NOS hit by COVID-19 but convergence progress continues

Portuguese service provider NOS saw a modest rise in pay TV numbers in the second quarter, adding 4,200 subscribers.

Broadband numbers were up by 15,300 while mobile customers rose by 22,800.

Subscribers to convergent and integrated bundles grew by 1,200,, further increasing their presence in the fixed access customer base to 61% by the end of the quarter.

NOS said that bundled services reflect the importance that customers place on subscribing to combined fixed and mobile services with high bandwidth and more flexible, made-to-measure tariff plans that include very high usage allowances and a rich content line up.

On the TV side, NOS recently added the Apple TV box in its portfolio of terminal equipment available to bundled customers for an additional rental charge, providing a 4K NOS user interface experience within the Apple ecosystem, which the company said was enabling it to target a digital-savvy, more premium customer segment.

Overall pay TV fixed access customers numbered 1.365 million at the end of the quarter, up from 1.36 million in March. The declining DTH base remained more or less stable over the quarter, falling by only 300 customers to 283,400.

NOS’s total RBU base was up 2,3% year-on-year to 9.761 million, including 1.648 pay TV RGUs, up 1.9%.

Total revenues for NOS for the quarter were down 5% to €653 million, blamed on the COVID-19 crisis that hit Portugal badly, and which led to a fall in premium sports revenues as a result of the lockdown.