KPN CEO, Ad Scheepbouwer, is keen to sell the iPhone in the Netherlands, despite reportedly claiming that the smartphone is "pretty useless." Talking to the Financial Times, Scheepbouwer says he used to have an iPhone, but "the battery ran out in no time" and he "didn't like the touch screen." He also says that the iPhone's launch in Germany on Nov 9 had not had any effect on KPN's Germany unit, E-Plus. However, the CEO admits he would "be more than happy to sell it. We have half the market in the Netherlands and we hope we will be the party of choice."

T-Mobile recently claimed to have sold 70,000 iPhones, which the executive dismissed as "not a particularly impressive number", claiming E-Plus registered 700,000 net new customers in the last quarter of 2007.

KPN recently announced plans to cut 2,000 more jobs as part of its new growth strategy for the next two years. The group also reported that its net profit tripled year-on-year in the last quarter, to USD2.35bn, largely thanks to higher margins at its German mobile unit E-Plus, and to recent takeovers, including that of iBasis and Getronics.