Cable network operator Quickline posts strong gains
Im Gegensatz zur Branche ist der Kabelnetzverbund Quickline im ersten Halbjahr kräftig gewachsen. Der Umsatz des vor allem im Mittelland tätigen TV-, Internet- und Telefonieanbieters legte um 8,6 Prozent auf 115 Millionen Franken zu.
"We could hardly believe it ourselves, but the growth came from our own resources," said Quickline CEO Nicolas Perrenoud in a conference call on Wednesday. In the past, the acquisition of new partner networks had boosted the network's growth. The number of network partners remained stable at 21 in the first half of the year. By comparison, industry leader Swisscom Switzerland lost 0.3 percent of its turnover in the first half of the year, while Sunrise lost 6 percent. The largest cable network operator UPC (formerly Cablecom) increased its turnover by around 1.5 percent. In view of the tough competition in the sector, which intensified in the first half of the year, Quickline performed very well, said Perrenoud. The strongest growth was achieved in telephony, where the number of customers rose by almost 12 percent to 102,800. Two thirds of this growth came from mobile telephony. However, Quickline also made further gains in fixed-line telephony. According to Perrenoud, customers were primarily lured away from Swisscom, but also from Sunrise. However, this growth should be over in a year at the latest.
Core business shrinks
The number of Internet customers increased by just under 7% to 151,600 subscribers. In contrast, the Quickline network suffered losses in its core business of television, as did the entire cable network sector. Here, the number of customers fell by 3.3 percent to 356,000. This makes Quickline the third-largest TV provider in Switzerland, behind Swisscom and UPC. The decline is probably due not least to Swisscom's sports offering, explained Perrenoud. Because Swisscom owns the rights, it can broadcast considerably more Swiss football and ice hockey matches live than its competitors, the cable network providers or Sunrise. However, this will change next year. This is because the cable network operators around UPC and Quickline have now secured the TV rights for Swiss ice hockey matches from the 2017/18 season. With the new sports channel MySports, they want to steal customers away from Swisscom from next summer. "We know from surveys that we lost one in three customers who switched to Swisscom TV between 2011 and 2013 primarily because of the sports offering," said Perrenoud. It is difficult to say whether this was due to the football or ice hockey offering. "We are convinced that MySports will succeed in bringing customers back."
Targeted growth
In order to grow, Verbund is still interested in buying new partner networks, said Perrenoud. At the same time, the company is also considering offering the new TV service via the Internet and apps throughout Switzerland outside of its own cable networks. Quickline is also in negotiations with electricity providers regarding the use of their fiber optic networks. However, Perrenoud did not want to name any names. (SDA)
