KPN plans to launch 4G services in Amsterdam and north Holland in early February and will take the services nationwide by mid-2014, the carrier said during a press conference. The 4G services will be available to consumers and businesses from 04 February in the Amsterdam region and north of the Randstad. The first cities to receive the service are Amsterdam, Alphen aan de Rijn, Amstelveen, Beverwijk, Haarlem, Purmerend and Zaandam.
KPN brand Hi will also be adding a new 4G plan from 04 February, the Hi XL 4G Abonnement. The plan for EUR 32.50 per month offers up to 4GB of data at LTE speeds. KPN will offer initially the 4G smartphones Nokia Lumia 920 and 820, Samsung S III 4G and Huawei Ascend P1, as well as the Galaxy Note 10.1 4G tablet from Samsung, a Huawei dongle for laptop users and 4G Wi-Fi hotspot from Huawei.KPN brand customers can access the 4G service with the existing 2.5GB plan for EUR 25 per month, with speeds up to 25Mbps. A new 4G Internet bundle of 5GB will also be introduced, for EUR 35 per month and speeds up to 50Mbps. Customers will be informed regularly during the month on their data use, and those with 4G subscriptions can switch to a higher or lower plan free.
All business customers will have access to LTE on smartphones, laptops and tablets. The existing business plans for smartphones BedrijfsBundel, BedrijfsFlexibel and BedrijfsOnbeperkt will be expanded with new 4G variants from 1GB per month. Prices for the 4G plans will be the same as the current 3G plans. Laptop/tablet offers will also get new 4G plans from 3GB per month. Business customers can switch to the plans at any time and also move to 4G at any time during their contract.
KPN started testing 4G in Amsterdam at the end of December using 800 MHz spectrum obtained during the auction last year. The company is also running a 4G TV campaign. The LTE network will offer download speeds up to 50Mbps, with average speeds of around 20Mbps. Uploading is expected to average around 10Mbps.
Eric-Jan Doorenbosch, KPN consumer mobile director, expects that many of the operator's mobile internet customers will switch to the 4G plans. The company's own research found that over 50 percent of Dutch consumers are looking forward to good access and national coverage for the 4G network. This rises to 70 percent among business users.
KPN is promoting 4G for consumers as a "a new mobile internet experience", which support services such as streaming video and music on the go in HD quality, online 3D gaming and HD video calls. For business customers, 4G will "bring new business applications into reach", such as fast file transfers and HD mobile videoconferencing with customers and colleagues.
From the start KPN is asking 4G customers to join a 4G community, with the aim of collecting feedback to improve the services. KPN said the ongoing dialogue will help it better understand how the services are used and can be improved.
