Internet services boost UPC Romania's revenues

Telecom company UPC Romania ended 2014 with revenues of USD 173 million, up 6% year-on-year, mainly due to the positive evolution of Internet services. The Internet continued to be the growth engine for UPC, with an annual evolution of 14%, double the market’s growth rate. “We continued to invest in our network and to launch new services that our customers have demanded. We launched Fiber Power 500 in 2014, offering customers stable high-speed Internet connections. Data consumption of internet clients increased by 30% in 2014,” said Severina Pascu, CEO UPC Romania & Ungaria. UPC had 433,500 Internet subscribers in Romania at the end of December 2014, up 14% year-on-year. The company registered 312,900 telephony subscribers at end-2014, as well as 1.18 million video services subscribers (analog and digital cable, and DTH), according to data released by parent group Liberty Global. The total number of subscription contracts increased by 82,300 last year, to 1.92 million. UPC also launched Wi-Free and Horizon Go services in Romania last year. UPC Wi-Free offers clients free Internet access in over 200,000 locations in Romania and some 5 million in Europe. In 4 months after launch, 10% of the company’s clients in Romania chose to use this service. Horizon Go, the app UPC launched in Romania in December last year, offers clients the possibility to watch TV on their mobile devices anywhere and at any time. So far, 30% of UPC’s Internet clients owning a smartphone have downloaded the app, according to company estimations. They’ve watched 375,000 TV shows and recorded over 1,000 via this app. Some 150,000 clients use UPC’s mobile apps. UPC is part of Liberty Global group and is one of the largest cable TV and fixed internet and telephony providers in Romania. Its main competitors are Romanian group RCS&RDS and Deutsche Telekom. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com