THE HAGUE, 02/02/06 - KPN yesterday made phoning via the Internet possible nationwide. The telecom company is thereby launching an offensive against Internet providers and cable companies, who have already attracted many subscribers via similar services.

KPN introduced its Internet service in May 2005. Since then, the company has cautiously extended its new service to consumers, mainly in large cities. It now has 50,00 subscribers, and is targeting growth of some hundreds of thousands of clients per year.

KPN is by far the largest Internet provider in the Netherlands with nearly two million clients. In total, over five million consumers still phone via a KPN fixed phone-line connection, but this number is gradually falling. In a few years, the fixed network is to be completely based on the Internet.

KPN expects to have to compete in the future with companies like Microsoft, Skype, Google and Yahoo, which are already busy making progress with phoning via the Internet.