The number of fixed telephony connections rose in the Netherlands by 47,000 during the second quarter to 6.08 million lines, returning to levels not seen since Telecompaper began reporting on the fixed telephony market in 2006. Recovery was attributed to growth in the number of consumer VoIP subscriptions, up 2.5 percent in the quarter to 4.56 million and offsetting a 4.9 percent drop in PSTN/ISDN connections to 1.23 million lines, according to Telecompaper’s latest Dutch Fixed Telephony Market report.
The VoIP market was led by cable operators, which witnessed a 2.2 percent increase in telephony lines to 2.41 million. DSL VoIP returned to growth of 0.4 percent during the quarter, reaching 1.85 million lines. The remaining VoIP lines were used by FTTH/B customers.
As a result of the strong first half, Telecompaper has upped its market forecast for 2012. Fixed telephony is now expected to go 2.0 percent higher, with VoIP offsetting the continued decrease in PSTN/ISDN and WLR users. VoIP lines are expected to increase around 10 percent. Growth will be driven by more operators offering triple-play packages via multiple networks, as Tele2 and Scarlet have started doing on FTTH networks, complementing their existing offers via DSL. This followed similar launches by KPN, Telfort, XS4ALL and Vodafone.
