MANUEL LOPEZ
Subscription numbers continue to fall at the cable network operator UPC – but not as quickly as in the previous year.
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In the final quarter, however, UPC grew compared to the third quarter. Revenue there rose by 1.8 percent to CHF 312.7 million, as the company belonging to the British telecommunications group Liberty Global announced on Friday.
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UPC has managed to significantly slow the decline in subscriber numbers, it said. After the 153,000 subscriptions were lost in 2018, there were still 68,000 subscriptions last year. In addition, the best values have been achieved since 2009 in measuring customer satisfaction.
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Baptiest Coopmans, who has been in charge of UPC Switzerland since the beginning of February, sees the company on track with the growth plan. He wants to continue to establish the TV platform and the gigabit range on the market and to win over customers in the mobile and fixed network offerings.
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Over a year ago, UPC launched a program to curb customer loss with special promotions. UPC doubled the maximum speed for the Internet and launched new mobile services after switching from Salt to the Swisscom mobile network. Service quality was also worked on.
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UPC can grow in mobile communications: Last year, UPC Mobile gained 54,000 subscribers, bringing the total to over 200,000. The company suffered a bloodletting in the TV business. Over 90,000 subscribers were lost. UPC reports slightly declining subscription numbers in the Internet and in the fixed network area.
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In the business customer area, however, UPC is growing in Switzerland. Sales went up 5.2 percent last year. UPC has invested in product quality and the nationwide availability of gigabit Internet speeds, it said. UPC concluded new or expanded contracts with Migros, SV Hotel or Schaffhauser Kantonalbank.
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At UPC, 2019 was all about the failed takeover by competitor Sunrise. The deal worth CHF 6.3 billion was canceled in October. He failed due to resistance from the major Sunrise shareholders led by the German Freenet, who criticized the high purchase price.
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Another attempt to confront a stronger challenger with the industry leader Swisscom failed in the Swiss telecommunications market. The Federal Competition Commission (Weko) had banned the planned merger of Sunrise and Orange nine years ago for reasons of competition. However, the cartel guards had no objection to the UPC purchase by Sunrise.
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After the split, UPC Switzerland changed managers at the beginning of February: Severina Pascu handed over the management to Baptiest Coopmans. 46-year-old Pascu joined Virgin Media, which is the largest subsidiary of Liberty Global. There she acts as deputy CEO and chief financial officer.
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