecom trends

Demand for the once so popular combination of telephony, broadband, and television services with the same provider has gone down further. In the first quarter, the number of these “all-in-one bundles” was sitting at just 780,000 plans. Most households choose a bundle with two fixed services, where the combination of broadband and television services is, by far, the most popular with 2.82 million active plans. In addition, the combination of mobile and fixed services is becoming more and more popular. The number of such subscriptions is also growing slowly but steadily.

Even though the Dutch consume more data using their mobile phones (619 million gigabytes in the first quarter), they call and text less and less using their mobile phones. The number of text messages in particular is going down significantly compared with the previous quarter. In the last quarter of 2024, 481 million text messages were still sent. In the first quarter of 2025, 464 million messages were sent. On the mobile market, KPN and Odido remain the market leaders. Fixed telephony lost ground again. Just 3.90 million households and businesses have fixed connections.

About the monitor

Each quarter, ACM publishes the Telecom Monitor. It gives an overview of the trends in the telecom sector. The largest market participants in the telecom industry regularly submit data about their activities. 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 are presented in an interactive dashboard, which everybody can access.

See also

Back to top