2023 has started with record usage of mobile data on KPN network

On New Year’s Eve, huge numbers of Dutch people wished each other a happy new year via the KPN mobile network. Last year's mobile data record was shattered: 453 terabytes of mobile data were consumed, 32% more than last year (343 terabytes) and a whopping 60 times more than in 2014. Once again, fewer text messages were sent than in the previous year, and there were also fewer phone calls than last year.

After the countdown to 24:00 and the corks have popped, people in the Netherlands wish each other a happy new year via the KPN network. And last night too that was done more often via WhatsApp, video calls and social media messages. The peak network load was between 00:05 and 00:10 both for mobile data usage and for calling and texting. The KPN mobile network weathered New Year's Eve well, connecting people in the Netherlands millions of times on this special night.

Text messages and phone calls
Some 1.2 million text messages were sent between 10 pm and 4 am, once again slightly less than the previous year (1.4 million). Fewer phone calls were made than in previous years too. Over 3.9 million phone calls were made this year (compared to 4.1 million last year). In the past two years, most Dutch people celebrated New Year's Eve at home because of lockdowns and it was also noticeably busier than usual on the fixed network. That was not the case last night.

Data records in 2023
In 2022, KPN once again handled more data traffic on its network than in the previous year. New daily records were due to substantially more "live" streaming traffic during popular sporting events such as Formula One and World Cup football. Working from home, video calling and gaming remained as popular as ever last year. Data traffic is expected to increase on the KPN network in 2023 as well, with new peaks and data records.

Voice and data traffic in the past ten years on the KPN mobile network measured from 10 pm on New Year’s Eve to 4 am on New Year’s Day