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Dutch telco KPN's 4G network is ready for iPhone 5c, 5s
Later this month, on October 25, Apple's latest smartphones will land in the Netherlands, and if you're a customer of KPN, one of the country's wireless providers, you'll be happy to hear that its network will indeed support 4G on both the iPhone 5s and 5c. KPN is currently leading the way in 4G in the Netherlands, using a variety of bands for its network, which should cover roughly 80 percent of the country by the end of the year. While 4G compatibility is typically a given in many countries, KPN's 4G network originally wasn't compatible with the iPhone 5 due to its use of an unsupported band. Now that the iPhone 5s and 5c have launched with support of KPN's 800MHz band, the groundwork is set for plenty of high-speed iPhone fun. [via ZDNet]
Dutch officials contemplate barring KPN, T-Mobile and Vodafone from spectrum auction
A spectrum auction looms on the horizon in the Netherlands, but three of the country's largest players may be excluded from participation. As you know, earlier this week, Dutch authorities raided the offices of KPN Mobile, T-Mobile Netherlands and Vodafone Netherlands in a price-fixing investigation. The Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa), which carried out the raid, stressed that its visit does not mean the operators are guilty of collusion or hint at the outcome of its investigation. Now, Dutch lawmakers and the country's Minister of Economic Affairs must come to a decision about the auction that's set to take place in the spring of 2012 -- which is likely to be well in advance of any final report from the NMa. One option tossed around has been to postpone the auction, though, as lawmakers point out, this could hinder the development in the mobile space and further limit competition. Alternately, had any of the named companies actually profited from the alleged collusion, there's a risk that these monies could be used to purchase additional spectrum and further extend their dominance. Those discussing the matter hope to move quickly, though it certainly seems difficult to make any decision of this magnitude lightly.
T-Mobile, Vodafone and KPN raided in Dutch price-fixing probe
Details are pretty slim at the moment, but it appears that Vodafone, KPN and T-Mobile are among the companies that have been raided by Dutch regulators in a price-fixing investigation. The country's competition authorities, NMa, swept through the carriers' offices as part of a probe into alleged "cartel agreements" exposed by whistleblowers. All three of the companies have agreed to cooperate with the investigation and have denied wrong doing but, they're starting with a dark cloud of suspicion hanging over their heads already. It was only ten years ago that the same three mobile operators were fined for illegally coordinating on pricing and fees. Obviously, it's wrong to jump to conclusions, but what are the chances these huge corporations just haven't learned from their past mistakes?
SIM-based NFC gains global support from 45 mobile carriers, all huddled around GSMA's standard
You knew that NFC hardware can be embedded into SIM cards, right? Right? Regardless of whether you've been paying attention, the practice is about to become a whole lot more common, as 45 of the world's largest mobile operators have extended their support for the GSM Association's standard. Among the networks, you'll find heavy hitters such as China Mobile and China Unicom (which account for nearly 800 million subscribers between the two), along with familiar names such as America Movil, AT&T, Deutsche Telecom, KPN, Orange, Rogers, SFR, SK Telecom, Softbank, Telus, Verizon and Vodafone. Even Isis, the unholy mobile payment lovechild of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, has pledged its support... in hopes of taking your money, that is. The new standard is expected to drive the proliferation of NFC across the globe, with Anne Bouverot, Director General of the GSMA commenting, "Mobile operators, working together, are ideally positioned to roll out services based on the requirements published by the GSMA, providing proven security and interoperability, global reach and customer care for consumers and businesses and a secure platform for service providers." Now, as you'd expect, we just wanna see it happen. For a complete list of the cooperating carriers, check out the PR after the break. [SIM card photo via Shutterstock]
Dutch net neutrality first in EU, mobile operators side-eye KPN
KPN may have shot itself in the foot, but the Dutch parliament certainly helped pull the trigger. Following a very public brag earlier this year that the operator was using deep packet inspection to throttle service and charge users for unintended network usage comes a massive industry buzz kill in the form of mobile net neutrality legislation. Pending approval by the Senate, wireless network operators in the Netherlands will no longer be able to shiv customers for using that nifty rival messaging, or VoIP service of their choice -- Skype and Whatsapp, for starters. The country's telcos put on their lobbying best to whine the usual lines about higher consumer prices, and shaky quality assurance, but the Dutch government called that bluff. Though the ruling bans traffic discrimination, it doesn't preclude tricksier tiered data pricing -- sneaky little carriers. While this win is a first for Europe, OG credit goes to Chile for paving the way. Not yet banned in the Netherlands? Amazing airports, tulips, and cheese wheels. [Image credit via Arbor Media]
Holland's net neutrality act threatens to disrupt mobile carriers' pricing schemes
Net neutrality advocates are gaining momentum in The Hague as Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs, Maxime Verhagen, agreed to begin drafting legislation prohibiting teleco providers from blocking or charging extra for specific data traffic. Verhagen's action comes at the request of majority leaders in Netherland's Lower House, which adopted a motion to modify the Telecommunications Act in support of bit equality. The change should cause waves throughout the nation's mobile industry as Holland's largest provider, KPN, recently announced it would use deep packet inspection to monitor and selectively charge customers based on their usage. Currently, Vodafone blocks VoIP unless customers pay extra and T-Mobile has previously suggested it might follow suit. The Economic Minister is now working with officials in Brussels to ensure the legislation is compatible with the EU framework, and the proposal is expected to go before the Dutch parliament within a few weeks. Skype and WhatsApp have received particular attention, as mobile providers argue they must offset the losses caused by these apps with surcharges -- or to block them altogether. Perhaps it's not the best week to be a telco exec in the Netherlands, but users of these "controversial" apps surely have reason to smile. [Image courtesy Flickr]
CDMA iPhone rumored for India as exclusivities end in Germany and Holland
More fuel for the CDMA iPhone fire today. The Wall Street Journal says that Apple is in talks with both Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices to bring a CDMA version of its iPhone -- the one it again says will be on sale at Verizon early next year -- to India. The discussions have apparently been ongoing for four or five months according to one WSJ source. This comes out as news of iPhone exclusivity arrangements are ending in both Germany and The Netherlands. In Germany, Deutsche Telekom loses its exclusive now that both O2 and Vodafone will be offering Apple's finest before the holidays. In Holland, T-Mobile just lost its exclusive arrangement as both KPN and Vodafone have announced plans to carry the iPhone -- no specific dates were mentioned though, like Germany, in time for the holidays is a pretty good guess.
HTC Legend breaks cover on KPN's site for March launch
We've little doubt at this point that HTC's Legend is definitely real and likely coming to a shop near you, but now we've got what seems to be the first official confirmation by a company that would have authority on the matter. The Netherlands' KPN has thrown up the Legend on its site for availability likely in March, offering the Android-loving Dutch the opportunity to sign up for updates -- in other words, no money's exchanging hands just yet. As far as we can tell, these appear to be official shots of the phone offered up by HTC, so odds are good that KPN simply jumped the gun -- the phone is almost certainly destined for an official unveil either by HTC or a carrier partner at MWC in a few days' time. There are some specs here, too: 256MB of RAM and 512MB of ROM on board, AGPS, WiFi, an FM radio, 3.2-inch display and 5 megapixel camera, making this an honest-to-goodness Hero successor -- and it even looks like the Legend name will be carried over for launch. Any other carriers care to step up and help bust this thing wide open?
Palm Pre cameo on Dutch carrier Hi's website much ado about nothing, says spokesman
Alright, move along folks, nothing to see here. Remember that Palm Pre support page that showed up on Dutch provider Hi's website? Seems like that'd indicative a possible future collaboration, but according to a spokesman for KPN (of which Hi is a part), it's all a misunderstanding. While not meant for public viewing at this time, the page in question was apparently intended to explain what settings you'd need for using a Hi SIM card, whether you got the device from them or via another provider. Still seems fishy, if you ask us. Of course, he added the company is very interested in the Pre (as if we thought otherwise), but that nothing's been announced at this time anywhere in Europe. Let's just hope that rumored UK announcement pans out this week, and maybe the rest of the continent will follow suit.[Thanks, Wesley]
Palm Pre in cahoots with Dutch provider Hi?
The GSM version of Palm's Pre looks all set for a UK announcement next week on O2. Now we get this, a Pre spotted on the support site for Dutch carrier Hi in The Netherlands. Fine, but what you may not know is that O2 and Hi (part of KPN) are also deeply intertwined with Telefonica -- O2 being owned by Telefonica and KPN being an "integrated carrier" with a long history of Telefonica courtship rumors. So, putting two and two together might equal a September launch if that previous Telefonica rumor was true.[Via Tweakers, thanks Harm H.]
Nokia N96 to hit European carriers starting in September
Nokia's Indian division recently announced that its customers there would be able to snatch up N96s of their own starting in September, so it comes as no surprise that European carriers are starting to confirm September release windows, too. Dutch carrier KPN, specifically, has announced that the N96 will start to flow its way in just a few tantalizingly short weeks -- September 15, to be exact -- while other carriers will have to wait an additional month until October 15 to get in on the action. One month isn't much of an exclusivity period, but when it comes to Nokia's most anticipated phone of the last few months (Tube notwithstanding), we're sure KPN will take what it can get.[Via Mobile Phone Helpdesk]
Want a free Bold on contract? Move to the Netherlands
A little easier on the pocketbook than the nearly $600 Movistar's asking for in Chile? Yeah, we'd say so. The BlackBerry Bold has now launched on KPN in the Netherlands, where it apparently takes nothing more than a €36.25 per month (about $54) plan on a two-year agreement to skirt any and all charges for the handset itself. Heck, even on a mere €26.75 monthly deal, you're still only shelling out €99.95 for the phone, which works out to something like $148 -- dirt cheap for a phone of the Bold's capability. AT&T's pricing on the other hand... well, we really don't know yet what they plan on charging for the pleasure, but something tells us we're going to need a Heineken or three to get over the sticker shock. A trip to Amsterdam wouldn't hurt, either, come to think of it.[Thanks, hellejoep]
Netherlands officially pulls the plug on analog OTA transmissions, goes all digital
Aw yeah, we knew this day was coming (or at least we thought), but it's thrilling to see the big shots keeping their word and actually going through with something in a timely manner. In a move sure to cause backlash and rejoicing alike, the Dutch have officially yanked the plug on OTA analog broadcasts, leaving a host of open frequencies that we're sure will be put to good use. Although just a small percentage of customers actually rely solely on those (now) antiquated signals, those folks who are now forced to search for alternate forms of fetching television can purchase a digital terrestrial tuner for around $66.50. The bandwidth formerly used by analog has been "licensed through 2017 by Royal KPN NV, which will use it to broadcast digital television." The government is suggesting that killing the old broadcasts will "save them around $14 million annually," not to mention the segment of new customers looking for service will hopefully drive competition within the cable / IPTV market there. So for those holding it down in the Netherlands, be sure to pop the champagne while everybody else sits around and waits it out.
