Risk Management

We believe it is important that we know which risks can influence our strategy. We want to take the right measures to control these risks in order to protect our customers, people, reputation and shareholders. For each business unit, an employee is responsible for recognizing and listing all relevant risks in their business unit. These employees report to the Privacy, Risk & Compliance Team of VodafoneZiggo, four times a year. This team safeguards the quality of the process, coordinates company-wide risks and lists the ten most important risks. The risk owners are responsible for implementing measures to control the risk.

Major Risks

The ten most important risks in 2019 were:

Competition

The risk of growing competition from telecom providers, but also content and media providers, such as Amazon, Google and Apple. This could be at the expense of our turnover and profit. This risk is difficult to control due to the many external factors. We keep a close eye on market developments and continue to provide distinctive 'content' (sports, films, series and TV programs).

Consumer credit

The risk that we do not comply with the laws and regulations for consumer credit, resulting in consumer over-crediting. If we don’t comply, the government can impose sanction on us. All colleagues who have contact with customers, follow a mandatory training course. They all take the banker's oath. We also take other prevention and detection measures to further limit the risk. We are constantly looking at how to improve the compliance program.

Cyber attacks

The risk of a cyber attack, both inside and outside the organisation. This can cause data breaches and network malfunctions. We are constantly improving prevention, detection and corrective measures to increase security and reduce the risk of cyber-attacks. In addition, we comply with the general safety guidelines that apply to this and we follow the latest developments closely.

Data quality and management

The risk that data quality and data management are not satisfactory, so that we do not have a proper basis for taking decisions. This can have a negative impact for our customers. This can also make it harder for us to achieve our commercial and strategic goals. We are developing various initiatives and projects to improve data quality and data management.

Integration of the different IT systems

The risk that the implementation or migration of IT systems will fail, with major consequences for our customers, revenues, costs and reputation. This risk affects all major IT transformation programs and can also lead to poorer internal control. The risk owner and management regularly discuss the progress of the programs and the status of the risks. Where necessary, they make adjustments.

Competition law

The risk that we do not comply with competition law. This can have an effect on our customers and lead the government to impose sanctions on us. To manage this risk, we regularly publish guidelines on competition. Our people can always consult these rules on the intranet. We provide personal training and offer mandatory e-learning for all employees of VodafoneZiggo.

Delivering customer expectation

The risk that we are unable to offer our customers the experience they expect. The reasons for this are, for example, errors in our systems, in our products and in our customer service. We carried out various projects that contributed to a positive customer experience. Some projects are ongoing. We continuously monitor the development of the customer experience throughout the organisation.

Privacy

The risk that we will not comply with the privacy regulations. This can damage our customers and our reputation. The government can impose sanctions. We introduced the renewed privacy legislation with an organisation-wide program. Our Privacy Office keeps track of all privacy developments and works to reduce the risks.

Read more about privacy in this annual report.

Regulatory burden

The risk of increasingly complex regulations that can have a major impact on our organisation and strategy, including in the field of spectrum auctions and cable access. The Regulatory Affairs team follows new developments in the field of legislation and regulations. This team regularly consults with the government and stakeholders about new developments in the field of legislation and regulations within our industry.

Technological failure

The risk that an important part of our infrastructure will be disrupted. As a result, we can no longer provide some services, which has a major effect on our customers and revenue. We introduced many measures and projects to build a reliable network and infrastructure, in which we prevent failures as much as possible. We monitor all networks for (possible) technical failures and take immediate action to limit the consequences for our customers.