Broadband continues to boom for Telewest which recorded one of its "best ever" quarters for broadband sign-ups at the end of 2004. And the signs are that the beginning of 2005 is also set to be a cracker as more and more households jump on the broadband bandwagon.

In the last three months of 2004 Telewest added 91,000 new broadband punters taking the total number to 698,236. The first three months of 2005 is also doing well with the cableco expecting to add at least another 80,000.

Despite registering an increase in numbers, the amount of cash Telewest receives from each broadband punter every month slipped on the year, with ARPU falling from £22.52 a month in Q4 03 to £20.23 in Q4 04.

Even so, the company maintains that broadband "continues to be successful in attracting new customers to Telewest". In Q4, for example, almost half of all broadband connections were from new punters with seven in ten subscribing to the full "triple play" (phone, TV and internet) while more than nine in ten took at least one other product.

Said acting chief exec Barry Elson: "We are encouraged by the strong customer growth, our best for four years, the low level of churn and the overall performance of the business.

"This quarter was marked by a tremendous increase in triple play penetration and our best ever quarter for broadband net customer additions.

"This strong performance is due largely to the effective marketing of our product bundles, which continue to drive profitable growth." Publishing financials yesterday Telewest reported that net loss for the year fell from £183m to £176m. Revenue rose a smidgen from £1.3bn to £1.32bn. ®

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