As part of its mobile plus strategy, Vodafone Netherlands has unveiled 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. This service is going quite well, Vodafone NL's CEO Guy Laurence told Telecompaper. 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 believes that consumers want to get services from one trusted brand, and according to own research, people trust Vodafone to offer DSL and VoIP services. To be able to offer the services, Vodafone has signed a wholesale agreement with Tiscali Netherlands which covers the DSL connections as well as VoIP and minute switching .Vodafone indicated it is aware of the forthcoming acquisition of Tiscali Netherlands by KPN, but sees no problem with this, as it does not change Vodafone's broadband offering, and/or ability to compete with KPN or other broadband providers. Tiscali's ADSL network currently offers a coverage of 60 percent, but this is expected to increase when the Tiscali wholesale department is integrated into KPN's 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 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 are charged at 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.
