The phone lines in the Netherlands are privatised and the main provider is KPN. There are some providers who have bought up KPN lines and they offer cheaper call and internet rates but you will still have to go to KPN to get your line connected, and you will still have to pay KPN a monthly connection fee. KPN does provide reliable service. There are public phones all over the city, although few accept coins these days. You can buy a phone card from most supermarkets and news agents. If you’re using a hotel phone, rates vary per hotel but they are higher than the normal fee. To get your home phone connected you’ll have to contact KPN; the menu will be in Dutch but if you press # twice you will be transferred to an operator who should be able to speak English. If you find that you aren’t getting the answers you need you can also go to one of their many shops called ‘Primafoon’. KPN offers many services including call waiting and voicemail. To obtain more than one line you may need to have a business account. KPN has several different choices of contracts depending on how much you use your phone. You can get a certain number of calls free, and calls made over the agreement are still quite cheap at 5 cents per minute for local calls and 17 cents for calls to mobiles. Similar deals are available for international calls but for really cheap international calls you can subscribe to a provider like Tele2. Unfortunately, if you are receiving threatening or harassing phone calls KPN cannot block the number. You can get a phone that has a number display screen and ensure you only answer the numbers that you know. If you do manage to get the number of the person harassing you, or know them, you can file a police report. KPN will change your phone number for you and you can keep your new number from being public knowledge if you wish.