The number of punters subscribing to Telewest's broadband service is accelerating, the cableco reported today.

In the three months to the end of December, Telewest added 47,000 new broadband punters, taking the total number to 415,000.

As of yesterday, total broadband numbers had increased to 452,000, of which 38,000 are hooked up to the company's 1Mbps service and 8000 to its 2Mbps service.

Publishing its latest set of results, Telewest said that broadband is continuing to attract new customers to the company.

Although its subscriber base is on the up, broadband ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) was down to £22.97 in Q4 03 from £23.71.

Overall, though, ARPU at the company - which provides Internet, TV and telephony services to 1.6 million customers - was up six per cent to £44.42.

Said acting chief exec Barry Elson: "Broadband is our most successful product and fastest growing source of revenue. Broadband, bundled together with telephony and television, is proving popular and 17 per cent of our customers now take the full 'triple play'."

Total turnover for 2003 was up a smidgen at £1.36bn while net loss for the year was down from £2.23bn to £272m.

The cableco also said that it was on course for its £3.5bn debt-for-equity swap which should be completed sometime this summer. ®

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