More than seven out of ten mobile customers in the Netherlands are with one of the three major telecom brands KPN, Odido and Vodafone. The 23 virtual mobile providers in the Netherlands have only 27 percent of the mobile SIMs, but have gained customers in the past year, according to recent research by Telecompaper.
In the third quarter of 2024, the share of virtual providers in the Dutch market rose to 27.4 percent of SIMs, according to Telecompaper’s Dutch Mobile Virtual operators Q3 2024 report. This concerns both MVNOs that are independent and those that are a sub-brand of one of the three network providers. Together there are 6.3 million SIMs from virtual providers in the market, 2.5 percent more than six months earlier.
Just under half are with an independent MVNO, after KPN’s takeover of the independent MVNO Youfone in April. Before the takeover this was 52 percent.
The five largest virtual providers control almost two-thirds of this VO market. In order of number of sims, these are Simpel, Lebara, Hollandsnieuwe, Lyca Mobile and Ben. Together with KPN brands Youfone and Simyo, these are the only virtual providers with more than half a million customers. The other MVNOs have a small or very small customer base.
Total turnover in the virtual operator market grew by 3.2 percent year on year in the third quarter of 2024, to almost 185 million. The turnover share of independent MVNOs decreased. The vast majority of virtual providers compete on price. This concerns approximately three quarters of all market parties, virtually unchanged from a year earlier.
Other providers focus on certain population groups, business users, communities, retail or fixed telephony. Telecompaper expects that retail MVNOs in particular, such as Jumbo and Kruidvat Mobiel, will eventually stop due to the lack of focus at the retailer in question. In addition, most of them offer prepaid, while customers more often switch to postpaid.
Source: www.emerce.nl
