Telekom receives Slovak TV boost

Deutsche Telekom’s TV subscriber total outside Germany jumped by more than a fifth following the acquisition of DIGI Slovakia.

According to the company, the number of homes receiving IPTV, satellite or cable services stood at 3,447,000 as of the end of September.

This was 617,000, or 21.8%, more than a year earlier and thanks to what Telekom says is the DIGI Slovakia purchase, as of September 1, 2013.

In its home market, Telekom ended Q3 with 2,121,000 IPTV and satellite customers, or 11.3% more than a year earlier.

The Telekom Group as a whole had net revenues of €15.5 billion in the third quarter, or 6% more than a year earlier.

Organically, revenue growth amounted to 2.4%.

Adjusted EBITDA fell by 2.6% year-on-year in the third quarter to €4.7 billion due to investments in customer growth.

This, as the company points out, marked a clear improvement in the EBITDA trend: The year-on-year decrease was still 5.2% in the first half of 2013.

Commenting on the results, Telekom’s CEO René Obermann said: “After an excellent second quarter, these figures are further proof of our strength.

“”In the US, we have managed to achieve an impressive turnaround and in our home market we show ongoing stability, making us the envy of many companies in our industry.”

The US was the main driver for company growth. According to the company, “With its successful “Un-carrier” strategy, T-Mobile US gained more than a million customers net between July and September alone. Together with the inclusion of MetroPCS, this deluge of new customers resulted in a revenue increase, in euros, of more than 30%. Measured in US dollars, the increase was as much as 38%.”

On the other hand, Telekom’s revenues in Europe were impacted by regulatory intervention and EBITDA was under pressure.