Message from the CEO
Working sustainably and growing our business. This is the challenge KPN faces.
We unveiled our 'Back to growth' strategy on February 5, 2008. To fulfil our growth ambition we have short-term expansion plans for the services we provide to our customers. They include broadband and television services in the consumer market and total ICT solutions for the business segment. By focusing on IP-based services and rolling out our fibre optic network, we are going to simplify business processes drastically. This will produce substantial cost savings. The money this frees up will be invested in the further growth of our sales.
As the market leader in the Netherlands and a challenger in other countries, our activities form part of the everyday lives of millions of people. This places responsibility on us. At KPN we consider it a logical ambition to increase our contribution to society while pursuing growth.
People connected is the core activity of KPN. For 125 years now, we have been putting people in touch with each other. But some people who are lagging behind are in danger of losing contact with those around them because of the rapid advances in new media. As the premier connector in the Netherlands, we want to reduce this digital gap and reconnect socially isolated people with their friends, families and neighbours so that they can participate fully in mainstream society and develop personally.
Through its products and services, KPN is also in a position to contribute to mobility in the Netherlands, for example by reducing dependence on a fixed place of work. KPN additionally wants to do its part to economise on the energy consumed when providing services. We are doing this by offering new products that are simple to use and consume the least possible raw materials and energy. The new fibre optic network of KPN, which will be put into service gradually from 2008, requires less maintenance than traditional cabled networks, thus reducing the energy needed to provide servicing.
We set out these objectives in 2007 in our new policy on Corporate Social Responsibility. In this report, we want to highlight the valuable performance of KPN employees in the sustainability field and explain what we still intend to do. Your comments are welcome. We are open to suggestions about how to achieve our goal of combining growth with even more sustainable working methods.
Ad Scheepbouwer
Chairman of the KPN Board of Management