Telekom Austria adds 6,178 TV subscribers in 2Q 2014

VIENNA — Today the Telekom Austria Group (VSE: TKA, OTC US: TKAGY) announces its results for the first half of 2014, ending 30 June 2014. Growth in TV and fixed-line broadband helped to stem the decline in fixed-line service revenues.

A1 TV

Telekom Austria finished the quarter with 483 thousand TV subscribers in Austria, Bulgaria and Croatia, up 6,178 in the quarter and 32,693 year-on-year.

Subscribers (000s)

          Q1 2013  Q2 2013  Q3 2013  Q4 2013
          -------  -------  -------  -------
Austria   225,162  227,839  229,796  235,683
Bulgaria   70,660   72,994   75,073   77,847
Croatia   144,191  149,777  158,085  157,076
          -------  -------  -------  -------
 Total    440,013  450,610  462,954  470,606

          Q1 2014  Q2 2014  QoQ change (%)  YoY change (%)
          -------  -------  --------------  --------------
Austria   239,994  241,589   1,595 (+0.7%)  13,750 (+6.0%)
Bulgaria   77,349   78,809   1,460 (+1.9%)   5,815 (+8.0%)
Croatia   159,782  162,905   3,123 (+2.0%)  13,128 (+8.8%)
          -------  -------  --------------  --------------
 Total    477,125  483,303   6,178 (+1.3%)  32,693 (+7.3%)

“Direct2home” satellite product

“Direct2home” is a B2B Direct-to-Home platform uplinking TV signals via Telekom Austria’s earth station in Aflenz/Styria to the EUTELSAT 16A satellite at 16°E for broadcasting to Central and Eastern Europe as well as wider regions of Western Europe.

The service was launched in September 2013 with Telekom Austria’s Croatian subsidiary Vipnet. Vipnet now has 28,500 active customers. Telekom Austria’s Bulgarian subsidiary, Mobiltel, is also planning a service with a target of 45,000 customers in the first year.

The first external customers for Direct2home, in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia, are to launch this year.

Other Events

In June 2014, the Telekom Austria Group has signed an agreement for the merger of its subsidiary mobilkom liechtenstein into Telecom Liechtenstein AG to form a convergent market leader in Liechtenstein. The merger is subject to approval by the competent authorities. This transaction will be non-cash with the Telekom Austria Group holding a stake of 24.9% and the Principality of Liechtenstein holding 75.1% in Telecom Liechtenstein AG. The new company will offer bundled products out of one hand – fixed line, mobile communications, internet and TV services.