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26.02.2010

O2 with highest customer growth in 2009

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  • 1.5 million new mobile phone customers gained in 2009*
  • Annual operational income (OIBDA) rose to EUR 918 million (+19 percent)
  • Annual revenue: EUR 3.7 billion (+4.2 percent); record revenue in the fourth quarter: EUR 998 million (+7.2 percent over the same quarter 2008)
MUNICH. Telefónica O2 Germany in 2009 was the fastest growing mobile carrier on the German market. Through new, simple tariffs and attractive hardware the company was able to gain 1.5 million new mobile customers* and thus clearly grow faster than the overall market. At the same time, Telefónica O2 Germany increased its revenue and profitability: The operating income (OIBDA) grew in 2009 to EUR 918 million (+19 percent). In contrast to the declining overall market, its total revenue through mobile service and DSL grew by 4.2 percent to EUR 3.7 billion.
This positive trend also continued in the fourth quarter: between October and December 2009, Telefónica O2 generated a record revenue of EUR 998 million - an increase of 7.2 percent compared to the final quarter of 2008. At the same time, it was again possible to increase the OIBDA in the fourth quarter by 6.1 percent year-on-year to EUR 252 million. "The outstanding figures for 2009 show that we are the fastest growing telecommunications provider in Germany while simultaneously increasing our profitability," says René Schuster, CEO of Telefónica O2 Germany. "This success confirms our strategy: we offer our customers simple and clever products. Since the start of the year we also have our own outstanding network, and are no longer dependent on national roaming." Network expansion successfully concluded Telefónica O2 Germany has invested around EUR 3 billion in recent years in the expansion of its network and since 5 January for the first time now has its own complete independent network. With more than 17,000 GSM and 10,000 3G base stations, the O2 network is one of the most modern data and voice networks in Europe and covers whole Germany. "In the past year we have experienced the breakthrough of the mobile internet. With our own fast data network we are excellently positioned to grow further with the mobile data boom," says André Krause, CFO of Telefónica O2 Germany. Telefónica O2 Germany already generates one eighth of its service revenue with mobile internet and data services. O2 o has asserted itself - more than one million customers An important component for growth this past year was the new tariff system around O2 o. As the first large provider, Telefónica O2 Germany thus did away with fixed contract terms and a basic monthly fee. At the same time, the sale of hardware was decoupled from the tariff with O2 My Handy. "O2 o has asserted itself. More than a million customers have chosen this tariff in 2009. We will pursue this growth strategy further," Krause emphasizes. The sale of smartphones was also a growth driver. "The Palm Pre sold exclusively by us is the most successful smartphone so far at O2," according to Krause.
Overview of Telefónica O2 Germany business development
Correcting the prepaid customer base The end of 2009, Telefónica O2 Germany had a total of 15.8 million customers in mobile service and DSL. Of the mobile service customers, 7.8 million had prepaid contracts and 7.7 million postpaid contracts. In the fourth quarter, the company adjusted the customer base by deleting 450,000 non-active prepaid customers. Customer growth in mobile service in the fourth quarter therefore amounted to a nominal 107,000. The decline in the average monthly turnover per customer (average revenue per user - ARPU) clearly levelled off in 2009. The ARPU annual average amounted to EUR 15.6 - down 9.9 percent compared to 2008. Reasons for this were the cut termination rates in April and the switching of customers to less expensive rates carried out in the previous year. Positively developed the revenue through mobile internet and surfsticks: Data ARPU (excl. SMS) rose in 2009 by 22 percent to EUR 1.7 while growth in the fourth quarter once again accelerated. In the DSL wholesale business the number of unbundled broadband accesses rose in 2009 to 1.6 million - a growth of 19 percent compared to the previous year, of which 285,000 were O2's own DSL customers at the end of the year - around one third more than 2008. Growth with HanseNet "With the acquisition of HanseNet concluded just a few days ago, we are catching up at one fell swoop in the fixed network area," says Schuster. Both companies have a total turnover of around EUR 5 billion. "We are now positioning ourselves as one of the three large integrated telecommunications providers in Germany," he adds.
* For comparison purposes, net customer additions exclude the disconnection of 450 thousand inactive prepaid-customers in Dec. 2009 and more than 240 thousand in Dec 2008. Including these effects, reported net adds 2009 were nominal 1.3 Mio.
Telefónica O2 Germany GmbH & Co. OHG belongs to Telefónica Europe and is part of the Spanish telecommunication group Telefónica S.A. The Company offers its German private and business customers postpaid and prepaid mobile telecom products as well as innovative mobile data services based on the GPRS and UMTS technologies. In addition, the integrated communications provider also offers DSL fixed network telephony and high-speed internet. Telefónica Europe has 49 million mobile and fixed network customers in Great Britain, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany.