TeliaSonera has improved the performance of its IPTV sector by increasing the share of paying customers on its network. The telco said around 70% of its Swedish customer base is now paying for the product. It follows a period when rivals accused the company of distorting the market by giving away a free IPTV service to its broadband customers.
The total number of TV subscriptions increased by 98,000 from the end of 2007, numbers reaching 867,000 at the end of December 2008, of which 477,000 were IPTV subscriptions. Swedish IPTV subscriptions added 20,000 on the year to reach 324,000. The cable TV businesses in Finland and Denmark (Stofa) remained steady with 176,000 and 210,000 subscribers respectively.
Outside of the Nordics, IPTV services in Lithuania and Estonia continue to perform well. Lithuania’s TEO added 49,000 subscribers year-on-year to reach 67,000 homes as of December 31, 2008. In Estonia, as reported last week in Broadband TV News, Elion closed the year with 75,000 IPTV and 4,000 cable subscribers.