Mobile datarecords during summer holidays
• We call, surf the internet, and app significantly more from European holiday destinations
• Black Saturdays responsible for highest peaks in KPN roaming traffic
• Second week in August (8-14 Aug) is busiest holiday weekend
The Dutch went on their summer holidays again en masse in recent months. Together with foreign telecom operators, KPN processed record levels of data traffic from Dutch people on summer holiday. 60% more data was consumed from European holiday addresses compared to last summer.
An analysis of roaming traffic shows that the Dutch were more eager to travel than in summer 2021. The fact that France was once again a popular holiday destination is clearly reflected in the roaming traffic. The Spanish and Italian networks were also frequently used by the Dutch.
With a 60% increase, roaming traffic is growing even faster than the annual rise in data traffic of around 30 to 50%. The brakes seem to be completely off when it comes to calling and surfing the internet on holidays with a smartphone. And because Dutch people have ever larger data bundles, more and more holidaymakers also prefer 4G and 5G to the (camping) WiFi.
Roaming traffic also peaks on Black Saturdays
The busiest days are Saturdays and, to a lesser extent, Sundays in July. These are the ‘Black Saturdays’ when the Dutch travel en masse to their holiday destinations. While they are stuck on the motorways headed South, full use in being made of the digital highways.
Navigation apps and streaming films and music on the way
Many motorists use navigation apps, for instance, and travelers are streaming more and more films and music. Week 32, the second week of August, was the busiest week in terms of roaming traffic. This was probably when most Dutch people were traveling. Never before has so much roaming traffic been generated in a month as last August. It is also clearly visible when the different Dutch regions (North, Central, and South) have their school holidays. Last summer holiday, the Central region was the first, followed by North and South.
Not only data traffic increases. Last summer, slightly more voice calls were also made than in summer 2021. However, the increase in voice traffic is less in percentage terms, in line with the market trend. Roaming traffic from holiday countries outside the EU is also rising again, albeit less sharply.
Roam Like Home
Since June 2017, calling, texting, and surfing the internet costs the same everywhere in the European Union as it does in the Netherlands. In short: KPN customers can use their smartphones in all their favorite European holiday destinations in the same way as they are used to doing in the Netherlands.
State of the Network
In the “State of the Network”, KPN publishes information on, among other things, trends and topical issues that are reflected in the volume of internet traffic on the network of the Netherlands. See also previous publications, on topics such as the impact of the F1 race in Zandvoort, the New Year celebrations, the impact of Covid-19 and lockdowns on working from home on the network.