(Telecompaper) The number of Dutch mobile customers at virtual operators and brands increased by 0.9 percent in the six months to 30 September 2014, to a total of 8.6 million. This is 41.9 percent of the total mobile market, according to Telecompaper's latest Dutch Mobile Virtual Operators Market report. Of the total number of virtual customers, 53.7 percent or 4.6 million were at operator-owned virtual (co-)brands. The independent MVNO market counted nearly 4.0 million SIMs, or 19.4 percent of the total Dutch mobile market, up from 17.9 percent in Q1 2014. Most of this growth was due to Simpel becoming an independent MVNO in the third quarter of 2014, after previously being part of T-Mobile.