Triple play services are contributing to strong ARPU growth for the Portuguese pay-TV operator ZON. On the other hand, it is losing both cable and DTH subscribers.
Results published by the company show that it ended Q2 with 1,576,900 basic subscribers, or 0.9% less than a year earlier. Of these, 1,166,300 – a reduction of 1.1% – received cable services.
The number of ZON triple play customers, however, stood at 571,000 (+46.3%), and almost one in two cable subscribers (49%) received triple play services.
Furthermore, although the DTH subscriber total fell by 0.4% year-on-year in Q2 to 410,600, ZON could point to its blended ARPU rising by 7% to €35.4 in the first half of this year. Within the multiple play cable customer base, ARPU grew by 7.8% to €38.8 in Q2, while in the DTH customer base the increase was a much more modest 0.8%.
ZON’s strategy is clearly one of acquiring and retaining high-end customers, while the overall reduction in subscriber numbers in Q2 can be explained by across-the-board price increases of 2-3% that came into effect at the beginning of May.
The company says that its leading position in the marketplace is down to such factors as the number of HD channels it carries. This currently stands at 15, which is more than any other company in Portugal, with the latest additions, in Q2, being Nat Geo Wild, Discovery Showcase HD and – exclusive to ZON – Económico TV HD.
ZON had an installed HD set-top base of 740,000 at the end of H1 and coverage of the recent World Cup in South Africa in HD helped communicate its position as “the operator with the most comprehensive and best quality HD offer in the market.”
Significantly, ZON is also a pioneer in the 3D sector, having launched a channel in the format in Q1 this year. The company in addition has a VOD library of over 3,000 titles and is making strong headway in the rollout of ultra-fast internet access, having introduced a service in Q2 offering connection speeds of up to 200 Mbps. Indeed, the upgrade of its network to DOCSIS 3.0 is now almost complete.
On the financial side, ZON had operating revenues of €216.2 million (+9.5%) in Q2, along with EBITDA of €76.2 million (+15.9%). Its net income meanwhile rose by an impressive 41.7% to reach €13.6 million.
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