Dutch incumbent telecoms operator KPN has said it signed up an average of 5,000 new IPTV customers during the first quarter of the year. The number of subscribers to the company’s DTT platform Digitenne base remained relatively stable. KPN ended the quarter with 1,242,000 TV subscribers.
This brought KPN’s TV market share to 16%. Approximately 50% of new TV subscribers are new broadband customers and about 75% of all IPTV customers choose a triple play package. TV ARPU increased by 22% year-on-year to €11 in Q1 2011.
At the end of March, 2011, the total number of IPTV customers was 360,000 (up from 302,000 on December 31, 2010) and 882,000 DTT homes (down from 895,000). The increase in TV ARPU is mainly due to the increase in monthly subscription fees.
TV Business is a growth driver for KPN, but overall revenues in the Netherlands are lower than expected. KPN has announced an adjustment of its 2011 EBITDA outlook to less than €5.3 billion. The reduction is caused by recent trends in the Netherlands and accelerated investments as part of the new strategy plans, to be announced May 10, to strengthen the market positions of the Dutch businesses.
