O2 Ireland ARPU drops due to “extra value” for customers
Telefonica O2 Ireland reported a drop of 3.4 % to €234 million in service revenue for the three months to the end of September compared with the same period last year. For this quarter, ARPU showed a decline to €43.70 compared with €47 for the same three-month period in 2007. The operator adds 26,000 new customers and its subscriber base reaches to 1.73 million. Customer numbers are up 5 per cent year-on-year, the company said.
During the three-month period, a total of 609 million text messages were sent, representing a 55 per cent rise in text usage year on year, up from 393 million in the third quarter of 2007. ARPU for the postpay customers drops from €84.90 (2007) to €72.20. Paul Whelan, chief financial officer, Telef³nica O2 Ireland, said ARPU had fallen due to “extra value” being offered to customers. The telecoms sector faced the same economic pressures as other sectors and predicted this Christmas would a lot tougher than previous years, he added. The mobile phone penetration have reached 120%, Whelan said that the phenomenal growth†in mobile phone penetration was coming to an end.
