IPTV services continued to drive business for North American telcos according to first quarter earnings results released this week.
TDS Telecom (NYSE: TDS), Bell Aliant and Hawaiian Telcom (Nasdaq: HCOM) all cited their IPTV business growth in earnings announcements this past week, with TDS reporting a quarterly increase of 1,100 subscribers to reach the 9,000 sub mark, compared to 4,900 a year ago; Bell Aliant growing its base of customers 15,600 in the quarter to reach 137,300; and Hawaiian Telcom more than tripling its subscriber base to hit 11,700 in the quarter with about 14 percent of households enabled.
For TDS, IPTV is part of a residential strategy "to increase broadband and video penetration through service bundling," according to comments from LeRoy Carlson, TDS' president-CEO.
Bell Aliant said IPTV growth is a natural part of an overall fiber migration strategy that is "approaching a level of critical mass with our IPTV footprint," said Karen Sheriff, president and CEO in a corporate earnings release. "The competitive environment is intense and we are prevailing by offering customers in our FTTH markets the best Internet technology available today and a premium IPTV service."
That IPTV service, FibreOP TV, grew its customer base by 15,600 in the quarter to reach 112,500, "a portion of which were migrations from Bell Aliant's FTTN TV service," the carrier said, noting that overall net IPTV customer additions in the quarter were 14,300 compared to 7,900 in the year-ago quarter.
"FTTH, with all of its benefits, is key to our future success," Sheriff said.
And, in Hawaii, the transformation from carrier to broadband multiservice player is only in its early stages, said Eric Yeaman, Hawaiian Telcom's president and CEO.
"The reach of our enhanced broadband network footprint expanded 28 percent to 83,000 households in the quarter, allowing more Oahu consumers the opportunity to experience the future of home entertainment," he said in a corporate release. "Hawaiian Telcom TV continues to transform our consumer channel, driving our third consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth in consumer revenue."
For more:
- TDS issued this earnings press release
- Bell Aliant issued this earnings press release
- Hawaiian Telcom issued this earnings press release
Earnings Report: Wireline telecom earnings in the first quarter of 2013
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