We’re doing more and more things digitally—that much is obvious. Especially since the COVID-19 crisis, we’ve all gotten used to working from home and handling everything online. This is particularly true among younger generations, who can’t really live without their smartphones anymore. On the other hand, we’ve all started making fewer phone calls, especially those under 30. After all, sending a message on WhatsApp is a lot easier!
More data traffic, fewer call minutes
By 2023, the number of households using fiber-optic internet had increased by about 25%. In addition, mobile data usage rose by more than 25% last year. In contrast, we have been making far fewer calls, both on our cell phones and via landlines. Over the past 10 years, the number of minutes we spend on landline calls has dropped by 75%. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of call minutes saw a brief resurgence. We saw each other less and so ended up Many people today don’t even have a landline at home anymore. That’s not really a surprise, of course, because it often seems much easier and faster to send a quick text or email instead of making a call. Among younger generations, we’re even seeing this trend become increasingly common.
Mobile data traffic has quadrupled
There are now a large number of households in our country that use fiber-optic internet. In 2023, 7.13 million households were connected to the fiber-optic network, and the number of households that had actually signed up for a fiber-optic subscription had also risen by 300,000 to 2.64 million. More than a third of Dutch households with a connection have therefore actually signed up for a subscription. The number of copper connections, on the other hand, is declining, as in some areas this service is even being discontinued where fiber-optic internet is available. Eventually, the entire Netherlands will likely switch to fiber-optic internet, and all copper connections will be discontinued.
Mobile data usage in the Netherlands
Mobile data traffic in the Netherlands has quadrupled compared to five years ago. In the third quarter of 2023, usage rose to 558 million gigabytes. That represents an 8.6% increase compared to the second quarter of that year. Since measurements began, the third quarter of 2023 has thus been the quarter with the highest mobile data consumption. The increase in data consumption in the Netherlands can be partly explained by the growing number of devices that use a data connection themselves. Examples include cars, smart meters, and alarm systems.
Conclusion
It is clear that we in the Netherlands are doing more and more online and that we are also using more and more data while on the go. This is clearly reflected in the figures, as total data traffic rose sharply in 2023. In contrast, we’ve actually been making far fewer calls, especially on landlines. More than 7 million households in the Netherlands now have access to the fiber-optic network, and about a third of them also have a fiber-optic subscription. And we’re expected to eventually reach a point where the entire country uses fiber-optic internet, as copper connections are already being phased out in some areas!
Source: ACM Telecommonitor