Belgacom concludes a very solid year in challenging times

Friday, February 29th, 2008
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Operational successes; Financials within expectation; Dividend of EUR 1.68 per share

Solid business performance:

  • Proximus added 308,796 active customers in 2007, reaching a total customer base of 4,620,232. At the same time, the churn rate was kept to an outstanding level of 15.7%
  • Belgacom proves to be a strong iDTV market player with very solid results for Belgacom TV, adding in total 165,654 new customers in 2007. This brought the total TV customer base to 305,319 at the end of December 2007, with an ARPU of EUR 16.1
  • Since the launch in April 2007, about 153,000 packs combining Internet with TV and/or mobile services were sold by Belgacom
  • ICS Belgacom posted positive results, growing its revenue with 1.4% and increasing its EBITDA margin to 7.2%, mainly thanks to a significant increase in mobile data.

BRUSSELS — Operationally we can be proud of the outstanding achievements of our teams: we more than doubled the number of TV customers, we added over 300,000 mobile customers and we sold about 153,000 packs during the year.

                           Year ended 31 December
Belgacom TV                2006   2007   Variance
                           ----   ----   --------
TV customers (thousands)    140    305     118.6%

The Belgian Market

Digital TV (DTV) found its way to the Belgian consumer. At the end of 2007 the DTV penetration was estimated at 22% compared to just 12% a year ago. The inclusion of DTV in bundled offers proved to be a clear catalyst. Belgacom offers Interactive DTV, including services such as Video and TV On Demand. High Definition TV has made a modest entrance onto the Belgian market, and Belgacom is taking the necessary steps to be HDTV-ready for future customer demand.

Consolidation in the cable market materialized in 2007 as cable company Alé-Brutélé and the eight other Walloon cable companies agreed to combine forces in Brussels and Wallonia under the “VOO” brand name.

New mobile applications

Proximus continuously invests in the development of innovative services that not only respond to customers’ needs and simplify their daily lives, but also stimulate revenue growth.

Through the Vodafone live! portal, customers can access a wide range of online services. The portal’s content and design are continually updated to provide richer content and increased user-friendliness. Proximus also launched new initiatives, incorporating Flemish TV channel “Eén” in its mobile television offering and offering eBay users the possibility to browse for and bid on their favorite item via the portal.