Three UK Sees Mobile Broadband Data Use Per Customer Hit 6.8GB

Mobile operator Three UK has today published their full year results for 2017, which among other things revealed that monthly Mobile Broadband (3G / 4G) data usage per customer grew by 7% during 2017 to 6.8GB (GigaBytes) and indoor population coverage is now 98.5% (up from 95% last year).

By comparison Ofcom’s annual Connected Nations 2017 report found that the overall (all major networks) average volume of data consumed per subscriber was 1.9GB per month, which is up from 1.3GB in 2016 and 0.9GB in 2015. In other words, Three UK continues to users with a higher level of data consumption than almost any other operator; they claim to carry 32% of the UK’s mobile data traffic despite being the smallest primary MNO (mostly due to their large allowances, low pricing and ‘all-you-can-eat‘ data options).

Overall the operator finished 2017 with a total of 10,070,000 active customers (6.8m contract and 3.2m prepaid), which is up by around 900,000 from last year. Apparently 82% of their customer base are now using 4G and their gross Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is running at £18.07 (down from £19.24 last year).

Dave Dyson, CEO of Three UK, said:

“Our results reflect Three’s ongoing commitment to growth and becoming the best-loved brand by our customers.

I am pleased to have passed the 10 million customer milestone. Over the course of last year, we have strengthened our market-leading Go Roam proposition, launched Go Binge, our innovative unlimited streaming service, as well as our SIM-only, online-only sub brand SMARTY. In addition, we have rapidly developed Wuntu, our customer loyalty and rewards app, which is highly rated and has already exceeded 1 million active users.

At the same time, we have invested significant time and money in the future growth and scalability of the business. Our digital transformation is a programme of work that will significantly enhance customer experience, employee experience and cost efficiency. Investment in spectrum, next generation network and IT underpins the opportunity to deliver improved results over the long term.

To deliver such a degree of strategic change whilst maintaining strong profitability is testament to the hard work and dedication of the thousands of staff across the Three UK business, and puts us in a strong position to deliver long term growth.”

The operator delivered total revenue of £2,425m (up 7% from last year), although EBITDA was down -2% to £702m. We should point out that Three UK also saw their Capex increase by £107m in the year (total of £459m) in order to upgrade their core network, data centres, security and various other things.