UPC subscriber numbers grow

TV and telecoms provider UPC Ireland increased customers in the third quarter of the year, adding more than 110,000 new subscribers.

The company said its total number of subscriptions across its phone, TV and broadband services were 969,200, a 13 per cent rise compared with the same quarter in 2011.

The company now has 294,300 broadband customers, a 22 per cent increase year on year. UPC recently increased the speed of its broadband offerings, raising the entry level speed to 50Mb, and UPC said the fibre network had increased the pace of broadband growth in Irish towns and cities.

Some 223,400 customers have home phone services with the company, a rise of 55 per cent, while 384,000 digital TV customers were signed up to UPC’s services, which includes premium channels such as Sky Sports and Movies. In May, the company said it had 384,900 digital TV customers in the first quarter of the year.

Its recently launched on-demand service has already recorded more than 8 million views from customers.

“We will continue to exploit our competitive advantages in leading next generation broadband in Ireland and already have doubled our standard level broadband speed to 50Mb with a top tier of 150Mb on offer,” said Carol Grennan, UPC Ireland’s chief financial officer. “We believe this superfast service, combined with our leading On Demand TV service and home phone is already resonating among existing and new customers.”