Video boosts Telefónica digital revenues
Details
Juan Fernandez Gonzalez
| 23 February 2018

Video continues to gain importance in Telefónica’s business mix as the telco expands its content and pay-TV footprint across Spain and LATAM.

According to the company’s financial report, video generated over half of its total digital service revenues.

Video revs reached €748 million in Q4 2017 (€2.99 billion in the year) growing by 7% and 5.8% respectively, mostly due to the improved performance in Latin America, where Telefónica has just reorganised its businesses.

Growing by 13.3% during the quarter, total digital revenues stood at €1.38 billion and €5.24 billion for the year (+6.8%).

While the telco has just started expanding its original content strategy across Latin America, pay-TV accesses stood at 3.03 million for the region (+4%) and 8.5 million including Spain (+2% year-on-year).

Besides, its IPTV base (which will soon launch in Colombia) grew by 14%, driven by the growing adoption of fibre in the three countries.

“The commitment to position TV as a differential proposition within the customer offering has resulted in a continuous improvement in functionalities with services such as Movistar Play,” the telco claimed during the presentation of its financial report.

Looking at the big picture, the telco’s total revenues increased by 3.4% year-on-year in 2017 to reach €52 billion.

The group's total accesses stood at 343.5 million as of December 2017 and customer value continued to improve, with average revenue per customer (ARPU) growth accelerating to 5.4% year-on-year in organic terms. According to the telco, the ARPU increase was mainly driven by TV bundles in Spain, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru.