Orange sees broadband subscriber exodus

'Levelling off' claim takes the pith

By Chris Williams • Get more from this author

Posted in Data Networking, 7th August 2008 10:00 GMT

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Customers are continuing to desert Orange's ADSL offerings, the firm's results revealed today.

In the six months to 30 June 44,000 net broadband subscribers quit the firm, leaving it with 1.06 million. Orange said its UK broadband customer base was "levelling off", but figures released in February showed that just 4,000 net subscribers were lost in the last three months of 2007. On its own numbers, Orange's decline is accelerating.

Despite the toughening economic conditions, the rest of the big six ISPs have maintained the positive trend in their customer base as the market approaches saturation. Orange has claimed that its failure to capitalise on market growth is a deliberate strategy to allow it to sort out problems with its network.

Revenues for the UK Home Communication Services unit, which also includes fixed line voice telephony, fell 7.7 per cent. Much of the sales slide was due to the industry-wide decline in traditional home telephone usage. The proportion of margin-boosting unbundled ADSL lines rose from 23 per cent last year to 40 per cent, however.

The full financials are here (pdf). ®

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