BERN: In the first quarter of 2017, UPC Switzerland/Austria recorded an organic RGU net loss of 2,400, which is better than the loss of 12,000 during Q1 2016, related to improved fixed telephony performance. Aggressive marketing efforts and new bundles from competitors impacted the sequential RGU growth.
The company’s Swiss “Connect” and “Connect & Play” portfolios will be enriched by an exclusive sports channel called “MySports”, which is due for launch in Q3 to further differentiate the offer.
Revenues of UPC Switzerland/Austria reached EUR 423.7 million in Q1, which 2.2 percent lower on a reported basis than the EUR 433.4 million reached in Q1 2016. The rebased revenue decline of 1 percent was mainly due to lower ARPU per RGU, primarily related to a weaker tier mix in combination with limited volume growth, which was only partially offset by solid mobile subscriber additions.
Based on the consolidated operating data for the first quarter, in Austria, the operator reported 1.395 million homes passed (adding 3,100 during the quarter), of which all were two-way homes passed. In the fixed segment, UPC Austria reported 653,200 customers and 1.418 million total RGUs (adding 6,500 during Q1), of which 477,200 video subscribers (down by 5,800 during Q1); 505,900 internet subscribers (up by 3,100 during Q1); and 434,700 telephony subscribers (up by 9,200 in Q1). The operator also reported 39,000 mobile subscribers (adding 8,500 in Q1).
The operation in Switzerland reported 2.251 million two-way homes passed in Q1, adding 14,300 during the quarter. In the fixed segment, the operator had 1.281 million customers, losing 13,300 during the quarter. Total number of RGUs decreased by 9,800 quarter-on-quarter to 2.504 million, of which 1.241 million were video subscribers (losing 10,500 in Q1); 744,500 were internet subscribers (losing 5,300 in Q1); and 517,900 were telephony subscribers (adding 6,000 in Q1). The operator also added 5,000 mobile subscribers to 85,300 as of end of Q1.
