Recovery in sports and advertising in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic helped Liberty Global return to revenue growth in Q2.
As of June 30, 2021 Liberty’s fibre and 5G network had 87 million subscribers, generating annual revenue of more than $7 billion.
Liberty added 139,000 consolidated broadband and post-paid mobile subscribers during the quarter, including 42,000 at Virgin during April and May. However, while the UK, Poland and Slovakia added customers, Belgium, Switzerland and Ireland saw net losses.
There were also video losses in all markets outside Switzerland with the UK losing 33,400 subscribers.
Liberty continues to restructure its operations, Virgin Media O2, a joint venture with Telefonica, went live in June, while discussions are underway with Iliad to acquire 100% of UPC Poland.
In the Netherlands, Vodafone-Ziggo is continuing with the rollout of SmartWifi and DOCSIS 3.1 upgrades. 50% of the network is now capable of reaching speeds of 1 GB.
On Thursday, Virgin Media O2 announced it would be pursuing a fibre upgrade, rather than the previously planned DOCSIS 4 migration. However, Liberty said its strategy concerning DOCSIS was likely to vary by market.
