At December 31, 2014, Belgian cable operator Telenet served 1,576,600 digital TV customers as the operator added 11,100 net digital TV subscribers in the fourth quarter.
The total number of TV homes was 2,066,700 at the end of the year, down 1% from 2,092,500 the previous year. The number of analogue only TV homes continues to decline from 601,100 to 490,100, down 18%.
Approximately 76% of Telenet’s basic cable television subscribers were generating incremental ARPU on the interactive digital TV platform compared to around 71% at December 31, 2013.
Relative to the preceding quarters, the operator saw a slowdown in net digital TV subscriber additions after the strong uptake in Q3 following the phasing-out of its SD video platform.
“Through our local STAP investment program and our planned 50% investment in the local media company De Vijver Media, which we hope to close towards the end of Q1 2015, we have been supporting – and will continue to support – local series and programming,” said John Porter, Telenet CEO.
“In 2014, we also concluded new contracts with the core Flemish broadcasters, allowing us to enrich our Yelo TV platform. In December 2014, we revamped our subscription VOD packages and lowered the headline price for our entry level product Play by one-third. Priced at €10 per month, we believe Play represents an attractive entry point for digital TV customers who want to take full control of when, where and how they watch TV.”
Telenet served 2,066,700 customer relationships, which represented approximately 71% of the 2,916,300 homes passed by the network. As of December 31, 2014, all of the 2,066,700 customer relationships subscribed to the basic cable television services, 1,530,600 subscribed to broadband internet services and 1,154,200 subscribed to fixed telephony services.
Telenet also had 894,500 mobile postpaid subscribers as of December 31, 2014. In addition, approximately 76% of basic cable television subscribers had upgraded to the higher ARPU digital TV platform. At December 31, 2014, the operator provided 4,751,500 services, excluding mobile RGUs, a 3% increase compared to the prior year period.
