Subscriber numbers within the Canal Digital Group followed a familiar pattern in Q1, as falling DTH numbers were compensated by higher subscriber revenues, and increases in cable broadband.
The number of DTH subscribers at the Telenor Broadcast division decreased by 6,000 to 1,054,000, having lost 42,000 homes over the last 12 months. Canal Digital will be looking to its new on demand service to grow subscriber numbers for the rest of the year.
However, price increases and the sale of additional services to cable subscribers helped grow revenue by NOK 50,000 year-on-year. EBITDA of NOK 221m was negatively affected by a NOK 27 million provision related to replacement of cable TV decoders at Canal Digital Norway.
Revenues in Transmission & Encryption, including Conax, fell by NOK 7,000m to NOK 586. A reduction in the sale of conditional access services were compensated in part by increased revenues from satellite transmission and from terrestrial transmission at Norkring België.
In total Telenor Broadcast grew operating profits by NOK 64m to NOK 284m.