Tele Columbus confirms digitisation progress, posts mixed results

Tele Columbus HQ

Germany cable operator Tele Columbus has now digitized 600,000 homes across its footprint following the launch of its digital switchover project in July.

Tele Columbus said that switchover, which kicked off in the states of Bavaria, Bremen and Saxony, would be completed next year. the company says the move will free up capacity for additional HD content and IP services.

Tele Columbus had 3.3 million homes connected at the end of Q3, of which 2.287 million are upgraded for two-way services. The company had 2.305 million unique subscribers at the end of the period. TV customers declined by 24,000 quarter-on-quarter to 2.278 million, while premium TV customers declined by 6,000 to 553,000. Voice customers declined by 8,000 to 448,000.

Tele Columbus had 571,000 broadband customers at the end of the period, representing penetration of 24.5%.

Revenues for Q3 increased by 3.7% to €127.7 million, boosted by B2B sales, while normalized EBITDA declined by 14.1% to €58.6 million, which the company attributed to lower high-margin TV and IP revenues and an increased cost base. Reported EBITDA increased by 1.6% to €49.9 million thanks to lower expenses for non-recurring items.