Customers (+2%), revenues (+6%) and margins (+2%) are growing.
Excellent performance in the mobile and Enterprise and Wholesale segments thanks to end-to-end control of the networks and innovation
Even in the first quarter of the year, Fastweb recorded progressive numbers thanks in particular to the performance of the mobile and Wholesale and Enterprise segments. Supporting growth is a solid corporate strategy based on the control of network infrastructures – also made available to third-party operators and new market entrants – and the development of value-added solutions for companies and public administrations that leverage the Cloud, 5G and cyber security services.
The entry into the energy market was also announced in recent weeks, intended to support the company’s growth strategy in the consumer segment for the next few years.
In the first three months of the year, the company acquired a total of 155,000 new customers in the fixed, mobile and wholesale access service segments, equal to an increase of 2% compared to the customer base at the end of 2023. The number of customers in the fixed market ( retail and wholesale) grew by 4.5% to 3.3 million customers.
As of March 31, 2024, Fastweb’s total revenues stood at 658 million euros, up 6% compared to the same period last year. Overall EBITDA also grew, reaching 192 million euros, with an increase of 2% compared to the first quarter of 2023, while EBITDA including rental costs (EBITDAaL) stood at 179 million euros, up by 2%. %.
Con 2,325,000 customers cwho as of March 31, 2024 have activated a Fastweb ultra-broadband connectivity service confirms its commitment to the rapid migration of its customers to the best technology available. Around 90% of customers (+3 pp compared to the first quarter of 2023) use an ultra-broadband connection with performance from 100 Mbps up to 2.5 Gigabit. Thanks to continuous investments in the fixed network infrastructure, Fastweb reaches 94% of families and businesses across the country with ultra-broadband connectivity, of which as many as 38% (+5 pp compared to 31 March 2023) benefit from ultra-fast connections in fiber in Fiber to the Home (FTTH) mode.
Double-digit growth continues mobile segment, also thanks to the distribution agreement signed in recent months with a national operator. The customer base stands at 3,611,000 active SIMsup 12% compared to the first quarter of 2023.
The percentage of “converged” customers who adopt mobile services together with fixed ones stands at 43% (+ 2 pp compared to the same period in 2023) of the customer base. 5G coverage in the area is also progressively increasing thanks to the fifth generation mobile network which at the end of March exceeds 73% (+6p.p. compared to 31 March 2023) of the national population. In the first three months of the year the Consumer Business Unit totaled revenues of 288 million euros.
The Enterprise Business Unit also performed excellently, recording revenues of 284 million euros in the first quarter of the year (+9% compared to the first quarter of 2023) thanks to the excellence of the infrastructures, the 5G mobile service, the advanced Cloud solutions and Edge Computing and IT security that Fastweb makes available to companies and PAs to accompany them on their digital transformation journey.
In extraordinary growth i Wholesale division numbers, increasingly central within the company’s strategy, with revenues of 86 million, up by +18% compared to the first three months of 2023. The number of ultra-broadband lines supplied to other national operators rises to 720,000, marking a +45% compared to the same period in 2023.
Also for the first three months of 2024, Fastweb confirms its leadership in investments which reach 157 million euros, an amount equal to 24% of revenues, and mainly aimed at the development of ultra-performance networks for the digitalisation of the country, of services value-added services based on Cloud, 5G, cyber security services and Gen AI solutions. Thanks to the NIVIDIA supercomputer acquired in recent months, Fastweb will be able to make very high computational capabilities available to companies and PAs within its Cloud environment for the development of AI and Gen AI services and applications and will use it to develop and implement the first linguistic model (LLM) trained natively in the Italian language. The recent agreement with Eolo for the synergistic use of millimeter frequencies and FWA infrastructures will also make it possible to accelerate the coverage of white areas with connectivity up to 1 Gb/s, creating the most extensive 5G FWA network in the country.
Even in the first quarter of the year, Fastweb’s commitment to social sustainability and the wider dissemination of digital skills continues through Fastweb Digital Academy with approximately 410,000 participants in its free training courses, of which 92,000 in the first months of 2024 Fastweb also confirms its commitment to combating climate change with the Swisscom group’s ambitious goal of becoming Net Zero Carbon in 2035.