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O2 Ireland – Q1 Key Performance Indicators to 31 March 2006

Reporting timeline and format changed in line with Telefonica Group

 

Dublin 12 May 2006

O2 Ireland today issued its Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the three month period to 31 March 2006.

On 7 March 2006, O2 plc delisted from the London Stock Exchange, following its acquisition by Telefónica S.A. On completion of the acquisition, O2 is now part of the one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world, and the 2nd largest international wireless operator.

As a result of the acquisition, O2 Group’s reporting timeline has been adjusted in line with Telefónica. Today’s KPIs relate to O2’s first Q1 reporting period as part of the Telefónica Group.

O2 Ireland’s performance during the Q1 period saw strong postpay customer growth, which drove healthy growth in revenues. There was continued investment in improving the quality of the network for our customers. The period also saw O2 lead in the abolition of roaming charges in Northern Ireland and the UK.

O2 Ireland Summary:

  • Service revenue grew by 6.9% year-on-year.
  • O2 Ireland’s customer base at the end of March 2006 was 1.593 million, showing growth of almost 4% on the same period last year.
  • ARPU*: Prepay ARPU remained static for the quarter at €360, but increased slightly from €358 for the same period in 2005. ARPU for post-pay customers was up from €1,073 to €1,075 for the quarter, and up from €1,043 for the same period in 2005. The blended ARPU increased slightly from €550 to €552 for the quarter and was up from €544 for the same period last year.
  • Data revenue as a percentage of overall service revenue was 21.4% in Q1, an increase of 0.85% on the same period last year.
  • 376 million text messages were sent during the three-month period representing a 3.5% increase in text usage on the same period last year.

* O2’s ARPU figures have been adjusted both for today’s KPIs and historically in line with the ARPU definition used by Telefónica.

 

Commenting on the performance, Paul Whelan, Chief Financial Officer, O2 Ireland said: “Given the level of increased competition, we are very pleased with our Q1 performance. The O2 brand continues to drive strong customer growth, particularly with our postpay customer base adding 10,000 customers in the last quarter alone. We have achieved this through compelling customer propositions, combining ongoing pricing innovations with continued investment in our network and customer care, which delivers a superior quality of service to our customers.

The highlight of the quarter was undoubtedly our decision to lead the market in announcing the abolition of roaming charges in Northern Ireland for all of our customers and the removal of roaming charges for business customers in the UK. We are also particularly pleased that our postpay price plans continue to gain traction in the marketplace.

Our business strategy is very much driven by the needs of our customers and we believe this approach will sustain the future success of O2 in the Irish market. Our commitment to our customers and the telecoms market in Ireland is underpinned by our ongoing investment in the network which is in excess of €200 million each year, supporting both customer growth and enhanced network coverage”.

In March 2006, O2 launched a 1 cent weekend campaign, allowing all O2 prepay customers avail of 1 cent calls and texts at weekends across the O2 network. More recently, a major new pricing initiative, Business Unlimited, was introduced allowing business customers to make free calls to all over 1.5 million O2 customers in Ireland. For small and medium sized businesses, an average of 40% of calls are to O2 mobiles, therefore this new initiative represents huge potential savings for this customer base.

Yesterday O2 and Telefónica Móviles, the two mobile arms of Telefónica, unveiled ‘My Europe’ – a comprehensive set of low cost roaming price plans for European customers. These include a €0.59 per minute flat rate for making and receiving calls for all O2 Ireland customers roaming in the top 20 European destinations, effective from June 1, 2006. In addition, O2 Ireland is extending the flat rate of €0.59 for O2 customers travelling in the USA, making it the best value roaming rate on offer by any operator in Ireland. In a world-wide industry first, O2 and Telefónica Móviles also plan to abolish charges for receiving calls when abroad for customers on a new ‘high roamer’ service. This will come into effect in Ireland in Spring 2007.