MTS pay TV figures slip

Russian multi-play service provider MTS reported a 1.8% decline in pay TV subscribers quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2013.

For the three months ending March 31, the firm logged 2.885 million pay TV subs in Russia, compared to 2.938 million in the fourth quarter of 2012. Its broadband internet customer numbers stayed roughly level at 2.314 million.

MTS said that its broadband and pay TV subscribers were impacted by “reconciliation of acquired companies’ subscriber definitions with those of MTS.”

However, the firm said that fixed-line revenues went up by 4% year-over-year to RUB14.1 billion (€330 million) due to network growth in the regions, which allowed it to “upsell existing broadband and pay-TV customers and enhance market share.”

Overall, the firm reported consolidated revenues of RUB92.86 billion in the quarter– up 2% year on year. Net income came in at RUB12.96 billion, down 16.9% compared to the same time last year.