O2 reported today that service revenues in Q4 were €157m, down from €168m in Q3. ARPU for Q4 was €31.33, down from €32.46 in Q3.
O2’s total customer base – mobile and fixed – was 1.64m at the end of December, down from 1.68m in Q3.
The operator’s joint MVNO venture with Tesco Mobile achieved 141,000 customers at the end of December, up from 115,000 in Q3.
O2 Money, the operator’s money card service, exceeded expectations, with 100,000 people signed up a year after launch.
Mobile data
O2 said smartphones now account for two-thirds of its mobile customer base, with sales of smartphones doubling in Q4, driving a two-fold increase in mobile internet traffic.
Data revenues were up 6pc year-on-year, driven by the healthy performance of non-SMS data revenue, which was up 13.7pc in the fourth quarter, accounting for 42pc of data revenues.
The company said its 21Mbps broadband service is continuing to be expanded nationwide, with a further 37 towns upgraded during Q4.
“The trading environment remained very difficult in the fourth quarter of 2011, with our customers continuing to optimise their monthly spend and avail of increased value for money products and services from us,” Telefonica Ireland’s chief financial officer Paul Whelan said.
“Nonetheless, we are seeing a continued increase in the popularity of smartphones and data services, with smartphone sales and mobile internet traffic on the O2 network doubling in Q4 when compared with the same period in 2010.
“This in part drove further momentum in the post-pay base, with 6,000 new customers added in the quarter and 23,000 for the year as a whole.
“The O2 Money card also continues to exceed expectations, with over 100,000 people having purchased a card in the first 12 months since it launched,” Whelan said.
