Zon successor Nos sees converged offerings success

Portuguese operator Nos – the combined brand for Zon Multimédia and Optimus that was launched in May – saw its ‘convergent RGU’ fixed-line base almost double quarter-on-quarter to just over one million, up from 556,000 in March and 34,300 in December. Subscribers with Nos’s Iris advanced TV service grew by 62,700 in the last quarter to reach almost seven in 10 of the company’s triple and quad-play base, or 561,000 customers. The company rolled out Iris 3.2 during the quarter, enabling HTML5 apps and improved navigation. Iris also became an integral part of the company’s DTH offering.

Nos lost 19,000 pay TV customers during the quarter, which the company said represented a slowing of its rate of loss.

According to the company, the convergent base represented over 200,000 customers with a average of five RGUs per household, and over 17% of its fixed-access base.

Overall, Nos’s total RGU base reached 7.296 million, up 0.8% year-on-year. The company stabilised its DTH base, reducing losses to 1,900 for the quarter thanks, it said to the success of convergent offers launched for these customers using 4G mobile.

Coinciding with the launch of the Nos brand, the company rolled out a series of bundled offerings ranging in price from €49.99 to €79.99. The entry package combines Iris-based TV with 121 channels, 30Mbps broadband and one mobile SIM card including 200MB of mobile data, with unlimited mobile and fixed voice.

Nos (“Us” in Portuguese) was launched as a single brand for all former Zon and Optimus services on May 16 and the company said the brand now had over 90% awareness, with over 70% recognition that the brand is associated with the services provided under the Zon and Optimus brands.

Consolidated revenues fell by 3.4% in the quarter to €345 million, while EBITDA fell by 4.8% to €133.6 million.