KPN

Type:	Publicly Held
Industry:	ICT
Founded:	1989
Headquarters:	Maanplein 55 2516 CK The Hague
Country:	Netherlands
Employees:	31,084 (as of 2011)
Revenue:	€13.2 billion (2011)
Website:	www.kpn.com
Key People
Eelco Blok, CEO

KPN is the largest Dutch telecommunications and Information Technology (IT) service provider. The company provides broadband internet, TV, wireless and wireline telephony services for residential and business consumers. The company also offers global infrastructure and IT solutions through its KPN Corporate Market previously known as Getronics. In 2011, KPN had 44.5 million customers and reported €13.2 in revenues. Eelco Blok is the current CEO of the company and its headquarters is located in the Hague.

.KPN TLD Proposal

In April 2012, KPN confirmed its application for the .kpn gTLD with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. The company hired OpenRegistry to provide the back-end registry solutions for the gTLD through its technical arm Sensirius.

Dispute Over KPN.Info Domain Name

In 2008, KPN filed a dispute against the registrant of the KPN.info with the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO). KPN alleged that the KPN.info is confusingly similar to its registered domain names, the registrant has no legitimate rights or interest in the domain name and it was registered in bad faith. The WIPO ruled in favor of the respondent and denied the request of the KPN to transfer the rights to the domain name. The WIPO panelist cited that although KPN has registered KPN trademarks, it does not have the exclusive right to prevent other parties from using the three-letters KPN, the respondent proved that it has no knowledge about the complainants trademark when the domain name was registered in Greece since KPN has no business operations in the country. The respondent also proved that he is registering and selling domain names as his legitimate business.

In 2010, KPN bought KPN.info for $15,000 EUR from Sedo.com.

History

The company was formerly known as Staatsbedrijf der Posterijen, Telegrafie en Telefonie or PTT, then it became Koninklijke PTT Nederland until it was officially named KPN. The company's beginnings can be traced back in 1852 when the Dutch government constructed telegraph lines and established the State Telegraph Service under the Ministry of Home Affairs to promote trade and industry and to be utilized for public administration. However, the telegraph network was commercially unsuccessful due to high operational costs. In 1870, the State Telegraph Service became part of the Ministry of Finance. In 1886, the government merged its post and telegraph services under a new company, which was called Post Office.

In 1893, the Post and Telegraph Corporation (PTT) was founded and its management tried to gain independence from the government. However, its operation was still closely monitored by the government. In 1915, the Post and Telegraph Corporation became state-owned. During World War 1, the government failed received little investments for the corporations and failed to deliver quality service, which resulted in complaints and call for change. The government introduce measures to improve its operations including cut back measures. In 1928, the corporation's name was changed to Netherlands Postal and Telecommunications Services (PTT).

In 1941, PTT became independent from government control when the German occupying forces provided the company with corporate rights however, it was a false freedom since the German forces still controlled the extent of its operations. After World War II, the Dutch government regained its control in the corporation and provided investments to ensure a successful operations of the country's communication system to help improve Dutch businesses. PTT was the second country in Europe to operate a fully automated telephone network.

In 1970, the company was obliged to provide annual contributions to the governments Treasury. In order to comply with its obligation and create investments, PTT was forced to enforce cut backs and increase service fees, which was highly criticized by the parliament. With the advent of the advancement in telecommunications and information technology and majority of Western governments decided to privatize their state-owned companies, the Dutch government decided to privatize PTT.

On January 1, 1989, PTT was incorporated as Royal KPN Nederland NV (KPN). Under the 1989 legislation, the Netherlands government was allowed to sell 49% of its share from the company. In 1993, the government announced its plan to sell 51 to 70% of its share between 1994 to 1998. In 1994, the government sold 30% of its share and in 1995 sold another 25% reducing its interest in the company to 45%. In 2006, the State of Netherlands sold its 7.8% remaining shares in the company.

The company entered the Amsterdam Stock Market in 1994, the New York Stock Exchange in 1995, London Stock Exchange and Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 1996. In 2008, KPN decided to stop trading from the New York, London Stock and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges due to low trading volumes.

In 2011, KPN CEO Eelco Blok implemented a new strategy to improve the company's growth and position in the global market and to concentrate on increasing sales and profits.

Brands

KPN's maintains 10 primary brands in delivering its services to consumers. Its brands include:

• Hi- Mobile brand intended for young people
• Telfort- Simple and low priced services (internet shops and specialist telecom stores)
• XS4ALL- Internet services in Netherlands
• Simyo- Provides lost cost mobile calls without subscription (Sim cards)
• E-Plus- Subsidiary mobile network operator in Germany
• BASE- Subsidiary mobile network operator in Belgium
• Getronics- KPN Corporate Market providing global IT solutions and infrastructure
• iBasis- provides international VoIP solutions

Top-Level Domain

World Intellectual Property Organization

Postal, Telegraph, and Telephone Service