Bell has reported a strong Q2 2016 in terms of both revenues and subscribers.
According to George Cope, president and CEO of BCE and Bell Canada, the positive earnings are a direct result of the company executing its strategy with “positive momentum in broadband TV and Internet, media and especially wireless.”
Specifically for wireless, Bell service revenues increased 4.6 percent to $1.610 billion CAD, which is up from $1.539 billion in Q2 2015. The cause of the dramatic surge in revenue is reportedly due to an increase in postpaid subscribers and higher monthly bills for increased data usage.
However, similar to its competitors, the number of customers upgrading dropped significantly by 23.5 percent, representing a $114 million loss over the same period last year, which is an impact from the double cohort that started June 2015 from 3-year contracts to 2-year contracts. As a result, Bell’s operating revenue increased 2.2 percent to $1.735 billion from $1.697 billion last year.
Postpaid net additions were up 14.4 percent to 69,848, compared to 61,033 last year, with the total now reaching 7,471,069, a 3.7 percent increase over Q2 2015. Total Bell wireless customers grew 1.9 percent to 8,280,693 as of June 30th, 2016. This is up from 8,235,963 in Q1 2016. Blended ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) increased 2.9 percent to $64.32 per month.
82 percent of postpaid customers now have a smartphone, up from 77 percent in Q2 2015, with 76 hooked onto its LTE network, up from 57% a year ago. Bell’s LTE network now reaches 97 percent of the Canadian population. However, its LTE-Advanced network has grown over the past yea and is now in 15 cities, reaching 50 percent of the Canadian population. It’s expected to grow to 70 percent by the end of the year.
“Executing our strategy to lead in broadband network and product innovation, Bell delivered strong new customer additions and leading financial results in Q2, including adjusted EBITDA growth across all of our operating segments,” said George Cope. “We have positive momentum in broadband TV and Internet, media and especially wireless, with strong revenue, adjusted EBITDA and postpaid subscriber growth that once again surpassed our largest wireless competitor.”
[source]Bell[/source]
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