UPC Romania grows client base on high speed Internet offer while cable segment down

Cable and internet services provider UPC Romania lost 91,000 clients for its cable services between September 2010 and the same month this year, but the high number of clients who chose digital cable and bought more expensive services helped the company avoid a similar drop of its revenues. UPC Romania currently has 30,000 clients for its HD and 3D services.

The company posted revenues of USD 109.1 million in the first nine months of the year, according to Liberty Global, UPC Romania's mother company. The revenues were down 2 percent compared to the same period of last year. The reported figures do not include the satellite TV division, which are reported separately together with other countries in the region. The overall decrease in clients is due to the difficult economic circumstances, mostly for clients in smaller cities, as well as to giving up on analogic services, according to Severina Pascu, CEO of UPC (in picture). The company managed to grow on internet and telephony and grew its revenues in RON, according to the CEO. “The 120 Mps speeds respond to a real need. If you are relevant on the Romanian Internet market, you also increase the capacity to attract clients for other services. From May, when we launched in Fiber Power packages, the number of clients started to grow,” said Severina Pascu. UPC will continue to invest in expanding its high speed Internet network across Romania. UPC managed to reach 270,800 clients in October this year, after seeing continuous decreases from 2010. The overall evolution during the first three quarters of 2011 was positive, with the average monthly revenues per user (ARPU) up 1 percent in the third quarter of the year, on the second, according to Pascu. The ARPU level reached RON 34.3 (the equivalent of around EUR 8). Liberty Global's third quarter results here. Corina Saceanu, corina@romania-insider.com