Euskaltel confirms 4K Android box plan, updates on Telecable

Francisco Arteche

Spanish cable operator Euskaltel’s CEO Francisco Arteche used the company’s presentation of its first quarter to confirm that the operator would launch a new 4K-enabled Android box this month along with a new set of services.

In a conference call following the company’s quarterly results, Arteche said the services would be available to new and existing customers. “This will be very attractive to consumers,” he said.

The company will offer a new bundled offer focusing on an offer of “more for more” to drive up ARPU, while maintaining a certain level of choice to customers, according to Arteche. He said Euskaltel would include mobile data in the bundle, but the exact packages had yet to be communicated.

He said that Euskaltel would also roll out DOCSIS 3.1, which already covers 24% of the operator’s network in the Basque Country, across its network. The company plans to extend this to 40% of households by June.

Euskaltel also plans to launch a service of service packages aimed at small and medium enterprises. Arteche said that Euskaltel planned to offer ‘pre-bundled’ solutions that required training of its field forces. The offering will launch in June, with more services to follow in future quarters. “The enterprise space is going through a ramp up for each quarter…and we hope to be in a very solid position in Q4,” he said.

Arteche declined to comment extensively on Euskaltel’s proposed acquisition of Telecable but said that “negotiations are ongoing” and that any conclusions would be communicated to the market.

Answering a question on Telecable, he said that the company had realized there “was no need for a strict one-month deadline” that had previously been communicated, because Telecable was not a public company. However, he said he hoped to come to a “conclusion in the coming weeks” and expressed the view that the talks should “not linger on”.

Euskaltel saw its first quarter revenues and EBITDA fall year-on-year, but reported strong free cash-flow and solid operational progress. The company posted sales of €139.5 million for the quarter, down 1.6%, and EBITDA of €68 million, down 1.5%.

Arteche said that Euskaltel had experienced a “particularly challenging quarter” and that the company had to “accelerate its development”.