The popularity of all-in-one phone and internet subscriptions has brought Ziggo to within overtaking distance of KPN when it comes to fixed-link telephony, according to research by Telecompaper.

The difference between the two companies has shrunk to 0.2%, with Ziggo’s market share climbing to 41.4%, Telecompaper said.

KPN has been the undisputed leader in the fixed link market since its privatisation in 1989 but the takeover of Ziggo by Liberty Global in 2014 has created a second major power block in the domestic communications market. Ziggo also recently merged with Vodafone Netherlands.

At the end of the third quarter of this year, there were just over six million fixed link telephone connections in the Netherlands, down 2% on a year ago, Telecompaper said.

In October, the European Court of Justice told the European Commission to re-examine its approval for the merger between cable companies UPC and Ziggo, even though the two companies joined forces two years ago.

The original merger was taken to the European court by KPN, which says the commission had not looked properly at the new combine’s market position for sports broadcasting, the Financieele Dagblad reported.