UPC Switzerland slows TV subs decline
November 8, 2018
UPC, the Swiss cable operator, reported that its TV customer base registered a smaller decline in subscriptions in Q3 2018 compared to prior quarters, making Q3 the best performing quarter of the year 2018 (Q3 2018: -20,000 vs Q2 2018:-36,000 vs Q1 2018: -30,000).
The company said the improved performance is the result of a strong focus on product quality and customer service. Customer satisfaction continued to increase in Q3 2018 and reached the highest level ofthe last 8 years, following speed increases, improvements to the legacy TV platform and increased service levels. UPC continued to strengthen its TV proposition by adding even more premium ice hockey and Bundesliga content to its MySports One channel, available to all UPC digital TV customers since August. In September, UPC also launched the new OTT service for MySports in cooperation with Sky, bringing MySports content to all Swiss sports fans.
UPC said that due to a highly competitive market environment and negative subscription trends in the previous quarters, revenues declined by 3.2 per cent in the residential customer segment in the first nine months of 2018, compared to the previous year.
In order to enhance its commercial performance, UPC started in Q3 2018 the implementation of a growth plan that is aiming to structurally improve product quality and overall customer satisfaction. The launch of UPC TV – the new TV platform – shows positive first results in terms of customer adoption and customer satisfaction. Fast, easy to use, and new functionalities such as voice control are among the factors quoted by customers as reasons for increased satisfaction after only one month since launch. UPC reports that currently 9 out of 10 customers say that they are satisfied or very satisfied with the new TV experience.
UPC says it continues to be the broadband speed leader in the Swiss market, providing 500 Mbit/s footprint-wide and the best home wifi experience for all homes in the footprint. Plans to increase Internetspeeds footprint-wide even further to 1 Gigabit are going according to schedule.
Severina Pascu, CEO of UPC Switzerland, says: “We are embarking on an ambitious programme to fundamentally improve the product quality and change the way we interact with our customers. We want to offer them a simple and personalised experience, and I am confident that our new TV platform, super-fast Internet, attractive Mobileoffers and superior customer service will enable that. We now have the right elements in place to drive growth in the future.”