15.09.2006
Portuguese pay-TV operator TV Cabo had a total of 1.444 million subscribers at the end of June 2006 (1.072 million clients for its cable TV service and 371,000 for its satellite service). An estimated 28,000 clients cancelled their subscription during the second quarter of 2006. The main reason for this high level of churn "is the current economic situation and the less favourable outlook for the future that translated into a reduction of pay-TV services", explained a company spokesperson. He added that the company will continue to invest in expanding and upgrading its cable network, underlining that 96.3 per cent of homes passed has a bi-directional connection, capable of supporting interactive services and broadband internet.
Broadband internet penetration in the cable TV subscriber base was 32.1 per cent, up 1.2 percentage points on the 2Q 2005. ARPU for pay-TV and broadband internet in Q2 was E29.20, a 4 per cent percent increase year-on-year, mainly due to the good performance of the digital package "Funtastic Life" and the increase of subscribers for the Sport TV channel. Revenues from pay-TV and broadband internet activities increased by 5.8 per cent to E292 million in the first half of 2006.
