Eircom looks forward to quad-play services as business stabilises

Eircom said yesterday the company was "stabilising" more than a year after it exited examinership, as it released its financial results for the year to the end of June.

The company reported that its revenue fell 8 per cent to just under €1.4 billion, while earnings dipped 10 per cent to €487 million. Landline subscriptions also fell but the company recorded growth in the profitability of its mobile division, comprising Meteor and eMobile.

Home broadband subscriptions fell 1 per cent to just over 450,000 but the company’s wholesale broadband business grew by 18,000 lines to 218,000. The company also said it was “on track” with its cost-cutting programme, which took €612 million out of its cost base over the year.

Stabilisation
"We hope to see a stabilisation of the top line [revenue] this year. Our fourth quarter and third quarters last year both saw revenue growth, even if it fell over the year," Eircom chief financial officer Richard Moat said.

He said the stabilisation would be helped by the launch this week of Eircom’s 4G mobile services as well as the launch of its television services later this year. Eircom was the first operator in the State to launch 4G and will be the first to launch quad-play services, comprising television, landline, mobile and broadband.

Mr Moat said quad-play would be launched “before Christmas” but declined to be more specific.

He said Eircom had concluded deals with other companies to provide it with television content to broadcast but would not give further details.

He promised attractively priced quad-play bundles, although the company faces some restrictions on its cross-selling because it is deemed by Comreg, the communications industry regulator, to have “significant market power” in the fixed-line sector.

“Comreg has given us some flexibility in relation to quad-play pricing. But in an ideal world we could do with some more flexibility.” he said.

Mr Moat expressed concern about the European Commission’s recent proposal to scrap roaming charges but said “only a relatively small proportion” of Meteor’s revenue came from roaming fees.