Telenet adds subs, increases triple-play penetration

Telenet’s subscriber base increased by 29% to 4,163,000 in the 12 months to the end of September.

The Belgian cable operator added 64,000 digital TV customers during the third quarter, giving it a total of 916,000, up 76% year-on-year. Its total TV subscriber base, including analogue customers, reached 2.4 million at the end of September. Total video-on-demand transactions reached 8.4 million during the third quarter, up 68% year-on- year. Average monthly transactions per user remained stable around 3.5 over the first nine months of the year. Telenet said digital TV customers typically generate ARPU approximately twice as that of basic cable TV ARPU, through the use of on-demand content, the uptake of thematic and premium channel packages, and recurring rental fees. ARPU across all products was €34.4m, compared with €32.8m a year earlier.

Premium TV revenue generated by Telenet Digital TV, INDI and PayTV customers reached €82.5m for the first nine months of 2009, up €56.3m year-on-year.

Telenet ended September with 1.1 million broadband customers, up 13% year-on-year, and 715,000 fixed telephony customers, up 30%. The number of triple-play customers rose 68% to 627,000 at the end of the quarter.

Third quarter revenue reached €882m, up 19%. EBITDA was up 24% to €460m.