The Onafhankelijke Post en Telecommunicatie Autoriteit (OPTA, English: Independent Post and Telecommunications Authority) was an independent Dutch government agency charged with enforcing Dutch law on telecommunication, post and cable TV services that operated between 1997 and 2013. It was set up in 1997 as part of major government changes in the Dutch telecommunication sector and was absorbed by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets in April 2013. [1]
Headquartered in The Hague it was created to ensure competitiveness in the newly opened Dutch market for telephony and other telecom activities. [2] [3] Prior to 1997, KPN had a monopoly on the Dutch market, but after deregulation, other companies could also enter the market. It was OPTAs responsibility to make sure that KPN would not push the new players out of the market through its sheer size.
The Dutch cable TV network is one of the densest in the world, with over 95 percent of Dutch households having access to cable TV. OPTA also used to regulate this market, and was a mediator in disputes between providers, although OPTA decisions could be appealed in court.
OPTA's function and legal position were similar to the American Federal Communications Commission.
XS4ALL was an Internet service provider (ISP) in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1993 as an offshoot of the hackers club Hack-Tic by Felipe Rodriquez, Rop Gonggrijp, Paul Jongsma and Cor Bosman, while based in Amsterdam. It was the sixth provider in the Netherlands and the second company to offer Internet access to private individuals. Initially only offering dial-in services via modem and ISDN, it later expanded to offer dial-up access as well as ADSL, VDSL, and fiber-optic (FTTH) services as well as mobile internet. The name is a play on the English pronunciation of access for all.
Television in the Netherlands was officially introduced in 1951. In the Netherlands, the television market is divided between a number of commercial networks, such as RTL Nederland, and a system of public broadcasters sharing three channels, NPO 1, NPO 2, and NPO 3. Imported programmes, as well as news interviews with responses in a foreign language, are almost always shown in their original language, with subtitles.
Koninklijke KPN N.V., trading as KPN is a Dutch telecommunications company. KPN originated from a government-run postal, telegraph and telephone service and is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Hack-Tic was a Dutch hacker magazine published between 1989 and 1994. It had a cult following and upset authorities beyond the Dutch borders.
Telephone numbers in the Netherlands are administered by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation of the Netherlands. The telephone numbering plan may be grouped into three general categories: geographical numbers, non-geographical numbers, and numbers for public services.
Telfort was a brand of Dutch mobile telecommunication company KPN.
Tele2 AB is a provider of mobile and fixed connectivity, telephony, data network services, TV, streaming and global Internet of things services, amongst others, to consumers and enterprises. It is headquartered in Kista Science City, Stockholm, Sweden. It is a major mobile network operator in Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The company initially founded Tele2 Russia, but later sold all its operations, later rebranding and changing the name to "t2".
América Móvil, S.A.B. de C.V. is a Mexican telecommunications corporation headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico. It is the 7th largest mobile network operator in the world in terms of equity subscribers, as well as one of the largest corporations in the world. América Móvil is a Forbes Global 2000 company. As of Dec 31, 2023, América Móvil had 310.1 million wireless subscribers, and 73.7 million fixed revenue generating units.
The Netherlands Competition Authority was the competition regulator for the Netherlands. After a merger with the Consumentenautoriteit and Onafhankelijke Post en Telecommunicatie Autoriteit on 1 April 2013, it became the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets. The Netherlands Competition Authority monitored all Dutch markets, to ensure fair competition.
Digitenne is the Dutch digital terrestrial television platform. It is owned by KPN. Digitenne uses the DVB-T2 standard. The national public television channels NPO 1, NPO 2, NPO 3 and the regional public television channels are free-to-air. For all other television channels a subscription is required.
Scarlet offers fixed telephony, digital television, fixed Internet connections and mobile subscriptions for private consumers.
Disney Channel is the Dutch version of the same name owned by the Walt Disney Company. The channel is broadcasting free-to-cable, and all content is dubbed in Dutch. The channel features a mix of original sitcoms, teen drama series, animation movies and original movies. English audio is also available on the operators Ziggo, Canal Digitaal, TV Vlaanderen, Caiway, Proximus and Telenet. There are two different versions with local advertisements. While currently not using a slogan, the tagline 'Dat moet je meemaken!' has been used in the past.
PostNL N.V., commonly known as PostNL is a Dutch mail, parcel and e-commerce company with operations in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. It provides universal delivery in the Netherlands, and is publicly listed at Euronext Amsterdam. The company was known as TNT NV until TNT Express was separated from it in May 2011, and the remainder of the company was renamed PostNL.
DigiNotar was a Dutch certificate authority, established in 1998 and acquired in January 2011 by VASCO Data Security International, Inc. The company was hacked in June 2011 and it issued hundreds of fake certificates, some of which were used for man-in-the-middle attacks on Iranian Gmail users. The company was declared bankrupt in September 2011.
On June 4, 2012, the Netherlands became the first country in Europe and the second in the world, after Chile, to enact a network neutrality law. The main net neutrality provision of this law requires that "Providers of public electronic communication networks used to provide Internet access services as well as providers of Internet access services will not hinder or slow down services or applications on the Internet".
Ziggo Holding B.V. is the largest cable operator in the Netherlands, providing digital cable television, Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers.
Opta or OPTA may refer to:
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets is the competition regulator in The Netherlands. It is a regulatory authority based in The Hague. It is charged with competition oversight, sector-specific regulation of several sectors, and enforcement of consumer protection laws. It enforces Section 24 of the Dutch Competition Act.
Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You is a Surinamese human rights activist who lives and works in The Netherlands.