Former state telecoms monopoly KPN on Tuesday announced a package of measures to defend its market share in the Netherlands and streamline its business portfolio.

KPN is planning ‘a group-wide focus on simplification, quality and reputation’ which will ‘drive customer satisfaction in a swiftly changing telecom and ICT market’.
Getronics, the computer services company KPN took over in 2007 will be further integrated into the company and the name is to disappear. Operations in France and Spain are also under review, new CEO Eelco Blok told news agencies.
Dutch market
‘I recently announced the decision to accelerate the investments to strengthen our Dutch businesses. Also, I would like to highlight the continued investments to further support profitable growth in Germany and Belgium,’ Blok said in a statement.
The company has a target of ‘at least’ 45% of the Dutch fixed line and mobile markets in 2015.
KPN announced last month that up to 5,000 jobs are to go in an effort to cut costs. Between 1,200 and 1,800 jobs are to be shifted to India.
VOIP
In particular, KPN is to introduce separate charges for mobile phone customers who make phone calls over the internet by using services such as Skype.
‘You will not pay for a specific application such as Skype but for access to voice over internet (VOIP) services,’ Blok is quoted as saying
The company is also planning to improve its customer service operations and expand its network of phone shops from 200 to 300 over the next few years.