VodafoneZiggo outperforms in contracting Dutch business market, share passes 30%

VodafoneZiggo expanded its share of the Dutch business telecom market to over 30 percent of revenues in the second quarter of 2019. The operator is steadily winning share over incumbent KPN in the past year, driven by customer gains in the mobile and broadband segments, according to Telecompaper’s latest quarterly Business Market Insight report.

VodafoneZiggo passed a 30 percent share of revenues for the first time since Vodafone and Ziggo merged in 2017 to create a new challenger to KPN. The company’s share rose 2.3 percent points over the past year, while KPN dropped by 2.7 points to just over 46 percent of revenues in Q2.

Business market contracts 2.6%

Overall, the Dutch business telecom market fell 2.6 percent to EUR 588 million in revenues in the quarter, hurt by ongoing price pressure across most services. VodafoneZiggo outperformed, with revenues up 5.5 percent year-on-year. The company is adding customers still in the depressed mobile market and posted strong gains in broadband, the only segment of the business market still growing. Business revenues at KPN, including all its brands such as Telfort and Yes Telecom, meanwhile fell 7.9 percent in Q2.

T-Mobile, including Tele2 since the start of this year, had a more mixed performance in Q2 and achieved a market share of just under 12 percent of revenues. T-Mobile folded the Tele2 business mobile activities into its own operation in August, under the name @Work, which could see it increase the focus on the business market in the coming quarters.

"VodafoneZiggo showed a significant increase in advertising in Q2, which clearly helped grow its customer numbers and revenues," said Kamiel Albrecht, Telecompaper senior analyst and co-author of the report. "The company appears to be growing especially among small businesses, helped by a simple offer focused on fast broadband and benefits for bundling fixed and mobile. In the fixed broadband market, the company is likely to surpass KPN as the biggest business provider in revenue terms by year-end."

VodafoneZiggo is already market leader in the SOHO segment (1-4 workers) of the fixed broadband market, with nearly 55 percent of revenues. This is the fastest growing segment of the Dutch business telecom market, with revenues up nearly 13 percent year-on-year in Q2 2019. The growth is driven in part by the growing number of self-employed people in the Netherlands, often working from home.