Vodafone said the agreement with KPN will provide the basis for turning the company from a mobile operator to a provider of a complete package of communication services. The company will be able to compete more efficiently on the broadband market as a result, Vodafone said.
Vodafone is already active on the Dutch fixed market and counted 61,000 customers at the end of June. Under the name Vodafone Thuis ('Vodafone at home'), the company offers triple-play services over fibre since the start of 2014 and also over DSL since October 2014. Under the new agreement, Vodafone will gain access to the upgrades on KPN's network, such as VDSL vectoring, which offers speeds of up to 100 Mbps.
KPN said the ACM has approved its wholesale agreements with Tele2, M7 and Vodafone. As part of its decision on the unbundled access market, the regulator allowed the operators to negotiate the terms of the offer themselves. The ACM then checked whether it met the regulatory requirements and will monitor adherence to the terms. The ACM said the new agreements were positive, as they will provide long-term certainty for the market, supporting further network investment.
Tele2 agreed to virtual unbundled access (Vula) with KPN, while M7 and Vodafone will take wholesale broadband access. These services are expected to replace the current MDF access on the DSL network, which will not be technically possible following the upgrade to new VDSL techniques. The Vula agreement will serve as the basis for KPN's reference offer to the market. KPN aims to start offering Vula services in September.
