Tele2 sees dip in TV numbers

Swedish service provider Tele2 saw a further dip in TV customers in the third quarter, while TV revenues remained flat.

Digital TV revenue-generating units were down by 12,000 year-on-year to 893,000, with cable and fibre RGUs falling by 2% to 629,000 and digital-terrestrial customers falling by 9% to 264,000.

Kjell Johnsen

Tele2 saw revenues from TV stay more or less flat year-on-year overall, dropping by 1% to SEK683 million. Cable and fibre TV revenues were up 2% at SEK430 million, offset by a 5% dip in digital-terrestrial revenues to SEK254 million. Monthly revenue per user was up 4% to SEK227, driven by higher revenue per user both on IP and terrestrial networks.

The increase in revenue per unit was behind the overall rise in the top line for cable and fibre TV.

At the end of September, all eligible Entertainment customers were migrated to new packages with extended Viaplay content.

The operator has adopted a steady-as-you-go approach to its business in the face of what it describes as “a challenging external environment”. It posted organic end-user service revenue growth of 3.5% for the quarter, with underlying EBITDAaL growing by 5%

Group president and CEO Kjell Johnsen said that “the challenging macro trends” the company faces “are set to continue”, leading to the need for “further efficiency efforts”.

Johnsen said that rising energy costs and inflation would have a negative impact on Tele2’s business but that this would be “relatively limited” thanks to the company’s “growth momentum”. He said the key focus for the company was “delivering growth and a successful 5G rollout”.