Internet access in the Netherlands is expensive compared to other European countries and it becomes even more expensive, said the Consumentenbond. The organization analyzed the prices of Internet subscriptions only in eight European countries in collaboration with the Belgian company Test Aankoop.

Such a subscription was the most expensive in Belgium where customers paid on average 48 € per month. The Netherlands also ranked first with an average cost of € 41 per month.

“KPN and Ziggo largely control the network, so they pretty much control the market. There’s far too little competition. And that’s bad for consumers,” said Sandra Molenaar, director of the Consumers Association.

Research found that the XS4All and Solcon subscriptions were the most expensive. The two companies charged their users € 47.65 and € 46.75 per month respectively for an Internet subscription with a speed of up to 100 Mbps. KPN was just below € 45.40.

Budget’s all-in-one package seemed to be the cheapest option with a monthly price of 29 euros, the researchers concluded. The Consumentenbond analyzed the costs of Internet subscriptions only from 20 different providers in the Netherlands. Discounts and one-time costs were also included in the research.

Among the countries involved in the research, the Internet was the cheapest in Spain. Residents of this country paid € 25 for internet service each month on average. France was the second cheapest country with a similar average cost.