As part of its mobile plus strategy Vodafone Netherlands is launching its broadband and VoIP services for consumers, called Vodafone Vast Bellen en Internetten. Last year Vodafone bought Dutch virtual network operator TNF and started providing DSL service to business customers. According to Vodafone NL's CEO Guy Laurence this is developing quite well. Despite the high penetration on the Dutch broadband market, Vodafone thinks it can provide a favourable deal. The main driver for Vodafone to enter this market is to tap into new revenue sources and to get a share of the consumer's wallet for the fixed telephony and broadband market.
Vodafone thinks that consumers are willing to get services from one trusted brand and according to own research done by Vodafone, people are confident that Vodafone can offer DSL and VoIP services. Vodafone signed a wholesale agreement with Tiscali Netherlands for providing both DSL connections as well as VoIP and minute switching . Vodafone was aware of the forthcoming acquisition of Tiscali Netherlands by KPN, but sees no problem with this, because it does not influence Vodafone broadband offering, and/or ability to compete with KPN or other broadband providers. Tiscali's ADSL network offers currently a coverage of 60 percent, but this is expected to increase when the Tiscali wholesale department is integrated in the KPN wholesale operation.
Vodafone's Vast Bellen en Internetten comes in four varieties: 2048/1024 Kbps for EUR 29.50 per month; 4096/1024 Kbps for EUR 39.50; 8192/1024 Kbps for EUR 49.50 and 20.000/1024 Kbps for EUR 59.50 per month. The monthly fee includes is based on complete unbundling of the fixed telephony line. If customers want to keep their current KPN telephony connection, they receive a discount of EUR 9.50 per month. A spam filter is included in the service, while a virus filter costs EUR 1.50 per month extra. For EUR 7.50 extra per month, customers can make unlimited calls to Dutch fixed networks. Calls to Vodafone numbers cost EUR 0.10 per minute, and calls to the helpdesk are free of charge. Non-Vodafone mobile users receive a free SIM card to call the helpdesk. For existing Vodafone mobile users, who subscribe to a Vast Bellen and internetten subscription, Vodafone offers free calling to fixed lines during the weekend with maximum of 1,000 minutes.
