Broadcast made a strong contribution to Telenor’s third quarter revenues, driven by an increase of 21,000 cable TV internet subscriptions, and price increases to Canal Digital’s cable and DTH subscriptions.
The price rises followed the decision to drop the separate HD tier, instead including the channels as part of the regular tiers. However, increased hardware costs pulled down the EBITDA, and DTH subscriptions continue to hold steady at 1,125,000.
Canal Digital Group recorded third quarter revenues of NOK1,592m, an increase from NOK1,431m in the third quarter of 2007. Operating profit slid to NOK97m form NOK148m in 2007.
Broadcast also faced a NOK23 million cost following Canal Digital’s exit from the Finnish DTT market, where subscription management was passed onto Plus TV.
Revenues in Transmission and Encryption increased from NOK448m to NOK546m as Thor 5 came into service. Conditional Access division Conax also increased smart card sales. Third quarter operating profit within the sector increased to NOK196m from NOK168.
