Internet portal, Wanadoo has seen its European broadband subscriptions rise to 4.37 million an increase of 1.92 million from the year before, making up 46% of its European customer base at the end of 2004, according to a trading statement released by the company’s parent, France Telecom (FT).
France Telecom has revealed that 6.3 asymmetric digital subscriber lines (ADSL) were added in France during 2004, while the rest of Europe enjoyed an impressive 88% increase in ADSL lines, totalling 5.1 million broadband customers for the Group. Elsewhere, 260,000 Livebox home broadband gateways were distributed in Europe during 2004.
In the UK, Wanadoo saw its share of digital subscriber line (DSL) connections rise from 9% to 14% over the year, with internet service providers (ISP) understood to have around 600,000 broadband users, putting it behind AOL UK’s 750,000 and BT’s 1.49 million.
Total revenues from FT’s Wanadoo ISP for 2004 enjoyed a 9.9% increase, year on year, taking it to £1.99 billion; this is mainly due to sustained growth in the number of broadband customers.
FT’s mobile phone operator, Orange, performed strongly in 2004, with revenues increasing by 10.4% and operating income reaching 15.9%. In the increasingly competitive UK market, Orange continued to accelerate in Q4 2004, adding 335,000 new customers, an increase of 20.5%, like for like. The total customer base grew to 14.2 million customers, representing annual growth of 4.2%.
Overall, France Telecom increased its Group revenues by 2.2% during 2004 to £32.5 billion, resulting in operating income before depreciation and amortisation enjoying a 5.5% increase to £12.6 billion.
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