Mobile and TV boost for Euskaltel

A strong increase in mobile revenue-generating units and a more modest but significant increase in TV customers helped boost Spanish regional cable operator Euskaltel’s performance despite zero growth in its overall customers base last year.

The Basque Country operator saw its mobile base increase by over a third, or 94,000 customers to 368,000 over the course of the year, while TV customers increased by 5.8% to 132,000. Broadband customers increased by a more modest 1.8% to 222,000, while fixed phone customers fell by 0.8% to 277,000.

The company’s overall customer base was flat at 296,000, to which it added 249,000 in the course of the year through the acquisition of Galicia region operator R.

Euskaltel said it expected to stay on track in realising €300 million in synergies through the R acquisition. It said it had already signed a mobile hosting agreement and that re-negotiation of deals with key content and technology suppliers had started. The combined company expects to launch an LTE network in Galician by the middle of this year. Two thirds of Euskaltel subscribers are currently bundled along with a slightly smaller proportion of R customers. However, close to 80% of R’s customers take a mobile service, compared with only two thirds of Euskaltel’s.

Euskaltel posted revenues of €349.4 million for the year, up 8.8%, while adjusted EBITDA was €167 million, up 7.1%.