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NMa: Dutch telecom company KPN adjusts its business phone contracts

KPN’s move boosts competition

The Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa) expects that competition on the business fixed-telephony market will get a boost now that Dutch telecom company KPN has made a commitment to the NMa that it will adjust its business contracts.

In recent years, KPN introduced new contract terms for its business customers for fixed-telephony with regard to its so-called ‘Zakelijk BelBasis’ contracts. Numerous business customers with multiple phone contracts were thus faced with different termination dates. It became much harder for these customers to accept offers from competitors. KPN will solve this issue by giving its customers the option of terminating all of their contracts with a single end date for all connections. KPN will not charge these customers the early-termination fee as long as they respect the termination period of three months. If these customers wish to terminate their contracts within three months after all, KPN will then charge a lower early-termination fee than before because KPN uses a different calculation method now. All of KPN’s business customers will be informed of these changes in writing.

On January 1, 2013, the NMa will merge with the Netherlands Consumer Authority and the Independent Post and Telecommunications Authority of the Netherlands (OPTA), creating a new authority: The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). This new authority aims to ensure that markets work in order to protect consumer interests. To this end, the ACM will focus on three main themes: consumer protection, industry-specific regulation, and competition oversight.