UPC Switzerland gains customers and loses sales

Liberty Global completed its second fiscal quarter of 2017 on June 30 and has now published figures on this. The parent company of UPC Switzerland measures its success with revenue-generating units (RGUs).

In Europe, Liberty Global gained 406,200 RGUs in the first 6 months. This sounds good, but represents a year-on-year decline of 6.3 percent. If you only compare the second quarter of 2017 with the previous year, the decline is as much as 37.5 percent.

Decline in sales in Switzerland and Austria

Things look better in Switzerland and Austria: UPC gained 8200 RGUs in the region in the first half of the year and 10,600 in the second quarter compared with the previous year. One reason for this, he said, was the new Connect & Play subscriptions that UPC launched in Switzerland in May. As part of the Autostrada program, UPC connected 12,000 households to its fiber network in Switzerland and Austria in Q2.

In Switzerland, sales in the 2nd quarter decreased by 1.9 percent year-on-year to 334 million Swiss francs. Sales in Switzerland and Austria decreased by 2.7 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2017. It stood at 435.1 million US dollars. On a half-year basis, the decrease was 2.5 percent, with sales of $858.8 million.

Figures for Switzerland

UPC announced the following figures for Switzerland as of June 30:

• 2,255,900 households can use UPC services. 4800 more than 3 months ago.
• 1,271,400 customers use at least one video, Internet or telephone service from UPC. 3 months ago, this figure was 10,000 higher.
• 1,232,800 customers pay for TV services from UPC Switzerland. 3 months ago, the figure was 8400 more.
• 560,900 customers are basic video subscribers. They do not use additional services such as smart cards. 3 months ago, the figure was 8,100 higher.
• 671,900 customers are "Enhanced Video Subscribers". 300 fewer than 3 months ago. Customers pay for smart cards and decryption of TV channels.
• 752,600 customers pay for Internet services. 8100 more than 3 months ago.
• 524,300 customers pay for telephone services. 6400 more than 3 months ago.
• 92,500 customers pay for mobile telephony. 7200 more than 3 months ago.
• UPC has 2,509,700 RGUs in this country. 6100 more than 3 months ago.

The company plans to supply up to 200,000 additional households outside its own network by using third-party networks by the end of 2018. In Lausanne, 90,000 new households are to be added in mid-August. (Netzwoche)