TeliaSonera reaches 450,000 IPTV subs in Q3

Scandinavian telco TeliaSonera added 23,000 IPTV customers in the third quarter of this year across all regions to bring its total to 450,000, with over half of its IPTV customer base in Sweden paying to receive the service.

In Sweden, the push for IPTV resulted in a rise of more than 100,000 new subscriptions year-on-year to reach 320,000, however the company reported no growth on a quarter-on-quarter comparison in the country. TeliaSonera had a total of 839,000 digital TV subscribers across all regions, including its cable TV operations in Denmark.

Net sales by the Broadband Services division fell 1% year-on-year to reach SEK 11,063mn (US$ 1,376mn) in the third quarter of 2008, however growth in voice and IP traffic, and higher sales of IP-based services, "did not fully offset the decline in traditional fixed voice", according to the company. The total number of broadband subscribers across all regions reached 2,405,000 by the end of the third quarter of this year, up 26,000 from three months previously. Broadband average revenue per user (ARPU) for the three months to September was SEK 275, up slightly from SEK 273 in the same period of 2007.

“Third quarter performance was good with growing sales and strong EBITDA, driven by Mobility Services and Eurasia," said Lars Nyberg, President and CEO of TeliaSonera . Sales in Broadband Services were essentially flat in absolute terms, but there is a considerable change in the underlying product mix, which puts pressure on margins. Improving operational efficiency remains one of our top priorities.

"We are in a period of global financial turmoil and it is very difficult to project how long it will last. However, TeliaSonera has a strong balance sheet and operates in a relatively non-cyclical industry. Therefore, we see no immediate effects of changing customer behavior in our operations. Regulatory intervention, intense competition and customer migration remain the primary challenges.

"Total net sales across all operations for the third quarter of this year rose 4% relative to the same period of 2007 to reach SEK 25,817mn, while net income fell 13% by the same comparison to reach SEK 5,411mn.

Stockholm-headquartered TeliaSonera is active in North and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Spain, and has IPTV operations in a number of countries including Sweden, Norway, Lithuania and Estonia.