EE grows LTE user base but revenues drop

UK operator EE grew its postpaid LTE subscriber base by 72 per cent during the third quarter this year, ending the quarter on almost 1.2 million users. But at £1.43bn the firm’s service revenue was down 3.3 per cent year on year and 4.4 per cent sequentially as it continued to absorb the impact of regulation on termination rates and roaming charges.

The operator reported a year on year increase of 5.7 per cent in its postpaid user base, adding net 181,000 postpaid users during the quarter. And while it lost 345,000 prepaid users it said that postpaid users are currently generating six times the ARPU of prepaid. Year on year the firm’s total subscriber base dropped by 2.7 per cent to 27.4 million.

Non-text data revenues were up to 43 per cent of overall  service revenues for the quarter and the firm said that 64 per cent of new and renewing postpaid customers were selecting LTE tariffs or LTE-ready devices.

On Monday EE announced that it had extended its MVNO hosting relationship with UK MVNO Virgin Mobile.