Telenet sees broadband and TV numbers drop

Belgian service provider Telenet saw its broadband subscriber base decline slightly on an organic basis in Q1, although it was able to point to strong fixed-mobile convergence growth.

Telenet also lost 21,800 video subscribers on an organic basis.

The company’s broadband base dropped year-on-year by 1,800 revenue-generating units on an organic basis, which Telenet said reflected the competitive environment and lower net subscriber growth for its TADAAM unit.

The overall broadband base reached 1,754,100 subscribers at March 31, 2023, which was up 1% including inorganic subscriber additions for both Eltrona in Luxembourg and off-footprint operator brand TADAAM.

Telenet’s video base at the end of March was 1,727,800, including Eltrona and TADAAM.

The higher rate of loss compared to the last quarter reflected what the company described as the Eltrona acquisition effect, with approximately two-thirds of its video subscriber base still being basic video subscribers and to a lesser extent lower subscriber additions under the TADAAM brand given the exclusion of paused customers.

Other factors in the decline of video included the contraction of remaining analog TV subscribers due to demographics and product optimization within the multiple play customer base related to the current macro-economic environment. Annualized video churn reached 10.5% in Q1 2023, an increase of 150 basis points compared to last year’s first quarter.

Overall, Telenet posted a 9% increase in revenue to €702.8 million for the quarter, up 3% when rebased, and operating profit of €106.8 million, down 21%. The revenue rise was attributed to an increase in advertising and production revenue as well as B2B, while the profit line fell due to inflationary pressures on the cost base.