Spain: Orange Q1 revenue down
April 26, 2022
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Orange Spain saw a 4.6 per cent fall in revenues in the first quarter of the year to €1.13 billion, complicating its merger with MásMóvil in terms of balance of powers between the parties and the final financial value of the operation due to be completed by June. Tough competition and low cost offers in the market led the French owned telco to losses across all business segments with a 4 per cent fall in consumer revenues, 8.2 per cent in wholesale services and a 3 per cent fall in mobile phone sales. Nevertheless, the number of customers grew by 2.8 per cent on the same period last year to 20.5 million, out of which 16.48 million are mobile subscribers and 4 million broadband customers. FTTH already covers 16.3 million homes and businesses, with 800,000 new units in one year. Its pay-TV offer reached 695,000 subscribers, down 1 per cent.
ARPU went down 0.3 per cent in the first quarter versus a 1.8 per cent fall in the last quarter of 2021. Meanwhile, Telefónica is finalising a new pay-TV offer to be launched later this year under a new brand. Fusión will be dropped after 10 years in the market. Telefónica plans to include new added-value services, such as telemedicine, home alarm services and video games along with Microsoft (via Xbox) in an attempt to boost loyalty among its customers and make a difference in the market.