The mobile network operator and landline provider o2 Telefónica has presented current figures for the 2023 financial year and the fourth quarter from October to December of last year. According to the company, o2 can look back on a record financial year and further growth is also expected for 2024. o2 gained new customers in both broadband and mobile communications.
13,000 new broadband connections in the fourth quarter – fewer VDSL connections
The number of internet and data connections in the o2 landline network increased by 12,000 to 2.460 million connections between the beginning of October and the end of December 2023. Of these, 2.384 million were broadband connections, an increase of 13,000 connections. Overall, the number of o2 broadband connections grew by 90,000 in 2023. The number of VDSL connections, however, fell by 2,000 to 1.856 million in the fourth quarter. In the previous three quarters, VDSL had been able to increase.
Accordingly, the growth in broadband in the fourth quarter is likely to be due primarily to internet via cable and fiber optics. o2 markets both DSL and cable Internet and fast Internet via fiber optic connection. There is also an offer for internet at home via 4G/5G.
Sales in the fixed network increased by 2.7 percent to 827 million euros in 2023. o2 cites strong customer demand for fast broadband connections as the reason.
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o2 will gain around 1.3 million mobile phone contract customers in 2023
In the mobile phone business, o2 was able to gain more than 1.3 million net new mobile phone contract customers in the entire year of 2023. In the fourth quarter from October to December 2023, the number of o2 mobile phone connections increased by 51,000 to 45.072 million. The number of mobile phone contract connections was 27.686 million at the end of December 2023. This means that 61.4 percent of all mobile phone connections are on lucrative mobile phone contracts. o2 also had 15.527 million prepaid mobile phone connections at the end of last year.
As in the fixed network, mobile phone service revenue rose by 2.7 percent to 5.895 billion euros. Hardware sales climbed by 13.3 percent to 1.872 billion euros. Overall, o2 achieved sales of 8.614 billion euros for the full year 2023, an increase of 4.7 percent.
5G network with 95 percent population coverage
o2 Telefónica says it has made good progress in expanding its 5G network. O2’s 5G network can now provide around 95 percent of the German population with the fast mobile communications standard. Since October 2023, customers have also been able to surf and make calls in o2’s new 5G standalone network (5G-Plus) for the first time. o2 wants to achieve nationwide 5G coverage by the end of 2025 at the latest.
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