KPN revealed that its Capex increased by €9 million to €304 million in Q2 2021 driven by the accelerated fiber rollout.
KPN’s first-half Capex increased by €53 million representing 24.2 percent of adjusted revenues against 21.8 percent in H1 2020 as investments in fiber rollout increased by €82 million (+60 percent) to €218 million.
KPN said other Capex has declined by €29 million (–6.7 percent), driven by lower investments in copper infrastructure, IT, and mobile access. The percentage of Other Capex over adjusted revenues declined by 90bps y-on-y to 15.7 percent as against 16.6 percent in Q2 2020.
KPN is targeting annual Capex of €1.2 billion for 2021.
KPN’s 5G strategy is focused on differentiated services for B2B customers in specific industries. KPN did not reveal the number of 5G subscribers.
As a result of the mobile network modernization, KPN is enabling 5G services throughout the country and 5G network now reaches the majority of the Dutch population on the 700MHz spectrum.
KPN’s mobile network has been recognized by Ookla as the best mobile network in the Netherlands. In addition, KPN realized the fastest average up and download speeds for 5G in the Netherlands.
KPN CEO Joost Farwerck said: “We have improved the quality of our mobile network, we have improved customer experience, and we’re on track to reach our full-year outlook. We are building a fiber company and we’re installing fiber at a record pace.”
In Q2 2021, KPN reached its highest pace for fiber rollout, organically adding 113k households to its fiber footprint, and passing the milestone of 3 million fiber households. Nearly half of Dutch households (3.9 million) are now connected to fiber, and more than 75 percent of these households are connected via KPN.
During the quarter, KPN activated 56,000 households on own infrastructure, resulting in an activation rate of 55 percent over the last twelve months. KPN announced symmetrical speeds for its entire fiber footprint in July 2021, ensuring users can upload as quickly as they can download.
