Sky Broadband UK Tops 4.23 Million ISP Subscribers

Sky Broadband (BSkyB) has today released their latest results to 31st December 2012 (Q4-2012), which saw the operator increase its growth by adding +132,000 new quarterly fixed line internet access subscribers to reach a total customer base of 4,235,000 (up from +102k added in Q3-2012).

The operator now has 2.93 million customers on its fully unbundled (LLU) broadband and phone lines, while 1.1m use Sky’s shared unbundled (SMPF) platform and just 204,000 appear to connect via their more expensive BT based “Connect” service.

In total Sky has unbundled 2,108 telephone exchanges from BT (up from 2,036 in Q3-2012), which puts them well on their way to covering 88% of the United Kingdom with their unbundled platform by the original June 2013 target.

Sadly Sky, unlike their arch rivals TalkTalk and BT, do not say precisely how many customers have taken their new fibre optic based FTTC broadband packages.

Jeremy Darroch, CEO of BSkyB, said:

“Although we expect the consumer environment in 2013 to remain challenging, we have a strong set of plans for the year ahead. We will keep getting better on screen, further improve our products and services for customers and maintain our focus on efficiency. The business is in good shape to continue to deliver for customers and shareholders.”

Finally Sky’s Line Rental service also grew by a strong +162,000 to reach a total of 3,870,000. In addition, half-year revenue stood at £3,533m (+5%) and the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) per year increased to £568 from £550 in the previous quarter. Churn also saw a slight fall from 10.4% to 10.3% during Q4-2012.