Proximus sees strong TV and bundled offering growth

Belgian telecom operator Proximus added 71,000 TV customers in 2017, taking its total TV base to 1.56 million, up 4.8% over the year.

Proximus now claims a TV market share of 36.8%, compared with 46.6% share of the broadband market and a 39.9% share of mobile.

Dominique Leroy

Proximus TV contributed to a modest 1.1% rise in underlying revenue from domestic operations for Proximus. The telco posted domestic revenues of €4.458 billion for the year despite what it described as a more competitive landscape and significant regulatory headwinds.

TV highlights over the course of the last year include a renewal of Proximus’ deal for top-tier Belgian football and a new strategic partnership with Studio 100.

Proximus acquired the exclusive nationwide broadcasting rights to kids channel Studio 100 TV from the beginning of this year, leaving Liberty Global-backed Flemish rival Telenet in the cold.

Proximus added 62,000 fixed internet customers in the course of 2017, taking its total to 1.983 million. Fixed voice customers fell by 2.4% to 2.624 million lines, while the mobile base dipped by 0.6% to 6.05 million.

Triple and quad-play homes and businesses now total 1.431 million, or close to half of Proximus’s customer base, up 5% year-on-year. The company’s all-in Tuttimus and Bizz All-in offerings reached 360,000 subscriptions at the end of the year.

“With sound financials for the fourth quarter, our Fit for Growth strategy resulted in a full-year Domestic revenue growth of 1.1% and a 1.5% growth in Group EBITDA, increasing for the third year in a row,” said CEO Dominique Leroy.

“In an increasingly competitive market we further grew our customer base. Proximus won market share for both internet and TV, demonstrating solid customer gains and improved fixed churn levels. We also realized growth in our mobile postpaid customer base, in spite of the many competitor promotions.”