Zon increases triple-play base

Portuguese cable operator Zon Multimédia has tripled the number of subscribers taking triple-play services in 12 months, ending March with 3.4 million triple-play customers.

Zon added 64,000 new triple-play subscribers during the first quarter meaning that just under 30% of cable subscribers now take a triple-play package, compared with 10% a year earlier and 23% at the end of December 2008. The operator ended the quarter with a total of 1.6 million subscribers. The number of RGUs increased by 23.9% year-on-year to 3.1 million at the end of March. ARPU rose to €32.7 from €31.6 a year earlier.

The operator ended the first quarter with 539,000 subscribers to its basic digital pay-TV offer Funtastic after attracting 44,000 new customers. However, it lost 2,000 premium pay-TV subscribers during the quarter, ending March with a total of 835,000. The operator said an additional 93,000 customers had installed the Zon Box HD set-top during the quarter, making a total of 184,000, half of which also include a DVR.

Growth in broadband remained strong, with 27,000 net additions in the first quarter, reaching a total of 546,000.

The operator reported operating revenues of €201.5m for the quarter, up 7.1% year-on-year while EBITDA was also up 9.1% to 64.3m.