Vodafone sees TV base slide in Germany

Vodafone lost around half a million TV customers in the year to June, with European TV subscribers standing at 21.8 million at the end of the company’s fiscal first quarter.

The international telco was particularly badly hit in Germany, the company’s largest market, where its TV base declined by 79,000 in the quarter to June, which Vodafone attributed to legislative changes. The company is no longer able to offer services via housing associations that force tenants to choose it as an operator.

Vodafone said its overall German converged customer base remained stable at around 2.4 million homes.

Fixed service revenue in the Germany market declined by 1.6%, reflecting the lower broadband TV base. The company’s cable broadband base declined by 34,000, with DSL broadband customers also falling by 30,000.

Service revenue in Germany declined by 0.5%, despite a rise in mobile service revenue, where Vodafone added 6,000 contract customers.

In Spain, by contrast, Vodafone said its TV base remained stable, despite a decline of 30,000 broadband customers in the quarter. Vodafone added 38,000 contract customers in the quarter, thanks to the success of second-ranked mobile brand Lowi.

Overall, Vodafone saw service revenues rise by 2.5% to 9.5 billion. Within Europe, the service revenue decline in Germany was offset by growth in the UK, while Vodafone continued to gain ground in Africa.