The drop in revenues was limited thanks to the continued strong growth in messaging and data services. However, revenues from voice services declined both compared to the fourth quarter (3.7%) and to the same period last year (6.2%).
Leading market research firm Telecompaper expects the market to grow at most 3 percent this year. “Growing demand for mobile data services will drive overall market growth, but reductions in roaming prices and mobile termination rates will keep voice revenues under pressure this year,” said Alejandra van de Roer, Telecompaper senior analyst and author of Telecompaper’s quarterly mobile market monitor for The Netherlands.
Vodafone Netherlands showed the strongest overall performance. Vodafone was the only operator to increase revenues and market share, reaching a strong second place in the market with 29.0 percent of all revenues. KPN's market share declined from 46.7 percent to 45.9 percent, while T-Mobile dropped half a percent point to 25.1 percent market share.
In terms of mobile subscribers, the Dutch market increased by 346,000 in the first quarter, to a total 19.657 million customers. Market penetration rose to 119.7 percent at the end of March, from 117.7 percent at the end of 2007. While KPN remained market leader with 46.2 percent of all subscribers, the incumbent operator lost market share (1.9 percent) to the other operators. T-Mobile (including Orange) increased its strong second place position, reaching a market share of 26.3 percent, and Vodafone was also able to increase its market share, to 21.6 percent from 20.9 percent in the fourth quarter. The total number of mobile subscribers is expected to hit 20 million by next quarter, while the market may see 21 million customers by the end of this year, according to Telecompaper estimates.
