UPC Ireland, which in recent years acquired cable operators NTL and Chorus, said today that nearly 50pc of its TV subscribers now have digital and following the launch of voice services last month the company is targeting 400,000 triple-play homes – using TV, broadband and voice – by the end of the year.
The company also revealed that broadband subscribers have doubled year on year to 62,000.
First-quarter revenues at UPC Ireland were up 19.4pc to US$73.7m, compared with US$61.7m a year ago.
Operating cash flow at UPC Ireland was US$22.6m, up from US$18.6m in the same quarter last year.
UPC Ireland’s parent company Liberty Global reported revenues of US$2.1bn for the quarter derived from the company’s 22.8 million revenue generating units (RGUs) around the world, including 657,000 homes in Ireland.
Liberty Global president and CEO Mike Fries said that broadband remained the company’s fastest-growing product, with 200,000 additional RGUs signed up during the quarter worldwide.
This pattern was also borne out locally with Robert Dunn, CEO of UPC Ireland, referring to strong growth in broadband and digital. “We’re particularly delighted with the continued customer growth levels in broadband which have almost doubled year on year to 62,900.
“Over 50pc of our TV subscribers now have digital, representing over 56,700 new customers year on year. These additions reinforce the successful uptake of our bundled product range.
“Following the launch of our voice product in April we’re targeting close to 400,000 triple-play homes by year end. In addition, we’re very excited about continuing the rollout of triple-play across our national footprint in order to expand the deployment of next-generation networks to Irish consumers,” Dunn said.
By John Kennedy
