UPC Broadband has posted a mixed set of results for Q1 2007, with growth in broadband Internet access and telephony strong in most markets but digital TV and DTH operations performing more modestly. In the DTH sector, where UPC Direct faces growing competition from the Romanian-owned platform Digi TV, the number of subscribers in both Hungary (163,700) and the Czech Republic (133,400) was lower than three months earlier. However, UPC’s operation in Romania (Focus Sat) and Slovakia recorded rises. Growth in the take-up of both Internet access and telephony was particularly pronounced in The Netherlands and Poland, which saw the respective subscriber totals rise by 19,500 and 29,400 (Internet) and 17,700 and 19,500 (telephony) in the first quarter. Although the company’s Dutch operation secured only 9,000 new digital TV subscribers in Q1, its Swiss operation added 16,900. UPC Broadband’s revenues in Europe as a whole amounted to $931.9 million (€689.1 million) in Q1 2007, or 24.7% more than in the corresponding period in 2006.
