The Dutch mobile communication services market generated revenues of EUR 1.54 billion in the first quarter, up 0.6 percent from the fourth quarter, according to Telecompaper's quarterly market review. Year-on-year, revenues rose 7.5 percent. The total mobile customer base in the Netherlands reached 18.189 million, equal to a penetration rate of over 111 percent. The postpay market was responsible for the increase in subscribers, gaining almost 10 times as many customers as the prepay segment. While the market bucked the usual seasonal trend for a decline in Q1 revenues, Telecompaper still expects limited growth or a flat performance for the full year 2007 due to expected cuts in mobile termination rates in the second half of the year.
All of the four major network operators - KPN, Orange, Vodafone and T-Mobile - posted a rise in Q1 services revenues, but KPN was the only operator to increase market share. The market leader saw its share of service revenues rise to 47.4 percent, while Vodafone came in second at 26.7 percent, T-Mobile at 17.5 percent and Orange at 8.1 percent. Non-voice service revenues hit an all-time high in the quarter, with a year-on-year increase of EUR 59.3 million or 25.9 percent. All operators grew non-voice revenues both sequentially and year-on-year.
