Vodafone said its performance in the consumer postpaid market was the best since its merger with Ziggo. Including business Sims, the company added a net 76,000 retail postpaid customers in Q3, for a total of nearly 4.7 million at the end of September. Its retail postpaid base is up 6.4 percent year-on-year, supported in large part by demand for its fixed-mobile converged packages.
While Vodafone had the highest net additions, it's still in third place in the market. KPN remains the biggest in the postpaid segment with almost 5.5 million retail subscribers. After a long period of losing customers, KPN managed to add 9,000 consumer postpaid subscribers in Q3. The company attributed the success to its unlimited data plan and the low-cost Simyo brand. KPN also added 8,000 postpaid Sims in the business market, the same as in Q3 2019.
T-Mobile continued to narrow the gap with KPN in the postpaid segment. While growth slowed slightly compared to the year-earlier period, T-Mobile still added a healthy 62,000 retail postpaid subscribers in Q3, taking it to a total of almost 5.4 million. Its base is up 5.1 percent year-on-year, compared to a 0.5 percent decline at KPN.
"At this rate, T-Mobile should overtake KPN in retail postpaid within a few quarters and become the largest in customer numbers," said Alejandra van de Roer, Telecompaper senior analyst for the Dutch mobile market. "It’s too early to say whether KPN has turned a corner yet. The discounted FMC price for its unlimited data offer likely is helping, but it may need to do more with its pricing and promotions if it hopes to continue any customer growth in the mobile market."
The above figures are based on Telecompaper’s Dutch Mobile Operators Q3 2020 report, which will be published in December. The quarterly report provides a full analysis of all the KPIs and trends on the mobile market, including a five-year revenue forecast. To order a copy of the latest edition of the report or receive a customised market analysis, please contact research@telecompaper.com.
