KPN must continue to provide rivals wholesale access to its fixed networks for the next three years, the Dutch competition regulator ruled this week.
The Netherlands currently has two major network operators – incumbent KPN and cableco Ziggo – which is not enough to ensure healthy competition, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Market (ACM) said on Thursday.
The watchdog said technical challenges make it difficult to open Ziggo’s network to rival service providers, which leaves KPN as the only viable option.
"Furthermore, KPN is stronger than Ziggo because of its position in the business market. One explanation for this is that many business parks only have a KPN network. Customers in such business parks are unable to choose Ziggo," said ACM board member He nk Don, in a statement.
"Access to KPN’s network is sufficient for making competition possible," he insisted. "This will result in increased competition in the Dutch telecom sector, and in better prices."
The new regulatory regime is due to come into force on 1 January 2016.
KPN already provides wholesale access to its network, of course; however, some customers are not happy with some of the services they receive.
Last week, Vodafone sued KPN for €115 million, claiming that the incumbent was slow to provide the technology it needed to launch a DSL-based triple-play service, resulting in a three-year delay that caused Vodafone to miss out on market growth.
