2007 Europe - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Benelux

Last updated: 14 Nov 2007 Update History

Report Status: Archived

Report Pages: 143

Analyst: Stephen McNamara

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Publication Overview

The Benelux countries are Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg, all of which are small countries by European standards, yet leaders in technology use. Trends and developments in telecommunications, mobile, Internet, broadband, digital TV and converging media including VoIP, VoD and IPTV developments. Subjects include:

Market and industry analyses, trends and developments
Facts, figures and statistics
Industry and regulatory issues
Research, Marketing, Benchmarking
Major Players, Revenues, Subscribers, Prepaid
VoIP, IPTV, VoD, digital TV and DTTV
Converged media

Executive Summary

BuddeComm’s latest Benelux Annual Publication, ‘2007 Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in the Benelux Market’, profiles three of Europe’s smaller but progressive telecom markets. Several sectors including mobile take-up and digital TV are influenced by the language and demographic landscape, as well as by the larger populations of neighbouring France and Germany. Luxembourg also hosts a number of European Union institutions, which has encouraged investment in telecom infrastructure.

Broadband developed strongly in these markets in 2007. The Netherlands retains the strongest broadband infrastructure in Europe and the greatest concentration of fibre deployment. Business models based on municipal involvement in infrastructure builds remains a keystone of national broadband success, which have influenced developments elsewhere in Europe.

This report presents a concise overview of sector liberalisation and privatisation in the Benelux countries, the development of product offerings for both mobile and broadband technologies, essential operator statistics in all telecom sectors, and the growing popularity of convergence and triple play services.

Key Highlights

Triple play services have become very popular in The Netherlands and Belgian, given the excellent broadband infrastructure in place and effective cross-platform competition which has dramatically reduced consumer prices for bundles services. By mid-2007 about 43% of Dutch households received bundled fixed-line telephony and broadband from the same provider.
The mobile market remains resilient, with operators focussing on migrating customers to higher ARPU 3G plans, so recouping significant investments in upgrading networks for HSDPA and EDGE technologies. Mobile TV is still a niche market, but network upgrades and a range of tested business models should establish the high-bandwidth mobile data sector as a real growth area in 2008.
Digital’s share of the total television market increased to about 40% in The Netherlands by mid-2007, while High Definition TV offers from Belgian operators were among the first deployed in Europe.
The Netherlands remains a key global broadband market, with one of the most comprehensive fibre networks built by network providers and a number of municipalities. The incumbent KPN is also building a national hybrid fibre / VDSL network open to all operators on a wholesale basis. The open access model will provide for greater competition in coming years, ensuring that the country remains a broadband leader with cutting edge IP-based content and services.
Luxembourg is rapidly becoming a key player in wireless broadband, with Luxembourg City and Cisco developing a comprehensive urban WiMAX network. Luxembourg was one of the few countries in Europe which had a rising number of new broadband subscribers in 2007.

Benelux broadband penetration - 2007

Country	Subscribers	Penetration
Belgium	3,340,000	32%
Luxembourg	147,000	32%
Netherlands	6,110,000	37%

(Source: BuddeComm)

For those needing high level strategic information and objective analysis on this region, this 140+ page report is essential reading and gives further information on:

Recent spectrum regulations and the further development of high-speed mobile access;
Triple play development, reaching into homes and changing domestic concepts of delivered entertainment;
New broadband business models based on municipal co-operation and funding;
The changing face of converged media with widespread triple play services becoming a standard feature in homes.

Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year.


1.	BELGIUM
1.1	Key statistics
1.2	Telecommunications market
1.2.1	Overview of Belgium’s telecom market
1.3	Regulatory environment
1.3.1	History
1.3.2	Regulatory authority
1.3.3	Telecom sector liberalisation in Belgium
1.4	Fixed network operators in Belgium
1.4.1	Belgacom
1.4.2	COLT Telecom NV
1.4.3	Mobistar
1.4.4	Scarlet (formerly KPN Belgium)
1.4.5	Tele2 Belgium
1.4.6	Telenet
1.4.7	Versatel Telecom
1.5	Telecommunications infrastructure
1.5.1	National telecom network
1.5.2	Next Generation Network (NGN)
1.5.3	International infrastructure
1.6	Broadband market
1.6.1	Overview
1.6.2	Cable modems
1.6.3	Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
1.6.4	Other DSL developments
1.6.5	Fibre-to-the-Home (FttH) networks
1.6.6	Broadband Powerline (BPL)
1.6.7	Wireless broadband
1.6.8	Broadband forecasts to 2017
1.7	Convergence
1.7.1	Overview of media convergence
1.7.2	Key general trends
1.7.3	Triple play models
1.7.4	Regulatory issues
1.7.5	Digital TV (DTV)
1.8	Mobile communications
1.8.1	Overview of Belgium’s mobile market
1.8.2	Regulatory issues
1.8.3	Mobile technologies
1.8.4	Major mobile operators
1.8.5	Mobile voice services
1.8.6	Mobile data services
1.8.7	Mobile applications
2.	LUXEMBOURG
2.1	Key statistics
2.2	Telecommunications market
2.2.1	Overview of Luxembourg’s telecom market
2.3	Regulatory environment
2.3.1	History
2.3.2	Regulatory authorities
2.3.3	Telecom sector liberalisation in Luxembourg
2.4	Fixed network operators in Luxembourg
2.4.1	P&T Luxembourg
2.4.2	Cegecom
2.4.3	Tele2
2.4.4	Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
2.5	Telecommunications infrastructure
2.5.1	National telecom network
2.6	Broadband and Internet market
2.6.1	Overview
2.6.2	Cable modems
2.6.3	Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
2.6.4	Wireless broadband
2.6.5	Internet via satellite
2.6.6	Broadband forecasts to 2017
2.7	Convergence
2.7.1	Overview of media convergence
2.7.2	Digital TV (DTV)
2.8	Mobile communications
2.8.1	Overview of Luxembourg’s mobile market
2.8.2	Regulatory issues
2.8.3	Mobile technologies
2.8.4	Major mobile operators
2.8.5	Mobile data services
3.	NETHERLANDS
3.1	Key statistics
3.2	Telecommunications market
3.2.1	Overview of the Netherlands’ telecom market
3.3	Regulatory environment
3.3.1	History
3.3.2	Regulatory authority
3.3.3	Telecom sector liberalisation in The Netherlands
3.4	Fixed network operators in The Netherlands
3.4.1	Overview of operators
3.5	Telecommunications infrastructure
3.5.1	National telecom network
3.5.2	International infrastructure
3.5.3	Regulatory issues
3.6	Broadband market
3.6.1	Overview
3.6.2	Cable modems
3.6.3	Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
3.6.4	Fibre-to-the-Home (FttH) networks
3.6.5	Broadband Powerline (BPL)
3.6.6	Wireless broadband
3.6.7	Broadband forecasts to 2017
3.7	Convergence
3.7.1	Overview of media convergence
3.7.2	Key general trends
3.7.3	Triple play models
3.7.4	Regulator issues
3.7.5	Digital TV
3.8	Mobile communications
3.8.1	Overview of The Netherlands’ mobile market
3.8.2	Regulatory issues
3.8.3	Mobile technologies
3.8.4	Major mobile operators
3.8.5	Mobile voice services
3.8.6	Mobile data services
4.	GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS

Exhibit 1 – WiMAX spectrum licenses – 2001 - 2005
Exhibit 2 – Plan of action and targets – 2003 - 2015

Table 1 – Country statistics Belgium – 2007
Table 2 – Telephone network statistics – 2005
Table 3 – Internet user statistics – June 2007
Table 4 – Broadband statistics – March 2007
Table 5 – Mobile statistics – June 2007
Table 6 – National telecommunications authority
Table 7 – Market share of households by sector – 2002 - 2005
Table 8 – LLU, shared access price - connection, monthly rental – 2004 - 2006
Table 9 – Unbundled loops and access lines – 2004 - 2007
Table 10 – Analogue access channels - PSTN, ISDN-2, ISDN-30 – 2000 - 2005
Table 11 – BRUO and BROBA monthly access fees
Table 12 – Fixed numbers ported (regulator data) – 2000 - 2005
Table 13 – Fixed number portings (EC data) – 2005 - 2006
Table 14 – Fixed numbers ported and annual change – 2000 - 2005
Table 15 – Belgacom residential access channels and annual change – 2006 - 2007
Table 16 – Belgacom residential traffic by sector and annual change – 2006 - 2007
Table 17 – Belgacom financial statistics – 2003 - 2006
Table 18 – Belgacom revenue by sector and annual change – 2004 - 2006
Table 19 – Belgacom fixed-line services revenue annual change – 2005 - 2006
Table 20 – Belgacom revenue share by sector – 2005 - 2006
Table 21 – Belgacom ARPU by sector, annual change – 2005 - 2007
Table 22 – Mobistar financial statistics and annual change – 2005 - 2006
Table 23 – Telenet financial statistics and annual change – 2005 - 2006
Table 24 – Telenet revenue by sector – 2003 - 2006
Table 25 – Telenet subscribers by sector – 2005 – 2007
Table 26 – Versatel operating statistics – 2005 – 2007
Table 27 – Versatel subscriber statistics – 2005 – 2007
Table 28 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1995 - 2005
Table 29 – New broadband lines per year / day – 2004 - 2007
Table 30 – Internet users and penetration – 1995 – 2007
Table 31 – Broadband subscribers statistics and penetration (cable modem & DSL) – 2000 - 2007
Table 32 – Broadband market share by sector – 2002 - 2005
Table 33 – Cable modem subscribers – 2000 - 2006
Table 34 – Telenet broadband subscribers – 2002 - 2007
Table 35 – UPC Belgium subscriber statistics – 2006
Table 36 – ADSL subscribers – 2000 - 2007
Table 37 – Belgacom ADSL subscribers – 2000 - 2007
Table 38 – Bitstream and wholesale subscribers – 2002 - 2007
Table 39 – WLL broadband subscribers – 2005 - 2007
Table 40 – Forecast broadband subscriber growth – stronger market growth scenario – 2007 - 2011; 2017
Table 41 – Forecast broadband subscriber growth – weaker market growth scenario – 2007 - 2011; 2017
Table 42 – Belgacom TV subscribers and ARPU – 2006 - 2007
Table 43 – Belgacom TV financials – 2006
Table 44 – Cable TV subscriber statistics and penetration – 1995 - 2006
Table 45 – Telenet operating statistics – 2005 - 2007
Table 46 – Telenet monthly ARPU – 2005 - 2006
Table 47 – UPC Belgium statistics per market segment – 2005 - 2006
Table 48 – Satellite TV subscribers – 1995 - 2006
Table 49 – Mobile operators, technology, subscribers and annual change – June 2007
Table 50 – Mobile subscribers and teledensity – 1995 – 2007
Table 51 – Outgoing minutes – 2002 - 2005
Table 52 – Market share by operator – 2006
Table 53 – Market share by operator - historical – 2002 - 2005
Table 54 – Market share of net adds by operator – 2005 - 2006
Table 55 – Mobile termination tariffs – 2006 - 2008
Table 56 – Annual mobile numbers portings – 2002 - 2005
Table 57 – Mobile number portings (EC data) – 2005 - 2006
Table 58 – Proximus revenue by sector and annual change – 2004 - 2006
Table 59 – Proximus subscriber statistics prepaid and contract – 2005 - 2007
Table 60 – Proximus ARPU, market share and annual change – 2006 - 2007
Table 61 – Mobistar subscribers and ARPU – 2005 - 2007
Table 62 – BASE financial statistics and annual change – 2005 - 2006
Table 63 – BASE revenue – 2005 - 2007
Table 64 – BASE ARPU contract and prepaid – 2005 - 2007
Table 65 – BASE prepaid and contract subscribers – 2004 - 2007
Table 66 – BASE net adds: prepaid and contract – 2005 - 2007
Table 67 – Proximus prepaid and contract subscribers – 2004 - 2007
Table 68 – Mobistar subscriber statistics – percentage contract and prepaid – 2003 - 2007
Table 69 – Proximus SMS messages / subscriber / month and annual change – 2006 - 2007
Table 70 – Premium SMS market overview
Table 71 – Country statistics Luxembourg – 2007
Table 72 – Telephone network statistics – 2005
Table 73 – Internet user statistics – June 2007
Table 74 – Broadband statistics – Sept 2006
Table 75 – Mobile statistics – 2007
Table 76 – National telecommunications authorities
Table 77 – Fixed-line revenue – 2003 – 2005*
Table 78 – Telecom licences in Luxembourg – 2005*
Table 79 – Fixed services revenue – 2003 – 2005*
Table 80 – Fixed services revenue – 2003 – 2005*
Table 81 – Fixed services traffic – 2004 – 2005*
Table 82 – Overall fixed and mobile revenue – 2004 – 2005*
Table 83 – Fixed and mobile subscription revenue and annual change – 2005*
Table 84 – Unbundled loops and access lines – 2004 - 2007
Table 85 – LLU, shared access price - connection, monthly rental – 2004 - 2006
Table 86 – Fixed numbers ported – 2002 - 2006
Table 87 – P&T Luxembourg total revenue – 2001 - 2005
Table 88 – P&T Luxembourg telecom revenue – 2001 - 2005
Table 89 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1995 – 2004*
Table 90 – Broadband market revenue – 2003 - 2005
Table 91 – Internet users and penetration – 1995 - 2007
Table 92 – Total broadband subscribers and penetration – 2001 - 2007
Table 93 – Broadband subscribers by type, provider – Oct 2006
Table 94 – LuxDSL subscribers and annual change – 2004 - 2005
Table 95 – Forecast broadband subscriber growth – stronger market growth scenario – 2007 - 2011; 2017
Table 96 – Forecast broadband subscriber growth – weaker market growth scenario – 2007 - 2011; 2017
Table 97 – Mobile operators, technology, subscribers and annual growth – 2006
Table 98 – Mobile subscribers and penetration – 1996 - 2007
Table 99 – Market share by operator – 2005 - 2006
Table 100 – Mobile services revenue – 2004 - 2005
Table 101 – On-net (within the network) traffic – 2004 - 2005
Table 102 – SMS messages sent and annual change – 2004 – 2005
Table 103 – Mobile numbers ported – 2005 - 2006
Table 104 – LuxGSM mobile revenue and annual change – 2004 - 2005
Table 105 – Country statistics Netherlands – 2007
Table 106 – Telephone network statistics – 2005
Table 107 – Internet user statistics – June 2007
Table 108 – Broadband statistics – March 2007
Table 109 – Mobile statistics – March 2007
Table 110 – National telecommunications authorities
Table 111 – Fixed-to-mobile interconnections tariffs - 2007 - 2009
Table 112 – Unbundled loops and access lines – 2004 - 2007
Table 113 – LLU, shared access price - connection, monthly rental – 2004 - 2006
Table 114 – Number portability status - 2002 - 2006
Table 115 – Fixed network channels – 1999 - 2005
Table 116 - Households with fixed telephony, by operator – 2004 - 2006
Table 117 - Market share of alternative fixed-line providers – September 2006
Table 118 - Households with fixed telephony, by technology – 2003 - 2005
Table 119 – KPN net line loss – 2005 - 2007
Table 120 – KPN network channels, PSTN, ISDN - consumer voice – 2005 - 2007
Table 121 – KPN fixed-line revenue and annual change – 2007
Table 122 – KPN subscribers by sector, market share – 2005 - 2007
Table 123 – Traffic minutes (billion) and annual change – 2005 - 2007
Table 124 – KPN voice consumer market share – 2004 - 2007
Table 125 – KPN financial statistics – 2006 - 2007
Table 126 – KPN revenue by sector – 2005 - 2006
Table 127 – UPC Nederland statistics – 2004 - 2007
Table 128 – UPC Netherlands revenue and annual change – 2005 - 2006
Table 129 – Versatel (Dutch) DSL subscribers – 2005 - 2006
Table 130 – Versatel (Dutch) revenue, EBITDA and CAPEX – 2005 - 2006
Table 131 – Versatel (Dutch) subscriber statistics by type – 2005 - 2006
Table 132 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1995 - 2005
Table 133 – KPN wholesale operating statistics – 2004 - 2007
Table 134 – Broadband household and IP-VPN penetration – 2002 - 2007
Table 135 – Main ISPs, and subscriber base – June 2007
Table 136 – Share of broadband market – September 2006
Table 137 – Broadband market share – 2004 - 2005
Table 138 – Broadband penetration in Internet households – 2004 - 2007
Table 139 – Total broadband subscribers (cable modem, xDSL, fibre) – 1999 - 2007
Table 140 – Broadband penetration – 1999 - 2007
Table 141 – Broadband subscribers by operator – June 2007
Table 142 – Cable modem subscribers – 2000 - 2007
Table 143 – UPC Nederland cable and Internet subscribers – 2004 - 2007
Table 144 – KPN consumer retail broadband subscribers and annual change – June 2007
Table 145 – ADSL subscribers – 2000 - 2007
Table 146 – KPN consumer DSL subscribers – 2005 - 2007
Table 147 – Analogue / digital leased line use – 2003 - 2005
Table 148 – KPN broadband accesses – 2005 - 2006
Table 149 – Forecast fibre subscriber growth – 2007 - 2011; 2017
Table 150 – WiFi hotspots by major players – 2005
Table 151 – Forecast broadband subscriber growth – stronger market growth scenario – 2007 - 2011; 2017
Table 152 – Forecast broadband subscriber growth – weaker market growth scenario – 2007 - 2011; 2017
Table 153 – Proportion of households with products from a single provider – 2004 - 2006
Table 154 – Cable and satellite TV statistics per market segments and penetration – 1998 - 2005
Table 155 – Average TV subscription fees by infrastructure – 2006
Table 156 – TV distribution infrastructure market share – 2005 - 2006
Table 157 – VoIP subscribers and quarterly change – 2005 - 2007
Table 158 – KPN VoIP subscribers – 2006 - 2007
Table 159 – TV homes, cable subscribers and penetration – 1998 - 2005
Table 160 – Cable TV penetration – selected European countries comparison – 2005
Table 161 – Cable TV operators’ estimated market shares – 2003; 2005 - 2006
Table 162 – UPC Nederland statistics per market segment – 2004 - 2007
Table 163 – @Home subscriber statistics – June 2007
Table 164 – Casema subscribers by sector – June 2006
Table 165 – Essent Kabelcom subscribers by sector – June 2006
Table 166 – Satellite TV subscribers and penetration – 2002 - 2006
Table 167 – Mobile services market – 2004 - 2007
Table 168 – Mobile operators, technology, subscribers and annual growth – Q4 2006
Table 169 – Total mobile subscribers and penetration (regulator data) – 1997 - 2007
Table 170 – Subscribers (millions) and market share by operator (historic) – 2003 - 2005
Table 171 – Market share by operator – Q4 2006
Table 172 – 3G licence awards (spectrum, spectrum fees and admin fees) - July 2000
Table 173 – Mobile termination tariffs – 2006 - 2008
Table 174 – Mobile number portability status - 2001 - 2006
Table 175 – Average monthly ARPU - 2005 - 2006
Table 176 – Mobile subscribers – 1998 - 2007
Table 177 – KPN Mobile retail subscribers – 2006 - 2007
Table 178 – KPN Mobile wholesale subscribers and annual change – 2007
Table 179 – KPN international revenue and annual change – 2007
Table 180 – KPN mobile market share – revenue – 2004 - 2005
Table 181 – KPN market share – subscribers – 2004 - 2005
Table 182 – KPN Mobile financial statistics and annual change – 2005 - 2006
Table 183 – KPN Mobile ARPU – 2005 - 2006
Table 184 – Vodafone Netherlands financial statistics – 2005 - 2006
Table 185 – Vodafone Netherlands subscribers, blended ARPU and voice minutes – 2004 - 2007
Table 186 – T-Mobile (Netherlands) subscribers, revenue, EBITDA, ARPU and annual change – 2006 - 2007
Table 187 – MVNO subscriber numbers and market shares – March 2006
Table 188 – MVNO subscribers – 2005 - 2006
Table 189 – Prepaid subscribers by operator – 2004 - 2005
Table 190 – KPN Mobile prepaid subscribers – 2006 - 2007
Table 191 – KPN Mobile net adds: prepaid / contract – 2005 - 2007
Table 192 – Premium SMS market overview – 2005
Table 193 – KPN’s i-mode subscribers - 2002 - 2005

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