IPTV offsets falling fixed-voice subs for TeliaSonera

Strong demand for bundled offerings, including IPTV and VoIP subscriptions, compensated for Nordic telco TeliaSonera’s loss of fixed-voice subscriptions during the third quarter.

The total number of TV subscriptions rose by 109,000 from the third quarter of 2008 to 739,000, of which 561,000 were IPTV subscriptions. The total number of IPTV subscriptions increased by 29,000 during the quarter, of which 17,000 were in Sweden, where revenues from IPTV more than doubled compared to last year. TeliaSonera said more than 20% of broadband customers also subscribe to IPTV services.

The number of broadband subscriptions rose to 2,351,000, up 96,000 from the third quarter of 2008 and an increase of 63,000 during the quarter. Fixed-voice subscriptions decreased by 573,000 year-on-year to 5,348,000. New VoIP subscriptions reached 56,000 in the quarter, bringing the total number of subscriptions to 295,000.

TeliaSonera’s Broadband Services division, which includes broadband, cable, IPTV and telephony services in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, recorded net sales of SEK10.8bn (€1.05bn) for the third quarter of the year, up 3% year-on-year. EBITDA was up 13% to SEK3.8bn. Broadband ARPU rose SEK36 year-on-year to SEK314.