Broadband connections over fibre networks in the Netherlands increased by 6.6% during the fourth quarter of 2014, taking the Dutch consumer broadband market to quarterly growth of 0.8%.
This led to a total of 6.916 million consumer broadband connections in the Netherlands on 31 December 2014, according to the latest research by Telecompaper.
Cable still accounted for almost half the connections and grew by 0.2% in Q4 to slightly more than 3.2 million broadband subscribers. The number of DSL lines decreased over the same period, by 0.1% to slightly less than 2.95 million.
The combined market share of Ziggo and UPC, which recently merged to form a near-national cable broadband network, amounted to 44.1% at the end of 2014. Ziggo alone accounted for 28% of broadband connections in the country, and UPC contributed a 16.1% market share. The merger makes the operator the largest broadband provider in the Netherlands, surpassing incumbent KPN, including its XS4ALL and Telfort brands. The latter saw its market share grow by 0.3% during the quarter to 40.1% at the end of 2014.
Despite the increasingly saturated market, Telecompaper expects the broadband market to grow by 2.2% in 2015. Continued growth in cable and fibre will offset the steady decrease in DSL users. For the period 2015-2019, Telecompaper expects a CAGR of 1.8% per year as the number of non-broadband households is diminishing, leaving less room for growth.
Telecompaper estimates the Dutch consumer broadband market was worth over EUR 500 million in retail revenue in the fourth quarter and over EUR 2 billion in the full year of 2014. Market revenues are expected to grow at a CAGR of 0.9 percent over the five-year period 2015-2019.