Swisscom sees TV numbers fall in ‘saturated market’

Swiss telecom operator Swisscom saw its TV base decline in the first half in what it characterised as a “saturated market”. The telco’s TV base stood at 1.55 million at the end of June, down from 1.56 million at the end of last year.

The telco’s TV base grew marginally year-on-year, by 1.4%, after it recorded growth of 2.4% over the course of last year.

The operator said that the markets for broadband and TV are saturated and driven strongly by promotional offerings.

It nevertheless maintained that the overall number of TV and broadband connections remains high, and demand for bundled offerings is intact.

Broadband numbers declined by 0.1% year-on-year to 2.048 million.

Swsscom said that its residential customers appreciate its modular and flexible inOne subscription. At the end of June 2020, Swisscom had 2.39 million inOne residential customers. inOne accounts for 68% of all mobile subscriptions and 72% of fixed network broadband connections in the private customer segment, while 45% of customers use a combined offer.

During the lockdown, Swisscom’s TV base may also have been bolstered by its decision to provide Swisscom TV customers with free pay TV channels from sister outfit Teleclub. However, the value of the Teleclub subscription was compromised to some extent by the absence of sports events.

Swisscom overall posted revenues of CHF5.663 billion (€5.264 billion) for the first half, down 2.7% on an adjusted basis, while EBITDA was down 0.9% to CHF5.663 billion.