upc cablecom: “High investment paying off”
February 16, 2016
upc cablecom has reported consistent growth once again in the Internet, telephony and mobile markets in 2015. Revenue increased to more than CHF 1.3 billion (€1.17bn) over this period – a year-on-year increase of 3.4 per cent. The business customer segment experienced strong growth of 13 per cent.
upc cablecom further strengthened its position as one of Switzerland’s leading providers of communication and entertainment in 2015. Thanks to investment of over CHF 200 million in network infrastructure last year, upc cablecom customers are able to benefit from super-fast Internet everywhere. Private and business customers are now surfing at speeds of 500 Mbit/s throughout the entire glass fibre optic cable network. Fittingly, the company developed a next-generation modem “Connect Box” which has been available since autumn and which also offers optimal support for speeds of over 500 Mbit/s via Wi-Fi.
While the number of telephony customers increased further, the number of TV customers fell to 1.3 million last year. Because of the market saturation present in this area, the company focused on the important aspects for the future: in addition to the digitisation of television in Switzerland which was completed in the first half of the year, upc cablecom was also able to increase the popularity of Horizon TV by making ongoing improvements and adding new features such as 7 days of Replay, recording function, VoD offers, Horizon.tv, apps. etc. to reach an all-time high in customer satisfaction.
Eric Tveter, CEO of the Austria/Switzerland regional organisation, sums up: “I am proud of our 2015 team accomplishments. The number of customers increased overall, customer satisfaction is constantly high with a score of 8.2 out of 10, and the continued high investment in our network is paying off. As a result, today we can offer every customer throughout the entire country top surfing speeds of 500 Mbit/s. This advantage allows us to grow faster in the broadband sector than the competitors. In addition, we are setting ourselves apart from the competition through original productions and exclusive films and series on the popular MyPrime TV platform and with attractive mobile offers.”
2016: a year of progress upc cablecom will continue to pursue its strategy of offering its customers the best Internet experience with the fastest speeds throughout the entire footprint in 2016. In total, the company invests over CHF 200 million in its glass fibre optic cable network each year. The expansion focuses not only on its own footprint, but on wherever there is a need. And this is not Eric Tveter’s only strategy for influencing the market with innovations: “We are becoming UPC this year. This brand will stand for great service, innovation and entertainment on the market. We have set ourselves ambitious goals which we hope our customers will already be able to benefit from this year. Media usage by consumers has changed considerably and is becoming an increasingly individual affair which requires more and more bandwidth. We will meet these needs and at the same time continue to perfect our products. We will also impress TV customers with new original productions. And last but not least, in the area of sport we hope to set things in motion for our customers to be able to enjoy much more live sport at an attractive price beginning this year.”