Top Dutch telecom KPN is also concerned about foreign student & worker limits
The chief executive officer of Dutch telecommunications firm KPN said he was concerned about growing political support for proposals to ban, or more strictly limit, foreign workers and international students in the Netherlands. Joost Farwerck said that the telecom company he leads needs many workers who have extensive technological training. The CEO said these workers often come from abroad when he discussed the company’s 2023 performance, a profitable year where revenue grew to 5.45 billion euros.
He said he was very much opposed to plans to further restrict international student enrollment at Dutch universities, including proposals where the government mandates universities to present courses only in the Dutch language. “If it is really the case that we are trying to keep foreign students out, you are not taking a good step as a country. Then you have to pay attention,” Farwerck said in a conversation with journalists about KPN’s quarterly and annual figures.
He also pointed out the relatively high share of international employees at KPN. “We work with many hired workers on a daily basis. I was recently at a meeting where 20 percent cannot speak Dutch. We are used to working internationally,” said Farwerck. In addition, he believes it is necessary to be able to recruit employees internationally in order to “compete at a global level.”
The far-right political party led by Geert Wilders, PVV, has been advocating for a significant reduction in the number of foreign students. The party also wants to hit the brakes on immigration for the purposes of labor, including highly-skilled and highly-educated workers. His party had the strongest showing in the recent elections by far, and is trying to form a coalition government with Nieuw Sociaal Contract (NSC) and the BBB, with support in parliament from the VVD.
Pieter Omzigt’s NSC wants to restrict English as the language of instruction for many courses at Dutch universities. His party won many seats in the recent election in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Parliament, during the November election.
Earlier this month, Peter Wennink, the CEO of microchip machinery manufacturer ASML, also criticized plans to limit the number of immigrants and foreign students. If these measures make it more difficult to recruit suitable employees from abroad, ASML could move its expansion plans to other countries, he told RTL Z.
In its year-end report, KPN said it increased its turnover and profit in the fourth quarter, helped by higher prices for telephony and internet subscriptions for private individuals. The average revenue per private customer increased, while the number of new customers also increased slightly. Annual revenue grew 2.5 percent to 5.45 billion euros, with earnings up 0.6 percent to 2.42 billion euros.
The divisions for business telephony and internet services, and the opening of KPN networks to industry peers, also grew in the final quarter of 2023. This led to a 4 percent increase in turnover of more than 1.4 billion euros. Net profit rose by 8.4 percent to 206 million euros.
The company also installed new fiber optic connections in record time in the last three months of the year. KPN added almost 550,000 connections for this form of high-speed internet throughout 2023. Including the Glaspoort collaboration project, in which KPN is working with the ABP pension fund, this involved a total of 725,000 new fiber optic connections in one year.
Currently, 57 percent of all Dutch households have fiber optic connections supplied by KPN, but the company said in November that it is aiming for an 80 percent share by 2026. This will involve new investments worth billions.
KPN also expects to continue growing in 2024 . As in the whole of 2023, the company expects a turnover increase of 3 percent. In the coming years, KPN also wants to focus more on a broader range of entertainment and, for example, gaming services in order to continue to compete with Ziggo and T-Mobile. The company noted its recent partnership with cloud and chip company Nvidia, where KPN will be able to offer games that on the American company’s servers which can be played via a relatively simple PC.
CEO Joost Farwerck and CFO Chris Figee could not provide insight about the takeover of budget brand Youfone. Last year, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets opened an in-depth investigation into the 200 million euro deal, because the regulator fears the loss of an important competitor.
“We are happily awaiting the decision, but we think it will take a very long time,” Farwerck said about the market watchdog’s decision. The company expects there will be clarity in the first quarter, Figee added.
“There is no deadline for the takeover. If it takes a very long time, you will of course enter into discussions.”
Reporting by ANP