(Telecompaper) The number of Dutch broadband via cable connections has grown by 1.3 percent during the fourth quarter to reach 3.09 million on 31 December 2013, according to Telecompaper's quarterly report about the Dutch broadband market. During the quarter cable passed DSL to become the largest broadband technology for the first time since Q4 2003. DSL dropped 0.8 percent during the quarter to end 2013 with 3.05 million connections. The whole broadband market grew by 0.6 percent or 42,700 net additions during the fourth quarter of 2013 to reach 6.76 million connections at the end of the year, including 9.3 percent fibre connections. The quarterly growth of almost 5 percent for fibre and the aforementioned cable broadband growth were thus able to off-set the decrease in DSL connections. KPN, including its XS4ALL and Telfort brands, is the largest broadband provider in the Netherlands with a 40.5 percent share of subscribers at the end of December 2013, after losing 0.1 percentage point compared with the previous quarter. It was followed by Ziggo with 27.4 percent and UPC with 15.8 percent. Telecompaper estimates that retail revenues for the consumer broadband market increased by 1.2 percent to EUR 507 million in the fourth quarter of 2013 and forecasts a CAGR of 2.2 percent for the broadband revenues until 2018. With regards to broadband connections, the expected growth for 2013 is 2.3 percent, slowing down from 2013 and 2012, mainly due to the high household penetration of 88.6 percent.